Who are the gangs that took over Haiti’s capital?

Haiti, a Caribbean nation with a long history of unrest, is experiencing one of its worst periods of chaos.

Gangs have closed the airport; looted seaports, public buildings and shops; and attacked nearly a dozen police stations. Roads have been blocked, cutting off food supplies, and 4,600 prisoners have been released after prisons were attacked.

Prime Minister Ariel Henry is stranded in Puerto Rico as mobsters wreak havoc, demanding his resignation and holding up dozens of trucks full of World Food Program food shipments.

The state of emergency around the capital Port-au-Prince was extended by a month.

With the government on the brink of collapse, the United States and Caribbean countries are working on a resolution — including a plan for a transitional government — that would restore some semblance of order to the troubled country and allow Mr. Henry to return turn. At home.

Who are the gangs and what do they want?

Experts estimate that there are about 200 gangs active in Haiti, including about 20 in Port-au-Prince. They range from small groups of a few dozen young men sharing pistols to crews of about 1,500 with weekly salaries and automatic weapons belonging to hierarchical organizations with bosses.

Two major gang federations, G-Pèp and the G-9 Family, control many of the capital’s poorest neighborhoods. The criminal groups and their allies sometimes work together, but more often they clash.

The groups are historically linked to political parties: the G-9 is affiliated with Haiti’s ruling Tèt Kale party, while G-Pèp tends to support opposition parties.

The G-9 and its allies have largely taken over the ports and roads around the country’s main airport. It has been virtually impossible to drive from Port-au-Prince to the northern cities as gangs have seized the north-south highway.

Mr Henry left the country for Kenya last week, where he signed an agreement paving the way for a multinational force led by the East African nation to travel to Haiti and defeat the gangs.

Instead, in Mr. Henry’s absence, gang leaders announced a loose alliance called “Vivre Ensemble” or “Living Together.” They launched coordinated attacks on state institutions with the aim of overthrowing the current government and preventing the deployment of international forces.

“They want to gobble up neighborhoods one by one,” said Nicole M. Phillips, a human rights lawyer specializing in Haiti. “Whatever government allows them to do that, that’s what they want.”

The gangs also hope to establish a government council to rule the country, and they want to help elect its members so they can exercise control, said Robert Muggah, who researches Haiti for several U.N. agencies.

Who leads the gangs?

The gangs have different leaders in different neighborhoods, but in recent days a gang leader named Jimmy Chérizier, who goes by Barbecue, has become the public face of the Living Together alliance.

He is a former police officer known for his ruthlessness and accused of directing massacres. His gang alliance, the G-9, controls central Port-au-Prince and is accused of attacking neighborhoods linked to opposition political parties, looting homes, raping women and killing people indiscriminately .

He called it an ‘armed revolution’.

He tried to strike a more conciliatory tone this week by apologizing to people whose homes were looted by gangs, including his own alliance, during the recent unrest.

“Our first step in the fight is to overthrow the government of Ariel Henry, as we have always said, and then we will ensure that the country has a strong state with a strong legal system to fight the corrupt,” he said during a press conference. conference. “We are going to make sure that we have a strong security system so that everyone can circulate when they want and return when they want.

“Our goal is to see a new Haiti.”

While it was unclear whether the gang leader’s more measured approach was sincere or calculated, Mr. Muggah noted that it was nevertheless a new position for Mr. Chérizier.

“We have seen Chérizier and the G-9 move towards more political rhetoric in recent weeks,” Muggah said. “In addition to calling for rebellion and threatening civil war if their demands are not met, they are trying to propose solutions that would allow them to retain their power if they are at least acquitted and granted amnesty for all the crimes they have committed. concerned.”

Why is Kenya planning to send police officers to Haiti?

Kenya was one of the few countries that responded to Haiti’s international request for help.

Haiti hasn’t held an election in eight years. The president was assassinated almost three years ago. Mr Henry, the appointed Prime Minister, is widely regarded as an illegitimate leader.

The state has effectively lost its credibility and power – and gangs have stepped in to fill the void.

Last year, nearly 5,000 people were murdered and another 2,500 kidnapped. according to the UN, a level of violence that has doubled compared to last year. According to the UN, January was the most violent month in two years, with more than 800 deaths

In late 2022, Mr Henry asked the international community to take action. Some countries, including the United States, showed little interest given the dismal results of previous international interventions in Haiti.

The United States has agreed to finance most of the deployment of 1,000 Kenyan police officers, plus more from other countries, but this has been delayed by Kenyan court rulings.

As Haitian gangs have grown in size and firepower, they have acquired more territory and key infrastructure. They charge fees to cross certain highways and to recover hijacked trucks, and demand ransoms to release kidnap victims.

In recent years, violent groups began spreading to rural areas such as Artibonite, about 90 kilometers north of Port-au-Prince and one of Haiti’s main agricultural areas. Gangs invade farms and make it difficult – if not impossible – for farmers to travel and sell their goods.

Who are these gang members?

That’s a complicated question to answer.

“We use the word ‘gang’ now because it’s convenient, everyone uses it and it’s a word everyone knows, but it doesn’t reflect what’s going on,” said Romain Le Cour, who researches Haiti for the Geneva-based Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime.

Most gang members are men in their twenties, from impoverished urban neighborhoods where opportunities are scarce. They often work with elite business leaders and politicians who pay them to do everything from securing cargo to rallying protesters. Political parties have used gang members in elections to swing the vote – or suppress it.

“There is a long tradition in Haiti of elites trying to create and fuel paramilitary groups, which in recent decades have helped them to serve their interests and use violence to maintain a monopoly on a certain product or for certain political interests” , said Diego Da Rin. , a Haitian researcher with the International Crisis Group.

The concept of irregularly formed armed groups dates back decades in Haiti, and there have been several types of violent actors in the country.

During Haiti’s dictatorship under Francois Duvalier, paramilitary groups known as Tonton Macoutes were notorious for their violence and repression. In 1995, President Jean-Bertrand Aristide banned paramilitary groups and disbanded the Haitian armed forces.

Former soldiers who were originally part of Mr. Aristide’s movement later founded local self-defense groups known as “baz,” which often followed charismatic leaders and came to rule parts of Port-au-Prince.

Other past paramilitary groups include the far-right Front for the Progress and Progress of Haiti and the Chimères, which were linked to Mr Aristide.

Now the line between a boss and a gang is often blurred.

People fed up with gang violence have joined a movement known as “bwa farmers,” which embraces vigilante justice. They have committed extrajudicial killings and typically target criminals, often with support from the local community.

In addition, many members of a government-sanctioned environmental brigade known as B-SAP have turned against the state, bringing a new group of armed people into the mix.

Can the police stop them?

The Haitian National Police has seen about 3,000 of its 15,000 employees flee in the past two years. Although the United States has poured nearly $200 million into the department, it is notoriously understaffed and under-resourced. The department has 47 armored personnel carriers, but less than half were operational during a recent visit by UN investigators.

André Paultre contributed reporting from Port-au-Prince, Haiti.