What are the gangs that have invaded the capital of Haiti and what do they want?

The Caribbean country has descended into disorder and violence, with gangs controlling access to the main airport and taking control of many areas of Port-au-Prince.

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

The gangs closed the airport, looted seaports, public buildings and shops and attacked nearly a dozen police stations.

Roads are blocked, cutting off food supplies and 4600 prisoners were released after the attack on the prisons.

The prime minister, Ariel Henry He’s stranded in Puerto Rico while gang members wreak havoc, demand his resignation and raid dozens of trucks full of World Food Program supplies.

The state of emergency around Porto Principethe capital, has been extended for another month.

With the government on the brink of collapse, the United States and Caribbean countries are working to reach a solution – including a plan for a transitional government – ​​that will restore some semblance of order to the troubled nation and allow Henry to return to the country . .

What are gangs and what do they want?

Experts estimate that in Haiti they operate up to 200 bands, about 20 of them in Port-au-Prince. They range from small groups of a few dozen young people sharing guns to gangs of around 1,500 men with weekly salaries and automatic weapons who belong to hierarchical organizations with bosses.

Two major gang organizations, the G-Pèp and the G-9 Family, control many of the capital’s poorest neighborhoods. Criminal groups and their allies sometimes work collaboratively, but more often clash.

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

The G-9 and its allies have largely taken control of the ports and roads surrounding the country’s main airport.

It was almost impossible to drive from Port-au-Prince to northern cities because the gangs took control of the north-south highway.

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

Instead, in Henry’s absence, the gang leaders announced an informal alliance called “Vivre Ensemble” or “Living Together” in Spanish.

They launched coordinated attacks against state institutions with the aim of overthrowing the current government and preventing the deployment of international forces.

“They want to swallow up neighborhoods one by one,” said Nicole Phillips, a human rights lawyer specializing in Haiti.

“Any government that allows them to do that, that’s what they want.”

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

Who manages the gangs?

The gangs have different leaders in different neighborhoods, but in recent days a boss named Jimmy Chérizier, known as Barbacoa, has become the leader public face of the Live Together alliance.

A former police officer known for his cruelty, he was accused of directing massacres.

His gang alliance, the G-9, runs in central Port-au-Prince and has been accused of attacking neighborhoods allied with opposition political parties, looting homes, raping women and killing people at random.

I call her “armed revolution”.

This week he sought to strike a more conciliatory tone, apologizing to people whose homes had been ransacked by gangs, including his own alliance, during the recent riots.

“Our first step in the battle is to overthrow the government Ariel Henryas we have always said, and then we will ensure that the country has a strong state with a strong judicial system to fight the corrupt,” he said in a press conference.

“We will make sure we have a strong security system that allows everyone to move around when they want and come back when they want.”

“Our goal is to see another Haiti.”

While it is unclear whether the gang leader’s more measured approach was sincere or calculated, Muggah said it was still a new position for Chérizier.

“We have seen how Chérizier and the G-9 have evolved in recent weeks towards more political rhetoric,” Muggah said.

“In addition to calling for rebellion and threatening civil war if their demands are not met, they seek to propose solutions by which they would retain power if, at the very least, they were acquitted and given amnesty for all the crimes they have committed.” task .”

Why does Kenya intend to send police officers to Haiti?

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

Haiti has not held elections for eight years.

Its president was assassinated nearly three years ago.

Henry, the prime minister-designate, is widely regarded as an illegitimate ruler.

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

Last year, almost 5000 people were killed and another 2,500 kidnapped, according to the UN, a level of violence doubled from the previous year.

January was the most violent month in two years, with more than 800 people killed, according to the United Nations.

In late 2022, Henry called on the international community to take action. Some nations, including the United States, have expressed little interest, given the dismal record of previous international interventions in Haiti.

The United States agreed to fund the bulk of the deployment of 1,000 Kenyan police officers, plus others from other nations, but the operation was delayed by Kenyan court rulings.

As Haitian gangs have grown in size and weaponry, they have gained more territory and major infrastructure.

They charge a fee for traveling on certain roads and for recovering seized trucks and demand a ransom to free kidnapping victims.

In recent years, violent groups have begun to spread into rural areas such as Artibonite, about 100 km north of Port-au-Prince and in one of Haiti’s main agricultural regions.

Gangs invade farms and make it difficult, if not impossible, for farmers to travel and sell their products.

Who are these gangs made up of?

It’s a complicated question to answer.

“Now we use the word ‘gang’ because it’s practical, everyone uses it and knows it, but it doesn’t capture what’s happening,” said Romain Le Cour, who researches Haiti for the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, based in Geneva.

Most gang members are men in their 20s who come from poor urban neighborhoods where opportunities are scarce.

They are often aligned with elite businessmen and politicians who pay them for everything from securing cargo to rallying protesters.

Political parties have used gang members in elections to attract votes or suppress them.

“In Haiti there is a long tradition of elites trying to create and nurture paramilitary groups which, in recent decades, have helped them serve their interests and use violence to maintain a monopoly on some basic products or for some interests politicians,” said Diego Da. Rin, a Haitian researcher at the International Crisis Group.

In Haiti, the concept of irregular armed groups dates back decades, and various types of violent actors have existed in the country.

During the Haitian dictatorship of François Duvalierthe paramilitary groups known as the Tonton Macoutes were notorious for their violence and repression.

In 1995, Pres Jean-Bertrand Aristide he outlawed paramilitary groups and disbanded the Haitian military.

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

Other past paramilitary groups include the far-right Front for the Advancement and Progress of Haiti and the Chimères, who were affiliated with Aristide.

Now, the boundary between a baz and a gang is often blurred.

People tired of gang violence have joined a movement known as “bwa damn”, which encourages justice with its own hands.

They have committed extrajudicial killings and generally prosecute criminals, often with the support of the local community.

Furthermore, many members of a government-sanctioned environmental brigade, known as B-SAP, have turned against the state, joining another group of armed people.

Will the police be able to stop them?

The Haitian National Police has been hit by the departure of about 3,000 of its 15,000 personnel over the past two years.

Although the United States has invested nearly $200 million in the department, it is currently under-armed and understaffed.

The department has 47 armored vehicles, but on a recent visit by U.N. investigators, fewer than half were operational.

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