Politicians, gangs vie for power as Haiti’s PM says he’ll resign
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Politicians across Haiti are scrambling for power after Prime Minister Ariel Henry announced Tuesday that he would resign once a transitional presidential council is created.
But elbowing their way into the race are powerful gangs that control 80% of Haiti’s capital and demand a say in the future of the troubled country under siege.
Experts warn nothing will change unless gangs become part of the conversation.
“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, noting that gangs largely control the capital. “If they have that supremacy, and there is no countervailing force, it’s no longer a question if you want them at the table. They may just take the table.”
Gangs have deep ties to Haiti’s political and economic elite, but they have become more independent, financing their operations with kidnapping ransoms to buy smuggled weapons that allow them to overpower underfunded police.
More than 200 gangs are estimated to operate around Haiti, mostly in Port-au-prince and surrounding areas. More than 20 of them are based in the capital and rally around two main coalitions: G9 Family and Allies led by Jimmy Chérizier, a former elite police officer known as “Barbecue”; and Gpep, 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 they have the upper hand in terms of security,” said Renata Segura of the International Crisis Group. “This transition is not influencing the day-to-day security of Haiti. We are very concerned.”
Shortly before Henry said he would resign and Caribbean officials announced the creation of a transitional council, Chérizier held an impromptu news conference and rejected any solution led and supported by the international community.
“It’s the Haitian people who know what they’re going through. It’s the Haitian people who are going to take destiny into their own hands. Haitian people will choose who will govern them,” Chérizier said.
As the upheaval continues, Henry has been unable to enter Haiti because the violence forced the closure of its airports. He arrived a week ago in Puerto Rico, where he announced his resignation in a recorded statement.
“The government that I’m running cannot remain insensitive in front of this situation. There is no sacrifice that is too big for our country,” Henry said Tuesday. “The government
I’m running will remove itself immediately after the installation of the council.”
Chérizier had yet to react to the looming resignation, which he has long sought as he claimed responsibility for coordinated attacks on critical government targets that began Feb. 29 while the prime minister was in Kenya pushing for the U.n.-backed deployment of a police force to help fight gangs.
In recent weeks, gangs have torched police stations, forced the closure of Haiti’s two international airports and stormed the country’s two biggest prisons, freeing more than 4,000 inmates.
Scores of people have been killed, and the U.N. says more than 15,000 Haitians have been left homeless by the recent attacks.
Gang violence has eased in recent days as public transportation resumed and some banks reopened, although schools and gas stations remain closed. A growing number of Haitians are returning to their daily routines, but food and water remain scarce in some areas.
Jonas Jean-pierre, a 40-yearold high school social science teacher, said he doubts that Haiti’s current course will change.
“Knowing how our politicians in this country can never put their heads together, Ariel could be in office for another year,” he said of the prime minister.