Big-Issues! New Prime Minister’s Appointment Met With Escalating Gang Violence in Haiti

Haiti’s Port-au-Prince — In one of the largest attacks since the appointment of Haiti’s new prime minister, gangs in that country besieged multiple areas in Port-au-Prince early on Thursday, setting fire to houses and engaging in gunfire with police for hours while hundreds of people escaped the carnage.

The attacks started late on Wednesday in the areas southwest of the main international airport, which has been closed for almost two months due to persistent gang violence, in Solino and Delmas 18, 20, and 24.

“Everything in sight was set on fire by the gangs,” stated a man named Néne, who chose not to reveal his last name due to fear. “I spent the entire night hiding in a corner.”

He was walking with a companion when they carried the only item they could save, a dusty red bag packed full of clothes. The clothing belonged to Néne’s kids, whom he had hurriedly taken from Delmas 18 at first light when the combat had stopped.

Just after morning, the once-bustling neighborhoods that were once teeming with cars and pedestrians were deserted, save for the occasional goat bleating. The place was dead silent.

Patrolling the streets in an armored police truck, it passed burned-out cars and walls made of cinderblocks on which someone had written “Viv Barbecue,” a reference in Haitian Creole to one of the most influential gang bosses in the country.

In Delmas 18 and other surrounding settlements, residents whose homes were spared in the onslaught held fans, stoves, mattresses, and plastic bags full of clothing as they made their way out on foot, by motorcycle, or in brightly colored tap-taps, which are small buses. Others had lost everything and were leaving empty-handed.

After their house burned down, Paul Pierre, 47, was walking with his companion when they heard gunfire. “There were gunshots left and right,” Pierre claimed. None of their possessions could be saved.

He claimed that as people fled in fear, the violence overnight tore couples and wives apart and split children from their parents: “Everyone is just trying to save themselves.”

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Martineda, a terrified lady who would not provide her last name, claimed that armed intruders set her house on fire and left her without a place to live. When the firing started late on Wednesday, she said her 4-year-old sought to flee and they left together.

“Don’t be afraid,” I reassured him. “This is life in Haiti,” she remarked, holding a hefty bundle of items on her head, including butter, which she intended to sell in order to raise some cash and move to a new location.

She remarked, “Gunfire, gunfire, gunfire everywhere!” when asked to describe what had occurred the previous night. Nobody took a nap. Everybody was sprinting.

Jimmy Chérizier, a former special police officer formerly known as Barbecue and the head of the potent gang federation known as G9 Family and Allies commanded the neighborhood where the incident took place.

He has been held accountable, along with other gang leaders, for the planned assaults that hit the capital city of Port-au-Prince on February 29. More than 4,000 prisoners have been released from Haiti’s two largest prisons after gunmen stormed and torched police stations and the country’s principal international airport.

The attacks ultimately resulted in the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry and the establishment of a transitional presidential council, whose majority unexpectedly named former sports minister Fritz Bélizaire as the new prime minister on Tuesday. The nine-member council, who took office last week, could be shattered by the action.

Haitians are demanding that their safety be given priority as new authorities take over the nation amid fighting, given that gangs continue to be stronger and well-armed than the National Police of Haiti.

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According to the U.N., from January to March of this year, there have been over 2,500 deaths or injuries, which is more than 50% more than during the same time previous year.

Over 90,000 individuals have left Port-au-Prince in less than a month as gangs, who are thought to control 80% of the city, have started to target once-calm districts.

Ernest Aubrey remembered his ten-year journey to Delmas 18. It’s his first time outside the house.

It’s excessive. About the gangs, he remarked, “We can no longer resist. We are losing everything we own to them.

He ran toward an acquaintance who was getting out of a car as he was walking with a large bag, hoping to catch a ride.

Vanessa Vieux was one of the few who chose to remain in Delmas 18. After the attack on Wednesday, she thought it would be best not to give up her house to gangs, even if she had already sent her elderly mother to live in the country. She also believes in Haiti’s National Police.

She remarked, “I live next to a police officer.” “I’m not afraid because of that.”