麻豆约拍

Soldiers have been deployed to defend Haiti's international airport from armed gangs who say their aim is to prevent the return of Haiti's Prime Minister Ariel Henry. Witnesses reported hearing gunfire from the airport's vicinity.

It's a confusing situation for anyone who has not followed the story of the Caribbean country in detail.

In recent days there's been increasing violence in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, with the gangs engineering a mass jail breakout while Mr Henry was out of the country.

One of Haiti's most powerful gang leaders - Jimmy Cherizier, known as "Barbecue" - has said there will be civil war if Ariel Henry does not step down as prime minister.

He was meant to have already returned from Kenya - where he signed a deal on the deployment of a multinational police force to Haiti. But instead Mr Henry, who is backed by the US, was diverted to the nearby American territory of Puerto Rico after his plane was denied authorisation to land.

Newsday tried to find out where Haiti is at this point, and how it can make progress in the future, with Jake Johnston from the human rights organisation, Haiti Watch:

"This is not occurring in a vacuum. In its more recent history the continual interventionism of foreign powers -especially the United States - overthrowing governments, overturning election results and in the current context providing support and putting in place the authorities that have overseen the total deterioration of the situation on the ground," he says.

"There is not a single elected official in Haiti right now. There are local solutions that can begin to address this almost immediately. That starts with leadership and that starts with governance."

(Image: Former police officer Jimmy "Barbecue" Cherizier, leader of the 'G9' gang alliance, is flanked by gang members after a press conference in Delmas 6, Port-au-Prince. Credit: Reuters)

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