Published: TUESDAY October 22, 2024: 'HAITI: Forgotten Crisis' by ZUMA Press represented Miami Herald's photographer Jose A. Iglesias: Ravaged by violence and poverty, one of the most beautiful, yet poorest countries in the world clings to the hope that things will get better. Haiti has become paralyzed as violent gangs clash over territory. The country has faced years of instability, but the situation has worsened since the July 2021 assassination of President Moise. It created a power vacuum which increased the influence of armed gangs. It is estimated they now control up to 80 percent of the capital, Port-au-Prince. Today in some of the most desperate areas of Haiti people live in near-famine conditions. Welcome to 'HAITI: Forgotten Crisis'
© zReportage.com Issue #959 Story of the Week: Published: TUESDAY October 22, 2024: 'HAITI: Forgotten Crisis' by ZUMA Press represented Miami Herald's photographer Jose A. Iglesias: Ravaged by violence and poverty, one of the most beautiful, yet poorest countries in the world clings to the hope that things will get better. Haiti has become paralyzed as violent gangs clash over territory. The country has faced years of instability, but the situation has worsened since the July 2021 assassination of President Moise. It created a power vacuum which increased the influence of armed gangs. It is estimated they now control up to 80 percent of the capital, Port-au-Prince. Today in some of the most desperate areas of Haiti people live in near-famine conditions. Welcome to 'HAITI: Forgotten Crisis'
A masked Haitian police officer sits in the passenger seat of a police vehicle while on patrol in the streets of Tabarre in metropolitan Port-au-Prince. The first quarter of 2024 was the deadliest for Haitians with around 2,500 people killed or injured in gang violence.
© Jose A. Iglesias/Miami Herald via ZUMA Press Wire
A young man walks by gang related graffiti near a Haiti National Police checkpoint in Butte-Boyer, which is a stronghold of the gang named Chen Mechan.
© Jose A. Iglesias/Miami Herald/TNS via ZUMA Press Wire
A man holding a child lines up to get medical attention at Ecole National Joseph C Bernard DeFreres Displacement Camp. Residents of areas in Port-au-Prince have been forced to take refuge in camps such as this rather than stay in gang-occupied territory.
© Jose Iglesias/Miami Herald via ZUMA Press Wire
A heavily armed Haitian policewoman keeps watch as Commissioner Livenston Gauthier, not pictured, talks to some young police officers at a checkpoint near the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince.
© Jose A. Iglesias/Miami Herald via ZUMA Press Wire
Two women on the back of a Moto-taxi in Port-au-Prince. Some 1.64 million people are facing emergency levels of acute food insecurity according to the UN.
© Jose A. Iglesias/El Nuevo Herald/TNS via ZUMA Press Wire
Various wooden sailboats in different stages of construction and repair line the bay in Bodin on the outskirts of Port-de-Paix. Haitian sailing masters had been running cargo and contraband up through the Bahamian islands since the 1600s.
© Jose A. Iglesias/Miami Herald via ZUMA Press Wire
With gang graffiti scrawled on the wall behind them, women sell their wares on the street of Port-au-Prince.
© Jose A. Iglesias/Miami Herald/TNS via ZUMA Press Wire
A first grader boy uses a small tree branch as a pointer as he recites in front of class during summer classes at Ecole National Louis Borno de Leogane school.
© Jose Iglesias/Miami Herald via ZUMA Press Wire
ROC AUXENE, a history teacher and regional director for the Ministry of Education for southeast Haiti, says the gang violence in Port-au-Prince is having negative consequences for those living away from the capital. Among them, 25,000 displaced children now living in the southeast region he has to try and accommodate.
© Jose Iglesias/Miami Herald via ZUMA Press Wire
Children play on school desks that have been taken out of classrooms so people can sleep inside at Ecole National Joseph C. Bernard DeFreres displacement camp. Residents of areas in Port-au-Prince have been forced to take refuge in camps such as this school rather than stay in gang occupied territories.
© Jose Iglesias/Miami Herald via ZUMA Press Wire
A woman carries a child across the school yard at Ecole National Joseph C. Bernard DeFreres displacement camp. Residents of areas in Port-au-Prince, have been forced to take refuge in camps such as this rather than stay in gang occupied territories.
© Jose Iglesias/Miami Herald via ZUMA Press Wire
A mural of late Haitian President Jovenel Moise is located not far from where he was shot to death in 2021 in the middle of the night inside his bedroom in the hills above Port-au-Prince.
© Jose A. Iglesias/Miami Herald via ZUMA Press Wire
A woman walks by a building undergoing repairs in Jacmel, Haiti, where the tourism industry has taken a hit because of gang violence.
© Jose Iglesias/Miami Herald via ZUMA Press Wire
The Haiti National Police force is increasingly being outgunned by deadly, warring gangs that have expanded their reach beyond Port-au-Prince, the capital.
© Jose A. Iglesias/Miami Herald via ZUMA Press Wire
Crowds of Haitian's wait to get gas at a fueling station in Port-au-Prince. Haiti's fuel stocks have been running low as importers struggled to get paid for subsidies that keep fuel prices low on the Caribbean nation.
© Jose A. Iglesias/Miami Herald/TNS via ZUMA Press Wire
A US serviceman stands guard as supplies are unloaded from a U.S. Air Force C-17 cargo plane on the tarmac at Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince. The plane was carrying supplies for the camp being built for Kenyan police officers who will lead a Multinational Security Support mission into Haiti.
© Jose A. Iglesias/Miami Herald via ZUMA Press Wire
A Haitian policeman holds his gun while on patrol in Port-au-Prince. Police say they often lack bullets and body armor to confront gangs.
© Jose A. Iglesias/Miami Herald via ZUMA Press Wire
GODFREY OTUNGE, the commander of the Kenya led Multinational Security Support mission forces in Haiti.
© Jose Iglesias/Miami Herald via ZUMA Press Wire
Armored vehicles used by Kenyan police rumble through the streets of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The vehicles are part of the United States' more than 300 million in contributions to the U.N. backed Multinational Security Support mission.
© Jose Iglesias/Miami Herald via ZUMA Press Wire
A Haitian Policeman frisks a motorcyclist at a check point in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
© Jose A. Iglesias/Miami Herald/TNS via ZUMA Press Wire
