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Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry, whose whereabouts have been unknown for days, arrived in Puerto Rico on Tuesday afternoon, according to media reports.
Henry arrived at the Luiz Muñoz Marín International Airport in the capital, San Juan, according to The Associated Press. He was planning to fly to the Dominican Republic and then to Haiti, but the Dominican government suspended all flights to Haiti.
Haitian soldiers and police exchanged gunfire with the heavily armed gangs Monday at Port-au-Prince's international airport, and the gangs tried to seize control of the airport. Security personnel continued to patrol the airport late Monday.
It is the biggest attack on the airport in Haiti's history. Toussaint Louverture International Airport, where Henry would have landed, was closed when the attack occurred, with no planes operating and no passengers on site.
Airport remains closed
Last week, the airport was struck briefly by bullets amid ongoing gang attacks, but gangs did not enter the airport or seize control of it.
The U.N. says surging violence in Haiti over the last several days has driven nearly 15,000 people from their homes in the capital, Port-au-Prince, 80% of which are controlled by armed gangs.
Reports from the capital say it is largely shut down, with residents only venturing out for essentials after the Haitian government declared a 72-hour state of emergency late Sunday.
The declaration came after the gangs overran Haiti's National Penitentiary late Saturday, releasing all but 99 of some 4,000 prisoners.
The latest surge in violence began Thursday as Henry traveled to Kenya to sign a deal for the U.N.-backed deployment of 1,000 Kenyan police officers to help fight the gangs.
Gang leader Jimmy Chérizier, who goes by the nickname "Barbecue," issued a
video statement saying a coordinated attack by armed groups was underway to oust Henry. He said the groups were seeking to get the prime minister to resign and "free the country." He said they would "use all strategies to achieve that goal.
At a State Department news briefing on Monday, spokesman Matt Miller said the United States condemned the violence and is closely monitoring the situation. He said many of those responsible for the uptick in violence have been designated by the U.S. for sanctions for human rights and illicit drugs violations.
He urged the U.N. to finalize "the Multinational Security Support Mission to assist the Haiti National Police in dealing with the dire security situation on the ground."
Miller said it was the understanding of the State Department that Henry would be returning to Haiti, but deferred to the Haitian government regarding when that might be and where he has been since he left Kenya last week.
Henry became Haiti's leader after the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, plunging the country into extraordinary levels of violence and chaos. He has twice promised to hold new elections but has reneged each time.
VOA's Margaret Besheer contributed to this report. Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
The Voice of America provides news and information in more than 40 languages to an estimated weekly audience of over 326 million people. Stories with the VOA News byline are the work of multiple VOA journalists and may contain information from wire service reports.