Washington/Port-au-Prince. The smuggling of arms from the US state of Florida to the Antilles republic of Haiti has recently increased enormously, according to officials from Russia and the US. This is reported by the Cuban news agency Prensa Latina and the US news portal Bloomberg.
According to the report, Haitian criminal groups bought weapons on an unprecedented scale in the southeastern US state and then smuggled them into the country. While there has long been low levels of smuggling of small-caliber weapons, particularly pistols, along this route, the current increase is characterized by the smuggling of large-caliber weapons, such as semi-automatic assault rifles and machine guns.
A statement from the Russian embassy in Washington said: “The US authorities’ neglect of this apparent problem undermines Washington’s self-proclaimed status as the guarantor of regional security and stability.” Experts have noted that “South Florida’s illegal arms trade is fueling the criminal gangs terrorizing the Caribbean republic. It is hampering efforts by Port-au-Prince and the international community to bring about political normalization in the country.”
Last month, UN officials warned of increasing political violence in Haiti, and the Organization of American States’ Permanent Council discussed the fact that the massive increase in arms smuggling into Haiti would impede “political normalization” (america21 reported).
In July last year, a group of Colombian and US mercenaries assassinated the then Haitian President Jovenel Moïse at his private estate in Pétionville, a suburb of the capital Port-au-Prince. Three of the attackers were then shot dead in a shootout with Haitian police. Another group of assassins who took refuge in the Taiwanese embassy were arrested by police after the Taipei government temporarily gave up the embassy’s extraterritorial status.
The people behind the attack are still being sought today. Riots broke out at the state ceremony for Moïse’s funeral.