Haiti’s main airport and capital frozen after a day of violence

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Haiti’s main airport remained closed Tuesday, a day later violence broke out as the country swore in its new prime minister during a politically tumultuous transition.

Life in much of the capital came to a standstill after the wave of violence, which came to a head when gangs shot down a Spirit Airlines plane, hitting a flight attendant and forcing flights and the airport to close. Heavily armed police in armored cars outside the airport checked trucks used for public transport.

Schools were closed, as were banks and government buildings. The streets, where only a day earlier gangs and police had been locked in a fierce gun battle, were eerily empty, with few passing by except a motorcycle with a shot man clinging to the back.

The sounds of heavy gunfire still echoed through the streets – a reminder that despite political maneuvering by Haitian elites and strong pressure from the international community to restore peace, the country’s toxic gangs have controlled much of the had a firm grip on the Caribbean country.

The United Nations estimates that gangs control 85% of the capital of Port-au-Prince. A UN-backed mission led by the Kenyan police to quell gang violence is facing a lack of funding and staff, prompting calls for a UN peacekeeping mission.

The violence comes after a transitional council tasked with restoring democratic order in Haiti, which has not held elections since 2016, decided to dismiss the country’s government. interim Prime Minister Garry Conille, who was often at odds with the council during his six months in office.

Despite Conille declaring the move illegal, the council quickly swore in businessman Alix Didier Fils-Aimé as the new interim prime minister. Fils-Aimé pledged to work with international partners to restore peace and hold long-awaited elections, a promise also made by his predecessor.

But many Haitians, like 43-year-old Martha Jean-Pierre, have little appetite for the political fighting, which experts say only gives gangs more freedom to expand their control as Haiti teetering on the brink of famine.

Jean-Pierre was among those who braved the streets of Port-au-Prince on Tuesday to sell the plantains, carrots, cabbage and potatoes she carried in a basket on her head. She had no choice, she said, selling was the only way she could feed her children.

“What good is a new prime minister if there is no security, if I cannot move freely and sell my goods,” she said, nodding to her basket of vegetables. “This is my bank account, my family depends on this.”

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Associated Press video journalist Pierre-Richard Luxama contributed to this report.