Chaotic Haiti is the very model of a gangster state

Haiti’s government has been taken over entirely by gang leaders who now wield state power, with Prime Minister Ariel Henry resigning amid a total collapse of law, order and rationality.

Destined to become the ultimate failed state, the country is very likely to plunge into civil war. In embracing gangsters, criminals and violent men as leaders, it appears that many Haitians have lost all sense of rationality.

All these gangsters claim to be “revolutionary”, set to fight for the “rights of the poor”, for “the people” and the “black masses”, and against the “elite, capitalists and foreign interests”. Yet they are creating the proverbial hell on earth for supporters, non-supporters and future generations.

Gang leaders have dominated Haitian politics these past years, with many citizens not only admiring them, but viewing them as leaders, heroes and role models.

This is not dissimilar to large parts of Africa since the end of colonialism, where citizens embrace military strongmen as leaders.

In 2021, the democratically elected president, Jovenel Moïse, was assassinated. Henry, who was prime minister under Moïse, took the reins and postponed elections several times, claiming logistical problems, violence and lack of capacity.

Last year, Henry announced elections would be postponed to 2025, giving armed gangsters the “political” reason to mobilise their “supporters” to take power.

Jimmy Chérizier, widely known as “Barbecue”, leads an alliance of gangs called G9, and appears to be the leading gangster in control of government. He was accused of perpetrating a massacre in 2018, as well as of attacks on water and food deliveries which caused starvation, and finally of blockading the country’s Verreux fuel terminal, causing crippling fuel shortages.

“Barbecue” is facing “political competition” from 26-year-old Johnson André, aka “Izo”, who leads the Vilaj de Dye-5 Segonn gang. “Izo”, a parttime “rapper” prone to showing off his bling on social media, has achieved hero status among the unemployed and impoverished youth as someone who has “made it”. The UN has accused “Izo” of gang rape, trafficking in drugs and arms and kidnappings.

Guy Philippe is a former police officer who participated in the coup to oust then president Bertrand Aristide in 2004.

Philippe was elected to the country’s senate in 2016, not only to ultimately secure the presidency, but to ensure immunity from prosecution for drug trafficking. However, in 2016, before he was sworn into office, he was arrested on such charges and extradited to the US where he was facing criminal charges. He admitted to involvement in drug trafficking. Philippe completed his prison term last year and was repatriated to Haiti by the US authorities in November. He is now making his bid to take power.

Armed gangs roam Haiti, as in the film Mad Max, raping, pillaging, and killing ordinary citizens as the rule of law, the state and social norms collapse. According to the UN, in the first four months of 2023, more people were killed in Haiti than in the war in Ukraine.

Haiti is among the poorest countries in the world. More than 60% of the population live in abject poverty. It is among the 10 countries with the worst inflation. Electricity, running water, and access to education, health and public services are virtually non-existent. Infrastructure has collapsed. More than 5-million of Haiti’s 11-million people are facing hunger. The country has been hit by a succession of earthquakes, storms and drought.

Haiti has had a dearth of quality leadership, with citizens embracing gangsters and criminals as political leaders who, not surprisingly, have compounded the country’s chaos. Haiti is a clear warning to South Africans never to revere criminals who profess to be saviours of the poor, marginalised and downtrodden. They must never be allowed to take control of the state, public resources and the economy.

If citizens vote in criminals who have established political parties and launched themselves as “political leaders”, who claim to be advancing the cause of the “black poor”, it would bring hell on earth for the very same black poor — the breakdown of the rule of law and of the state. It would bring horrifying violence and pure anarchy.