Haiti cracks down on heavily armed environmental agents after clashes with police

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Haiti is cracking down on a state environmental department whose heavily armed agents have grown more powerful in recent months and were blamed for violent clashes with police last week. The government on Monday ordered all workers with the National Agency for Protected Areas to report themselves to authorities so they can be registered. The government also announced that no armed environmental agents are allowed to circulate within cities to improve the country’s security climate. The crackdown comes almost a week after the administration of Prime Minister Ariel Henry announced the restructuring of the National Agency for Protected Areas given what it called “serious problems of institutional dysfunction.”