SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Haiti’s government announced Saturday that it is implementing a three-month state of emergency in the country’s central region as gang violence surges.

The measure will cover Haiti’s West, Artibonite and Center departments “to continue the fight against insecurity and respond to the agricultural and food crisis,” according to a government statement.

The region — known as Haiti’s rice basket — has been under attack in recent years, with gangs killing farmers or forcing them to abandon their fields as they raze nearby communities.

The United Nations’ human rights office noted that from October 2024 to the end of June 2025, more than 1,000 people have been killed, more than 200 injured and 620 kidnapped in the Artibonite and Central departments and nearby areas.

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