WLRN Public Media | By Sergio R. Bustos
A bipartisan group of lawmakers, including several from South Florida, are sounding the alarm about Haiti’s growing and paralyzing security crisis.
In a letter this month to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the lawmakers say gangs, including the Viv Ansanm coalition, control over 85% of the capital city of Port-au-Prince “and are rapidly expanding into previously stable areas.” Read the full letter here.
“Haiti is on the verge of collapse with violent gangs controlling the center of Port-au-Prince just blocks away from the National Palace,” said U.S. Rep. Maria Salazar, a Miami Republican, in a statement. “It is time for the United States to take a real leadership role in addressing the crisis with hard security solutions capable of stopping the gangs’ advance and restoring peace to Haiti.”
On the other side of the congressional aisle, Democrat U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, of Miramar, echoed a similar warning to Rubio and the Trump administration. She is the only Haitian-American in Congress.
This story was originally produced by WLRN, South Florida’s only public radio station at 91.3 FM, as part of a content sharing partnership with MIA Media Group. Read more at WLRN.org
