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Marines Protecting US Embassy in Port-au-Prince Exchange Gunfire With Gang Members

Marines, Gangs, and the Very Unfriendly Welcome Mat in Port-au-Prince

In the latest episode of “As the Embassy Turns,” U.S. Marines assigned to protect the American embassy in Port-au-Prince found themselves trading more than diplomatic pleasantries this week — they exchanged actual gunfire with suspected Haitian gang members. 

If there were a ratings board for geopolitical drama, this one would get a hard 'R'.

According to Capt. Steven J. Keenan, a spokesman for the U.S. Marines, the shooting occurred on Thursday, and — in a line that reads like a very serious stage direction — the Marines returned fire. 

Thankfully, the brief firefight did not injure any Marines, Keenan wrote in an emailed statement. 

No word on whether anyone yelled “cease and desist” mid-exchange.

This incident shines a brutal spotlight on the state of security in Haiti’s capital. 

Gang control has metastasized; gangs now control roughly 90% of Port-au-Prince, extorting businesses and battling for turf with weapons that make the phrase “armed conflict” uncomfortably literal. 

The United Nations reports that more than 1.3 million Haitians have been displaced by gang violence in recent years — a humanitarian catastrophe that doesn’t make for tidy headlines.

Why is the security situation so bad? 

The country has been in a sort of political limbo since President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated in 2021, an event that left a leadership vacuum and a messy scramble for stability. 

No sustained, nationally accepted government has really filled that vacuum, and elections have failed to restore a clear mandate.

International efforts to reverse the slide have produced mixed results.

In late September, the U.N. Security Council voted to authorize a gang-suppression force of around 5,500 troops, intended to push back on the heavily armed criminal groups. 

Meanwhile, a smaller contingent of police officers from Kenya — deployed earlier as an interim effort — has struggled to bring order; the U.N. Human Rights Office reports that gangs killed about 5,600 people last year. 

So far, the situation has resembled a messy, international group project where everyone agrees on the goal but can’t agree on the stapler.

The U.S. continues to operate an embassy in Haiti — an act that, in diplomatic terms, signals commitment. 

But travel advisories from the State Department regularly warn Americans to stay away, citing high risks of kidnapping, violent crime and civil unrest. 

That means the embassy is open, but the pool of visitors is mostly other diplomats, aid workers, and very brave mail carriers!

What does it mean when Marines return fire while protecting an embassy? 

Practically: the mission escalates from “guarding diplomatic property” to “managing kinetic threats.” 

Symbolically: it underlines how thin the line between security operations and full military engagement can become when state authority frays. 

And Humanely: it’s a reminder that ordinary Haitians pay a terrible price for the collapse of governance and the surge of armed groups.

There are no easy fixes. 

Any sustainable solution will require political leadership in Haiti, capable and well-supported security forces, and international cooperation that balances urgency with legal and ethical oversight. 

The U.N.’s proposed multinational force is meant to be part of that equation, but such missions are logistically complicated, ethically fraught and politically delicate.

For now, Port-au-Prince remains a city where the domestic drama plays out at gunpoint, and where embassy security details perform an awkward balancing act: protect their people, avoid drawing the whole region into wider conflict, and hope the next ceasefire lasts longer than the last soundbite!


U.N. Security Council Members Warn Haiti’s Leaders That Time Is Running Out For Transition

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    #PortAuPrince #USMarines #EmbassySecurity #HaitiViolence #CaptStevenKeenan #GangControl #90PercentRule #1Point3MillionDisplaced #JovenelMoise #UNGangForce #KenyaPolice #UNHumanRights #KidnapWarnings #DiplomacyUnderFire #CaribbeanCrisis

    Sources: Email statement from Capt. Steven J. Keenan (U.S. Marines) reporting that suspected Haitian gang members fired on American forces protecting the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince on Thursday and that the Marines returned fire; United Nations reporting on displacement (more than 1.3 million displaced by gang violence); background on gang control of Port-au-Prince (approximately 90% control); context on President Jovenel Moïse’s 2021 assassination and ongoing political vacuum in Haiti; UN Security Council vote in late September authorizing a ~5,500-troop gang-suppression force; reporting on the Kenyan police contingent and UN Human Rights Office casualty figure (~5,600 killed last year); U.S. State Department travel warnings regarding kidnappings, crime and civil unrest in Haiti.

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