Two days after Haiti’s transitional government approved partial funding in tax revenue to help fight gangs, the country’s Treasury Ministry was hit by another blow.
The Miami-based Royal Caribbean has suspended operations at Lavadie, a private destination off the coast of northern Haiti. Celebrity Cruise, the sister line of the Royal Caribbean, had already removed Lavadie from its itinerary a few weeks ago.
“Due to the abundant attention we temporarily suspend our visit to Lavadie,” a Royal Caribbean spokesman said in a statement. “We’re already communicating directly with our guests.”
On Tuesday night, Haitian vendors who rely on a small number of tourists still traveling to Haiti were notified of the decision. It was the second time the Royal Caribbean has decided to remove Haiti from its Caribbean stop within 12 months. Last summer, we stopped visiting Lavadie until September 2024.
Although the cruise line did not provide details on either decision, the latest move from the Royal Caribbean comes more than a week after Haitian transitional government declared a national state of emergency. Sources familiar with the situation said northern Haiti has not been overrun by criminal gangs like Port-au-Prince’s capital, but the emergency declared April 8th to May 8th in response to violence will not help.
A further concern is the recent security alert from the US embassy in Port-au-Prince about widespread protests with possible violence. Haiti has been under level 4 for several years and does not move warnings from the US State Department, citing inducements, crime, civil unrest and limited health care.
Passengers on the cruise ship have been one of the few tourists Haiti has received since the shocking rise in gang violence forced airlines to cancel flights, forcing the closure of Toussaint Louverture, the major international airport in Porto Prince twice last year. Data provided to the Miami Herald shows that fewer than 180,000 airline travelers in Haiti last year due to the closure last year and the ongoing ban on US jetliners that the Federal Aviation Administration landed at Toussaint Louverture. In comparison, the country had over a million airline passengers in 2018.
Haiti’s Treasury Ministry did not respond to requests on how much the country was lost in airport revenue, but has one of the highest taxes on air tickets for $100 each, and is charged a separate $10 tourist tax for all travelers who cannot prove they were born in Haiti.
Violence in the capital, spreading across parts of Central Haiti, has led to one of the worst humanitarian crises in the region, and recently issued warnings to gangs and their allies about reports that many foreign governments are planning to destabilise transitional governments.
On Sunday, the State Department joined the leaders of Caricom, a 15-person Caribbean community, and issued warnings against attempts to force them to take over. Above. On Wednesday, the UK and France issued a similar joint statement.
“We are committed to maintaining pressure on those seeking to destabilize Haiti through the implementation of sanctions, and we are calling on authorities to fully implement Haiti’s sanctions regime,” the state said in a joint statement.
The statement came as Haitians prepared to take them to the streets to oppose violence and the dominant transitional government. However, hours after the protest, its organizers, members of the Self-Defense Brigade in the capital city of Canape, and assigned to the National Palace troops suddenly stopped the march, informing the crowd that there were 300 individuals ready to attack the crowd.
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(Vinod Sreeharsha, staff writer for the Miami Herald, contributed to this report.)
