The Latest Breaking News from Port-au-Prince

At a time when democracy has withered in Haiti and gang violence has spiraled out of control, armed men like Jimmy Cherizier – known by the nickname Barbecue - have filled the power vacuum left by a crumbling government

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Haitian authorities vowed Friday to continue the fight against criminal armed gangs who this week plunged the volatile Caribbean nation into a new crisis after their “targeted” armed attacks left 14 cops dead in less than two weeks.

Haitian police officers on Thursday blocked streets and forced their way into the country's main airport to protest the recent killing of officers by armed gangs expanding their grip on the Caribbean nation.

Over the past three months Haiti has seen some of its worst gang-related violence in decades, affecting the functioning of the judiciary, impeding the government, challenging the United Nations efforts to fight illicit trafficking and keeping children from going to school, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said in his latest report…

In the years since Haiti last held a democratic election, the challenges facing the country have spiraled: gang violence, inflation, a cholera outbreak. "It's a collapse," one outgoing senator said.

For 15 years, Milena Sandler and Joel Widmaier welcomed some of the biggest international names in jazz and R&B to Haiti amid political turmoil, fuel shortages and protests, musicians like Branford Marsalis, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Joss Stone.

The Canadian government added more names Friday to its sanction list involving Haitian political figures and business people.

Canadian government accuses two Haitian nationals, including associate of ex-President Martelly, of enabling gangs.

A former rebel known as “the torturer,” who has a history of armed insurgency against Haitian leaders, has been arrested in the slaying of President Jovenel Moïse, multiple informed sources told the Miami Herald.

The Caribbean country has been blighted by colonial exploitation, natural disasters and violent gangs – now a food crisis looms. What can be done to fix Haiti?

A rise in gang violence and kidnappings in Haiti continues to worry the United Nations, whose top humanitarian official in Port-au-Prince has appealed to the international community to provide support for the country and its people.