Jamaica suspends consular services in Haiti after gang attack of car dealership housing its office

Jamaica has suspended consular services in Haiti, after its consulate in the nation’s capital came under attack Monday night.

The announcement was made by Jamaica Foreign Minister Kamina Johnson Smith. In a video message, she said her government is aware that the Sun Auto Car Dealership, where the Jamaican consulate is located, “was set ablaze and ransacked by criminal gangs.”

“The Consulate of Jamaica was located on the premises and we are ,” she said, “and therefore consular services in Haiti are therefore suspended indefinitely.”

Johnson Smith also expressed Jamaica’s sympathies to the owner of the dealership and honorary consul Daniel Rouzier.

The attack, she said, has only “hardened our resolve in returning Haiti to the peace and prosperity, which she and her people deserve.”

The timing of the alleged gang attack has raised suspicions. Some 50 Haitians, including Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry and members of his delegation, are in Kingston trying to reach a consensus around a path toward elections, governance and the raging insecurity that has led to the deaths of hundreds of Haitians this year alone and over 20 police officers at the hands of violent gangs.

In an interview Tuesday, Jamaica Prime Minister Andrew Holness told the Miami Herald that it’s still early “to draw conclusions,” between the attack and the Haitian stakeholders talks unfolding here in Kingston. But he concurred with his foreign minister about Jamaica’s determination to help its fellow Caribbean Community member state.

“Certainly that would not deter Jamaica from supporting Haiti,” Holness said. “As I’ve said, we’re very careful not to, in any way, interfere in Haiti’s domestic affairs but to give support where it is asked for.”

With the talks coming to an end Tuesday, Henry met privately with different factions to see if an agreement on how to address Haiti’s multidimensional crisis could be reached. During the opening session on Sunday, Henry said he wasn’t in Jamaica to create a new political accord — he formed one on Dec. 21, 2022 — but was interested in reaching a consensus on the pressing issues plaguing Haiti, mainly security and the lack of elections.

Edmonde Beauzile, a Henry supporter and head of the Fusion political party in Haiti, said going into the final day of the talks, everyone was steadfast in their position.

“Today is the day we are going to see what possibility there is to arrive at a consensus,” she said as the group boarded a bus to head to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the private talks.

Raphael André, spokesperson of the political party Mopod, said his group would like to see a change at the top. The Sun Auto incident, he said, is the latest example showing how the country is being ruled by “armed groups and there are people who are in power who were supposed to bring order to the chaos and after two years have not done so.”

The talks are being facilitated by three former Caribbean prime ministers — Perry Christie of The Bahamas, Bruce Golding of Jamaica and Kenny Anthony of St. Lucia — with support from the 15-member Caribbean Community, CARICOM, the United States and Canada.

Sun Auto is located in the Tabarre area of Port-au-Prince, not far from the U.S. embassy and in a red zone where a powerful gang led by Vitel’Homme Innocent has been wreaking havoc.

The FBI has offered a $1 million reward for information leading to Innocent’s arrest. It was issued prior to Monday’s attack, which came. after a lull in gang attacks and kidnappings after Haitians decided to fight back by arming themselves with machetes and lynched several. suspected gang members.