Haiti is preparing for a new leadership, gangs wants to govern
Politicians in Haiti rush for power after Prime Minister Ariel Henry stated on Tuesday that he will leave once a transitional presidential council is formed.
However, violent gangs who control 80% of Haiti’s capital are vying for a say in the country’s future.
No one addressed armed organizations as Caribbean leaders congratulated themselves late Monday for putting Haiti on a new democratic path, and experts warned that little will change unless gangs are brought up.
“Even if you have a different kind of government, the reality is that you need to talk to the gangs,” said Robert Fatton, a Haitian politics expert at the University of Virginia. He pointed out that gangs dominate the capital in significant part. “If they have that power, and there is no countervailing force, it’s no longer a question of whether you want them at the table. “They may simply take the table.”
Gangs have strong ties to Haiti’s political and economic elite. Still, they have become more self-sufficient, funding their operations with abduction ransoms to purchase smuggled weapons such as belt-fed machine guns and 50-caliber sniper rifles, which allow them to defeat underfunded police.
It is claimed that more than 200 gangs operate in Haiti, with the majority based in Port-au-Prince and the surrounding areas. More than 20 of them are based in the capital and align with two main coalitions: G9 Family and Allies, led by Jimmy Chérizier, a former elite police officer known as “Barbecue,” and G-Pep, led by Gabriel Jean-Pierre, who is allied with Johnson André, leader of the 5 Seconds gang and known as “Izo.”
“Gangs have become stronger and have the upper hand in security,” said Renata Segura of the International Crisis Group. “This changeover is having little effect on Haiti’s daily security situation. We’re pretty concerned.
Shortly before Prime Minister Ariel Henry announced his resignation and Caribbean leaders announced the formation of a transitional council, Chérizier held an impromptu news conference, rejecting any solution led and supported by the international community.
“The Haitian people understand what they are going through. The Haitian people will take control of their future. “The Haitian people will decide who will govern them,” Chérizier remarked.
As the instability continues, Henry has been unable to enter Haiti due to airport closures caused by violence. He arrived in Puerto Rico a week ago and announced his resignation via a recorded statement.
“The administration that I am leading cannot stay insensitive in the face of this predicament. “No sacrifice is too great for our country,” Henry declared Tuesday. “The government I’m running will remove itself immediately after the council’s installation.”
Chérizier has yet to respond to his impending resignation, which he has long desired after claiming responsibility for coordinated attacks on important government targets that began on Feb. 29 while the prime minister was in Kenya advocating for the United Nations-backed deployment of a police force to combat gangs.
In recent weeks, gangs have burned down police stations, forced the closure of Haiti’s two international airports, and stormed the country’s two largest prisons, liberating almost 4,000 inmates.
Scores of people have been slain, and the United Nations estimates that the recent attacks have left more than 15,000 Haitians homeless. According to Jean-Martin Bauer, the director of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in Haiti, 4 million people face “acute food insecurity”, and one million are on the verge of famine.
It is unknown whether Chérizier, Haiti’s most powerful gang boss, and other armed groups will accept the proposal to form a transitional council.
The council will appoint an interim prime minister, while the new leader will collaborate with the council to form a committee of ministers.
It would include seven voting members and two nonvoting members. The Pitit Desalin party, led by former senator and presidential candidate Moïse Jean-Charles, is allied with Guy Philippe, a former rebel leader who led a successful 2004 coup and was recently released from a US prison after pleading guilty to money laundering.
Former Prime Minister Charles Joseph’s EDE party, the Fanmi Lavalas party, the Henry-led alliance, the Montana Accord group, and private sector representatives are also voting.
According to Jake Johnston, a research associate at the Washington-based Center for Economic and Policy Research, the process that led to the presidential council is defective and will complicate the process. “Announcing a new foreign-backed government will be an uphill battle to try and earn any legitimacy in Haiti.”
Critics argue that the prime minister was chosen by the international community following President Jovenel Moïse’s assassination in July 2021 rather than being elected.
While Chérizier and other gang leaders have long wanted Henry’s resignation, Johnston says it’s unclear whether they want power for themselves or someone else, such as former rebel leader Guy Philippe, which he believes is true.
According to Segura, Philippe and Jean-Charles will play crucial roles in the following days.
Philippe “is one of the few politicians who has an open channel with gangs at this moment,” she claimed, implying that conversations with them are likely ongoing. “He has a foot in both worlds.”
Gang violence has subsided recently, as public transportation restarted and several banks reopened, but schools and petrol stations remain closed. Many Haitians are returning to their routines, although food and water are still scarce in certain regions.
Jonas Jean-Pierre, a 40-year-old high school social science teacher who was withdrawing money from a bank, expressed doubts that Haiti’s current direction will change.
“Knowing how our politicians in this country can never put their heads together, Ariel could be in office for another year,” he remarked about the prime minister.
Jean-Pierre also expressed concern about Henry’s brief statement announcing his impending resignation. “This is not the first time a prime minister left through the back door without saying ‘excuse me’ to the Haitian people,” the prime minister stated.
Even if a multinational foreign force is sent to Haiti at some time, Jean-Pierre emphasized that this does not ensure the problem would be resolved.
Johnston agreed. “You can’t stop the proliferation and activity of armed groups through force alone,” he told the audience. “If you draw this hard line and rely solely on external forces to try and sort of kill the problem away, you’re not disrupting the root causes that generate that violence and these dynamics.”