Gunfire and gangs: A Tisdale man’s ordeal in tumultuous Haiti

By Cam Lee

A man from Tisdale is stuck in Haiti amid political upheaval in that country.

Richard Phillips, who is in the country for work purposes, has been unable to leave the country due to ongoing violence that has erupted as powerful gangs opposed to Prime Minister Ariel Henry filled a power vacuum. Henry was unable to return from Puerto Rico.

Phillips was originally staying near the airport in the capital Port-Au-Prince, but that soon became too dangerous as “hundreds of shots were fired a day and during the night as well.” He is in a much safer area on the outskirts of the city but didn’t want to reveal his exact location.

“There still is some gunfire once in a while but the last two days have been a little quieter in anticipation of the prime minister of the country resigning,” Phillips told northeastNOW.

Henry announced he was stepping down, with a new transitional government to be formed. Phillips said the streets echoed more of everyday commerce Tuesday morning rather than gunfire.

“Business has started returning to normal, at least up in the area where we are,” Phillips said. “I don’t know about the airport area whether the gangs have pulled back or not.”

Phillips said the mood seems to have lightened a little since Henry’s resignation announcement.

Having been to Haiti many times over the years for work, Phillips said he has never encountered this amount of violence in the Caribbean country. There have been times when he has faced roadblocks that make it difficult to get to the airport, and he’s come across gunfire in the air, but nothing that compares to the recent turbulence.

“We’ve never seen the national airport close for this long of a period of time before, and the amount of gunfire actually directed at the airplanes, that’s a new situation here,” he said.

Phillips said a lot of the gunfire was directed at the airplanes with gangs thinking the unpopular prime minister may have been returning to Haiti. There are only two national airports, and both remain closed for the same reason.

Phillips said he checked into getting a private plane or helicopter to get his party, but all of the pilots told them they would get shot at if the gangs believed the prime minister was on the plane.

It’s no easier to move by land.

“Gangs control the roads. It’s not safe to get out by road in any direction,” Phillips said.

Phillips said they just have to remain patient and wait for the airport to open. He hopes the group of seven party leaders making up the transitional government will be able to broker some kind of peace and convince the gangs to pull back.

According to Phillips, they are now staying at a secure place away from the heavy gunfire they incurred around the airport, where hundreds of rounds a day were commonplace and hotel security staff would return that fire.

“The Canadian Embassy has been advising us, ‘Just stay where you are, keep your head down, stay low (and) let’s let this thing pass,’ ” explained Phillips, who said there are a couple thousand Canadians in Haiti receiving that message.

Phillips was quick to reject any idea of international help being beneficial at this time.

“The Haitians themselves have to have the solution here,” Phillips said.

He believes that if the seven party leaders who make up the transitional government can sit down to formulate a plan to “get their country going,” they can sort through their political battles later. Phillips said only then can the airports reopen and commerce can restart again.

“The gangs have already said, ‘If you bring in international force to try and suppress us, then there’s going to be a whole-scale street war,’ ” explained Phillips.

He said the only thing they can do is simply wait for the situation to resolve itself, which would help open the airports so Canadians can return home.

“We’re alive and well, and where we are is fairly safe,” he said.