Haiti gang leader vows to oust prime minister
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A Haitian gang leader pledges that he will not relent until Prime Minister Ariel Henry is ousted amid surging gun violence.
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Police take cover during an anti-gang operation in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Friday, March 1, 2024. (AP)
Haitian gang leader Jimmy Cherizier, also known as Barbecue, vowed to continue efforts to oust Prime Minister Ariel Henry. In a press conference on Friday, Cherizier declared that the battle against Henry would persist for as long as necessary, urging families to keep their children at home to "avoid collateral damages."
The capital city of Port-au-Prince has been under siege since Thursday, with coordinated violent attacks by gang members claiming the lives of at least four police officers and leaving dozens injured. The situation escalated on Friday with heavy gunfire, forcing around 200,000 innocent people to flee their homes amidst burning vehicles and disrupted civic systems.
Cherizier, the leader of the gang federation G9 and Family and Allies, claimed responsibility for the attacks that have plunged the city into chaos. The organized havoc is part of a broader effort by various gangs united under the banner of "Vivre Ensemble" (living together).
Prime Minister Ariel Henry's office released a statement expressing outrage at the acts of violence and terror orchestrated by armed bandits. The government extended condolences to the victims' families and affirmed its commitment to resolving the conflict.
The recent wave of violence followed Prime Minister Henry's visit to Kenya to sign a security deal, under which Nairobi would provide a thousand "peacekeepers" to help control the escalating violence in Haiti, approved by the United Nations.
'Peacekeeping' force for Haiti
In the past, the UN's so-called "peacekeepers" raped women and girls and sexually exploited them for food in return. They were also responsible for the toxic waste in the Artibonite River, the longest on the island of Hispaniola, which caused a cholera epidemic in 2010 and killed 10,000 people. The UN hasn't paid any compensation to the victims or their families.
Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres have sought foreign help to aid the police force since 2022.
Guterres stated in a recent assessment that the security situation in Haiti has deteriorated, with gang members outnumbering and outgunning the police.
According to the UN, nearly 2,800 killings occurred in Haiti between October 2022 and June 2023, with 80 children targeted.
The resolution on instating peacemakers in the small island nation was approved by 13 votes, with China and Russia abstaining, and was lauded by Haitian Foreign Minister Jean Victor Geneus as providing a "glimmer of hope for people who have been suffering the consequences of a difficult political, socio-economic, security, and humanitarian situation for too long."
Kenya agreed to head the force and send 1,000 troops in July 2023.
