Finland's Honorary Consul General Gregory Mevs owns, among other things, the Varreux terminal of Haiti's main port. The port has been besieged by gangs, and nothing moves out of the gates.
in Haiti power seems to be shifting more and more violently to criminal gangs. Haiti has not had a president for three years, and on Tuesday the country's prime minister Ariel Henry said he was resigning from his position.
The chaotic situation in the country was discussed from the beginning of the week at the Caricom meeting in Jamaica.
At the end of the meeting, the President of Guyana Mohamed Irfaan Ali announced that a transitional presidential council would be established in Haiti. At the same time, a temporary prime minister would be appointed to replace the resigned Henry.
However, restoring order to Haiti will require hard work. On Tuesday, HS caught up with Finland's ambassador to the Caribbean region Pertti Ikonenwho was currently on his way to a Caricom meeting in Jamaica.
He did not comment on the situation in Haiti himself, but the Honorary Consul General of Finland passed it on to HS Gregory Mevs written summary of the events of the last week.
Mrs is not present in Haiti himself. For the last year, he has mainly lived in Haiti's neighboring country, the Dominican Republic. The Finnish consulate in Haiti is temporarily closed.
“The situation is very serious”, Mevs describes the conditions in Haiti.
“I doubt that we don't even fully understand the extent of the chaos that now prevails in the country.”
Mevs also writes that Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, has become isolated from the rest of the country by road, sea and air.
“The port of Port-au-Prince collapsed this morning and gangs are looting containers stored in the terminals. Passenger planes can't land at the airport because the gangs might start shooting at them.”
Mevs such as an honorary consul is a private person for whom the work of an honorary consul is an unpaid sideline. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland typically invites people who hold significant positions in their home countries as honorary consuls.
Mevs is also such a person. In 2012 in a published interview Helsingin Sanomat described him as one of Haiti's most influential businessmen.
Mevs, for example, owns the Varreux terminal in Haiti's main port. Right now the harbor is under siege by gangs and nothing moves out of the gates.
Before after his resignation, Haitian Prime Minister Henry was traveling in Kenya. He was there to sign an agreement under which a thousand policemen would leave Kenya to restore order in Haiti.
During Henry's trip, Haitian criminal gangs declared a campaign to overthrow his government and attacked several government facilities.
According to Mevsi, the resigned prime minister lacked the means to lead politics in Haiti.
“Even though the government has declared a state of emergency in the country, it has completely failed in its mission,” Mevs writes.
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