The governments of the United States and Canada have advised their citizens living in Haiti to plan their departure from the Caribbean country, where armed gangs are expanding their control and have recently caused a severe shortage of fuel.
The State Department urges “American citizens to plan their departure from Haiti directly by commercial means,” the U.S. embassy in Port-au-Prince said in a statement posted on its website on Wednesday night. “Unlikely” to be able to offer them help if the means of commercial transport were missing.
“The situation is deteriorating and evolving rapidly. “If you are in Haiti and your presence is not absolutely necessary, consider leaving if you can do it safely,” the Canadian embassy said in an e-mail sent to the country’s citizens in Haiti.
Gangs controlling much of the capital, Port-au-Prince, have blocked roads leading to key oil installations, causing huge problems with fuel supplies for several months.
“Generalized fuel shortages may limit emergency services, especially access to banks, money transfer services, hospital emergency departments, the internet and telecommunications, as well as public and private transport,” it said. in the announcement of the US embassy.
Telecommunications networks and the media have recently drastically reduced their operation throughout Haiti, as they are unable to find fuel for the generators that power their antennas and their facilities.
Banks only open three days a week, which means endless queues in front of their branches.
The energy crisis is also causing difficulties for the operation of the few hospitals in the impoverished country.
For a long time, they have dominated poor neighborhoods in the Haitian capital, with heavily armed gangs expanding in recent months and increasing kidnappings.
One of the strongest threatens to kill a group of missionaries and their families – 16 US citizens and a Canadian citizen – who was abducted on October 16 east of Port-au-Prince if he does not receive the $ 17 million ransom he demands .
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