United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres visited Port-au-Prince on Tuesday in a show of solidarity with victims of violence in the impoverished Caribbean nation. The trip was designed to draw attention to a deepening humanitarian crisis fueled by years of political instability and rampant gang violence.
The crisis has seen gangs carry out widespread killings, rapes, looting, and kidnappings. According to UN data, 2,300 people have been killed and 100 kidnapped this year, including a senior defense ministry official who was abducted last week. The surge in violence has left 1.5 million people homeless, meaning more than one in 10 Haitians have been forced from their homes.
Guterres began his visit at the headquarters of a new gang-suppression force, which was approved by the UN Security Council in September. During the trip, he criticized the international community, accusing it of looking away from the problem.