Haiti’s former capital seeks to revive its hey-day as gang violence consumes Port-au-Prince

By DÁNICA COTO
Associated Press

CAP-HAITIEN, Haiti (AP) — They call it Okap, home to Haiti’s kings, emancipated slaves and revolutionaries. Sitting on Haiti’s shimmering north coast, the city of Cap-Haïtien was abandoned as a capital during the waning years of the French colonial era and again when the Kingdom of Haiti fell after its king died by suicide and his teenage son was slain. Now, the city once known as the Paris of the Antilles is on the brink of becoming what some say is Haiti’s de facto capital as Port-au-Prince crumbles under powerful gangs.