Port-au-Prince, Haiti.-President Luis Abinader described as a “terrorist act” the situation that occurred in Haiti when a Spirit Airlines plane from Florida was shot at while approaching its final destination in Port-au-Prince, which forced the pilots to to “emergency land” at the Cibao International Airport, in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic.
“That was a terrorist act, the countries that monitor and help Haiti must declare these armed bands as terrorist groups,” Abinader reiterated during his usual Monday press conference at the National Palace.
Clashes are frequent between gangs and police. Ap
The head of state said that for the Dominican Republic “those heavily armed groups that have occupied a large part of Port-au-Prince and other areas of Haiti are already terrorists,” committing massacres, kidnappings, rapes and other crimes.
“A misfortune could have happened there, the plane was shot at seven times, Haitian people and other nationalities were traveling there, innocent people trying to get to Haiti.
“We are treating them like terrorists and they know what is going to happen to them in this country,” Abinader said with a grumpy face.
Haiti is under political tension waiting for businessman Alix Didier Fils-Aime to take office as the country’s new prime minister after the dismissal of Garry Conille and amid the announcement by armed gangs that violence will increase from yesterday.
On Sunday it was learned that eight of the nine members that make up the Presidential Transition Council (CPT) had signed a resolution last Friday appointing Alix Didier Fils-Aime as prime minister and that it would be published today in the official newspaper Le Moniteur.
The only one who did not sign that document was Edgard Leblanc Fils, who was the first person to occupy the rotating presidency of the CPT after its entry into operation last April, a position now held, since October 7, by Leslie Voltaire.
It was up to Smith Agustin to fill that position, but it was decided that Voltaire would take it after the state Anti-Corruption Unit (ULCC) requested that a “public action” be launched against him and the members of the Louis Council. Gerald Gilles and Emmanuel Vertilaires for prosecution for abuse of office, payment of bribes and passive corruption.
Origin of the conflict
According to local media, the presence of these three people accused of corruption in the CPT is one of the causes of the conflict that exists between that Council and Garry Conille.
This and Conille’s refusal to carry out a ministerial restructuring would have been the causes of his dismissal and replacement by Alix Didier Fils-Aime.
Prime Minister takes over
Businessman Alix Didier Fils-Aimé took office yesterday as Haiti’s new prime minister, promising peace and security for the troubled country, after the Transitional Presidential Council dismissed his predecessor just about five months after appointing him.
Fils-Aimé, 52, was sworn in at a ceremony held in Port-au-Prince, replacing Garry Conille, who fought for weeks with the Council for control of the Government.
In his first speech, Prime Minister Fils-Aimé promised to dedicate all his energy to saving a country devastated by gang violence.
Issues
Problems between the authorities and within the Transitional Presidential Council have become common in Haiti.
Shortly after the installation of the CPT in April, the dispute arose within it and it was decided that the presidency of this institution would be rotating and that major decisions would be made by a qualified majority of its members with the right to vote (five out of seven, the two other members have a voice but no vote) to avoid any malfunction, as detailed in a Council resolution on the matter.
Both this institution and the Government face important challenges in Haiti, mired in an acute crisis and in the midst of gang violence.
Passengers
– Attendance
President Abinader specified that the passengers of the plane were assisted by medical brigades at the Cibao International Airport, in Santiago, where they were waiting for another aircraft for their transfer to the United States.
Plane shot in Haiti lands in Santiago
Emergency. A Spirit Airlines plane from Florida was hit by gunfire yesterday as it was preparing to land at Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince. The aircraft had to land in Santiago.
According to the Haitian newspaper The Nouvelliste, after this incident, a Jet Blue plane that took off from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, turned around.
Shootings were reported almost everywhere in Port-au-Prince following the announcement of the dismissal of Prime Minister Garry Conille by the Transitional Presidential Council, three of whose members were charged in a corruption scandal.
