Haitian government extends state of emergency, curfew

The Haitian government said on Tuesday it was extending curfew and state of emergency orders as it attempted to restore order and regain control. Its earlier curfew order was extended to Friday, March 29, and its state of emergency until April 3. According to a translation of the statement, the government prohibits all demonstrations on public roads and added that police could apprehend those violating the order.

Have Americans been able to get out of the country? The Florida Division of Emergency Management on Tuesday reported that 28 Americans had landed in Orlando. According to the agency, that brings the total number of Americans the state had evacuated from Haiti to 90. Last week, the U.S. Embassy in Haiti said it was still helping U.S. citizens depart Haiti via “non-commercial” means. The previous weekend, it had helped more than 30 Americans depart to Miami International Airport. The State Department said roughly 1,000 Americans in Haiti applied to the U.S. embassy to leave the country.

The U.S. State Department warned U.S. citizens not to travel to the country, citing an increase in violent crime, kidnapping, and “mob killings.” The department said U.S. authorities are “limited” in their ability to help Americans in the country and that local police “generally lack the resources to respond effectively to serious criminal incidents.”

Dig deeper: Listen to Mary Muncy’s report on The World and Everything in It podcast about a missionary family’s evacuation from Haiti.