Hail of gunfire interrupts key meeting of Haiti's leaders trying to fend
off gangs
[October 10, 2025]
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Heavy gunfire erupted in downtown
Port-au-Prince on Thursday after Haiti’s leaders made the rare and
defiant decision to meet at the National Palace to symbolize the
retaking of an area long controlled by powerful gangs.
There were no immediate reports of injuries or deaths, but at least one
armored vehicle driving through the area was shot up, according to local
media reports.
Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé and members of Haiti’s transitional
presidential council, along with other high-ranking government
officials, were at the National Palace when the heavy gunfire began.
It wasn’t immediately clear if the officials were evacuated, but local
news site Tripotay Lakay filmed a caravan of official cars quickly
exiting the National Palace from its rear exit as people in the area ran
for cover.
The government officials had gathered at the palace for a key meeting in
which they were expected to approve budgets and important measures.
Before the meeting began, they gathered outside on the grounds of the
palace as a police band played and Haiti’s flag was raised, with heavily
armed officers standing watch on the second floor behind sandbags for
protection.
“This government meeting marks a symbolic and decisive step in the
gradual resumption of state control over downtown Port-au-Prince, the
historic heart of republican power,” read a government statement issued
Thursday before gunfire erupted.
Haiti’s leaders have long stayed away from the National Palace since
it’s located in an area that until recently was considered unsafe and
controlled by a gang coalition known as Viv Ansanm.
But in recent weeks, government workers began clearing and securing the
area with hopes of reclaiming it from the hands of gangs.
“We are taking back control of our capital and giving our people the
security and dignity they deserve,” said Fils-Aimé shortly before the
attack began.
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People walk past the National Palace in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, March
25, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph, File)
Hours after the gunfire subsided, Jimmy Chérizier, a leader of Viv
Ansanm, posted a video on social media mocking claims that the
government had retaken the area.
“If Viv Ansanm hasn’t asked you to come back, don’t come back,” said
Chérizier, best known as Barbecue. “We are waiting to see who is
coming to destroy us.”
Gangs are estimated to control up to 90% of Port-au-Prince, and they
have remained entrenched in the downtown area and nearby
communities.
Leslie Voltaire, a former vice president of the transitional
presidential council who presided over the meeting because the
council's leader was on an official overseas trip, did not refer to
the violence in a post on X in which he praised the meeting.
“We discussed matters of national importance, such as security, the
2025-2026 budget, and national governance. The State reaffirms all
of its authority over the Champ de Mars,” he wrote, referring to the
area where the National Palace is located.
The attack comes just days after the U.N. Security Council approved
the creation of a so-called gang suppression force to help repel
gangs in the troubled Caribbean country.
The U.S. Embassy in Haiti said Thursday that the U.S. and its
Caribbean partners were working on helping implement the new force.
“Together, we will defeat the gangs terrorizing the region!” it
wrote on X.
The force is expected to replace a U.N.-backed mission led by Kenyan
police that is winding down after it was severely hampered by a lack
of resources and personnel.
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