As bad as the situation in Haiti has become, with gangs controlling almost the entire capital Port-au-Prince, there is the potential for things to get even much worse.
Yesterday (29) heavy gunfire battles paralyzed Haiti’s capital, with four police officers slain.
In the meantime, powerful gang leader Jimmy ‘Barbecue’ Chérizier announced that he would try to ‘capture’ the country’s police chief and government ministers.
This is happening in the absence of Prime Minister Ariel Henry, in African nation of Kenya trying to arrange for the deployment of a foreign armed force to Haiti to help combat gangs.
Associated Press reported:
“Gunmen shot at Haiti’s main international airport and other targets, including police stations, in a wave of violence that caught many people by surprise. At least four police officers, including two women, were killed in an attack on a station near the community of Canaan, according to a police union.
The violence forced the airport, businesses, government agencies and schools to close as parents and young children fled through the streets in panic. At least one airline, Sunrise Airways, suspended all flights.
Jimmy Chérizier, known as ‘Barbecue’ and leader of the gang federation G9 Family and Allies, was seen in a recorded video announcing that the aim was to tie up the police chief and government ministers and prevent Henry from returning to Haiti. ‘With our guns and with the Haitian people, we will free the country’, he said.”
Armored vehicles patrolled mostly empty streets in Port-au-Prince, while others remained stationed near gang-controlled slums.
In some neighborhoods, residents set up armed roadblocks to prevent gangs from entering.
“It was not clear if Chérizier, the gang leader, had the backing of other major gangs that are estimated to control up to 80% of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince.”
In his taped speech, Barbecue referred to a coalition called ‘Viv Ansanm’ (‘living together’ in Haitian Creole), a ‘peace pact’ between Barbecue’s federation and another powerful gang called G-Pep.
The main goal of the gangs is to bring down Henry’s administration.
“The attacks came a day after Henry met in Guyana with Caribbean leaders, who said he pledged to hold long-awaited general elections by mid-2025. It is the third time he has announced such a deadline, with previous promises made in 2022 and 2023. There are currently no elected officials in Haiti, with Henry sworn in as prime minister with the backing of the international community shortly after the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.”
A Kenyan court ruled that the deployment would be unconstitutional, but PM Henry and Kenyan officials are working on a deal to allow forces to arrive in Haiti soon.
Henry arrived in Kenya on Thursday, and it’s unknown when he would return to Haiti.
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