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U.S. Embassy In Haiti Warns Americans To ‘Shelter In Place’ After Violent Protests Leave Missionaries Stranded

   DailyWire.com

The United States government issued a stern warning to Americans in Haiti Monday, instructing visitors and missionaries to “shelter in place” and make no attempt to leave the country until violent protests against the Haitian government have died down.

Fox News reports that protesters, angry over the rising price of commodities like gasoline, and a recent government proposal to hike prices even further to cover budget deficits, have been raging through the capital city of Port-au-Prince, destroying buildings, looting stores, and setting fires. Three people have been killed, all protesters.

The Prime Minister of Haiti, Jack Guy Lafontant, issued an order Sunday night establishing price controls, but the change doesn’t seem to have quelled the violence.

Around 120 Americans are believed to be stranded in a Port-au-Prince hotel targeted Sunday by protesters in an arson attack. Hundreds of other Americans, members of Christian missions and youth groups, are scattered across the Caribbean nation.

“Do not travel to the airport unless you confirmed your flight is departing,” the State Department cautioned in a statement to travelers late Sunday. “Flights are canceled today and the airport has limited food and water available.”

“Telecommunication services, including internet and phone lines, have been affected throughout Haiti. It may be difficult to reach people through normal communication methods,” the communication continued, adding that the State Department is “closely monitoring the situation and remain in close contact with Haitian authorities to verify the welfare and whereabouts of U.S. citizens in the area.”

Missionaries returning to Port-au-Prince from more remote areas of the island nation face a bevy of dangers, including what CNN termed “impromptu checkpoints”: roadblocks, set up by protesters, designed to prey on Americans and other foreigners moving through the country.

“They were on a bus with the owners of the mission, the leaders, our adults, three armed guards. And they just kept getting stopped by road blocks and people asking for money. And that’s when they decided that, at that point, it was just … it wasn’t worth it, to try to make it to the airport,” one parent of a youth group missionary told the news network.

The groups are keeping their parents and relatives updated on their safety through social media.

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