Gangs set to rule the streets for some time to come
REGULAR readers of Four Corners will know I have something of a fascination for the Caribbean country of Haiti. It stems back to numerous visits I have made over the years to this turbulent and beleaguered nation.
In that time, I've seen a president overthrown and watched as Haiti suffered one of the worst earthquakes of modern times.
But rarely can this volatile, impoverished country have experienced a more torturous time than what it is currently undergoing.
Last week, two events occurred that served as stark reminders of the turmoil that grips Haiti.The first was the release of Dominican Republic diplomat Carlos Guillen who was freed after four days having been abducted by a gang in Haiti.
The second was the extradition of the leader of one of those most feared gangs called 400 Mawozo which last year abducted a group of missionaries from the US and Canada.
“Germine Joly aka ‘Yonyon' was extradited, aboard a special FBI plane following a request for judicial assistance issued by the US judicial authorities,” Haiti's National Police said in a statement.
It was the 400 Mawozo gang that made global headlines last October with the kidnapping of 17 missionaries who were held for two months, and in recent weeks has clashed with a rival gang in gun battles that have forced thousands to leave their homes.
More than 1,200 people, 81 of them foreign nationals, were abducted last year, according to Haiti's Center for Analysis and Research on Human Rights.
Haiti is a place where gangs pretty much run everything, having grown in strength ever since last July's assassination of president Jovenel Moise left a power vacuum.
Today, large portions of the capital Port-au-Prince and much of the countryside are no longer controlled by government authorities. As Jess DiPerro Obert, an American freelance journalist and one of the few based in Port-au-Prince outlined recently in The New Humanitarian magazine, “gangs have been part of the Haitian political landscape for decades, often deployed by leaders to rally support or quell opposition”.
But observers say what is happening now in Haiti, where nearly half the population is under the age of 24, is unprecedented as violence spirals.
The situation has angered many Haitians, who are demanding action from prime minister Ariel Henry’s administration. But even with international help to boost an underfunded and understaffed police force, the chances of curtailing the violence look slim and Haiti’s gangs look set to rule the streets for some time to come.