A US archbishop says the recent massacre in Haiti shows “the deteriorating situation has yet to touch bottom”. Source: OSV News.
Members of the Gran Grif de Savien gang stormed the town of Pont-Sondé during the early hours of October 3, killing at least 115 and displacing more than 6000 people.
A local human rights group advised media that gang members had travelled by canoe to reach the village, which sits along the Artibonite River, to ambush residents.
On October 9, Mayor Myriam Fièvre of Saint-Marc – a city about 14 kilometres west of Pont-Sondé, to which thousands had fled after the attack – told The Associated Press that authorities were still searching for bodies.
The attack ranks as the worst in Haiti’s recent history, which has been plagued by multiple, sustained crises such as political instability, natural disasters, foreign intervention and international debt.
Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski – who is fluent in Haitian Creole, and whose archdiocese is home to an extensive and historic Haitian expatriate community – slammed both domestic and international efforts to restore order in Haiti, which has experienced high volatility in government leadership for several years.
Amid the power struggle, “the Haitian people … are suffering from gang violence including rape and kidnapping” and are “increasingly at risk for famine,” said Archbishop Wenski.
The Haitian people “remain on the sidelines, powerless to intervene in the apparent standoff between the ‘criminals in sandals’ (the gangs) and the ‘criminals in ties’ (the corrupted political class)”, Archbishop Wenski said.
FULL STORY
Archbishop Wenski: Massacre Shows Violence In Haiti ‘Has Yet To Touch Bottom’ (By Gina Christian, OSV News)
