In the aftermath of turmoil due to the uprising of Haitian gangs, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced that the State of Florida has rescued 700 Floridians from the spiraling violence in Haiti as the country plunges further into leaderless chaos, according to the State of Florida.
The Florida governor’s announcement came on April 24, the day before Haiti’s prime minister, Ariel Henry, resigned and handed power over to transitional council charged with the mission to lead the country amid continuing gang violence.
Henry said last month he would resign his post after armed gangs most of the capital, Port-au-Prince, including airports, forcing the president into temporary exile in Puerto Rico. Since then, the Haitian gangs have only become more powerful, taking advantage of the collapsing government infrastructure and taken control over different parts of the country.
The turmoil left hundreds of stranded Americans in grave danger.
“The State of Florida doesn’t shy away from doing the right thing and helping Americans in need,” DeSantis said. “I’m proud to announce that despite the lack of cooperation from the federal government, more than 700 Americans have been successfully evacuated from Haiti to Florida.”
On March 20, 2024, the Florida Division of Emergency Management began rescue operations and has so far successfully rescued 722 Americans from Haiti.
“Evacuating our residents has been challenging, and I am incredibly proud of the hard work our State Emergency Response Team, private and nonprofit partners have done to bring Americans home and accommodate their needs upon returning to Florida,” said Division Executive Director Kevin Guthrie. “We will always stand ready to support our residents…”
Upon their return to Florida, evacuees were given food, water, medical treatment and transportation back to their homes all across the Sunshine State. This is not the first time the DeSantis administration has engaged in the rescue of stranded Floridians abroad.
The Foreign Desk News notes that on October of 2023, Florida embarked brought 700 Americans home who were stranded in Israel after the oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack.