Haiti is feared to face a coup attempt as early as today after murderous warlord ‘Barbecue’ warned the island: ‘Brace yourselves.’
The country has long descended into lawlessness with the government collapsed and gangs roaming the streets and controlling most of the capital Port-au-Prince.
Most terrifying of the gang leaders is Jimmy ‘Barbeque’ Cherizier, who appears intent on toppling the government as it tries to restore order.
Gangs control most of the territory that surrounds the presidential palace, but a transitional council charged with selecting a new prime minister and cabinet is demanding its members be sworn in there.
Haiti is feared to face a coup attempt as early as today after murderous warlord ‘Barbecue’ (pictured) warned the island: ‘Brace yourselves’
Haitian police stand guard at the airport as what’s left of the government tries to restore order
Police stop at a car to inspect in Port-au-Prince, which is 80 per cent controlled by gangs
Gangs control most of the territory that surrounds the presidential palace (pictured), but a transitional council charged with selecting a new prime minister and cabinet is demanding its members be sworn in there
Armored vehicles roll slowly past the palace as police scan the horizon for gangs, but every day, bullets whiz past the area, striking buildings and people alike.
The council wants the ceremony to take place on Wednesday in defiance of the gangs, but ‘Barbecue’ warned them to think twice.
‘Whether or not you’re installed, this message is for you: Brace yourselves,’ he said in a Tuesday video shared on social media.
Prime Minister Ariel Henry was forced to flee in mid-March and in his absence there has been practically no government until this new effort the install the council.
He was in Kenya to push for the UN-backed deployment of a police force when the gangs launched their assault, and is still locked out of Haiti. He pledged to resign as soon as the council was installed.
The push to hold the ceremony at the palace is considered by some a show of force to suggest the Haitian government is still in charge.
This is despite marauding gangs who have previously attacked the palace and have promised to derail the ceremony as a daily barrage of gunfire persists in downtown Port-au-Prince.
‘Whether or not you’re installed, this message is for you: Brace yourselves,’ gang leader Jimmy ‘Barbeque’ Cherizier said in a Tuesday video shared on social media
Former police officer Jimmy ‘Barbecue’ Cherizier, is leader of the ‘G9’ gang alliance
Armed gang members walk through the streets near the presidential palace as a transition council meant to usher in a new government, is set to be sworn in at the palace
More than 2,500 people were killed or injured in Haiti between January and March and life in Port-au-Prince has become a game of survival.
Haitians have been to new limits as they scramble to stay alive while gangs overwhelm the police and the government remains largely absent.
The few who can afford it stockpile water, food, money and medication, supplies of which have dwindled since the main international airport closed in early March.
‘No one out here is safe,’ said Josil Djaimeska, 33, as he waved his hand in reference to the sprawling public park known as Champ de Mars where he sat on Tuesday morning near the palace.
Just steps from where he sat, a stray bullet struck Djaimeska late last week. The bullet is still in his calf, and he’s hoping a doctor will operate on him soon.
Shortly after he spoke, a pop-pop-pop of gunfire erupted briefly nearby.
Gangs control 80 per cent of Port-au-Prince, and the coordinated attacks launched starting February 29 have paralyzed the capital and beyond.
They have burned police stations and hospitals, opened fire on the main international airport that remains closed since early March and stormed Haiti’s two biggest prisons, releasing more than 4,000 inmates.
The situation is so bad that Royal Caribbean canceled all its cruises to Labadee, a popular resort on the island until at least the end of May.
The cruise company leases the private resort but Haiti still has jurisdiction over the peninsula it sits on.
Allure of the Seas, Adventure of the Seas, Wonder of the Seas, and Symphony of the Seas were all scheduled to dock at Labadee in May but will now go to the Bahamas or spend an extra day at sea.
Gangs control 80 per cent of Port-au-Prince, and the coordinated attacks launched starting February 29 have paralyzed the capital and beyond
Bodies are piling up in the streets of war-torn Haiti where thousands of people have died in the first three months of 2024 after armed gangs took over
People commute on the back of a truck after attending a church service in the Petion-Ville neighborhood of Port-au-Prince
The Presidential Palace, or National Palace, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Regional officials believe swearing in the council at the National Palace is too risky and are urging members to choose a safer venue.
While the venue of the ceremony is still being debated, some Haitians like Marie-André Blain, 46, doubt it will be held at the palace.
‘There is no security in this country. You just basically pray to God,’ she said. ‘If the higher ranks aren’t safe, we ourselves aren’t safe.’
The transitional council consists of nine members, seven of them with voting powers. Some locals are adamant the ceremony must take place.
‘I am 63 years old and this is the first time I see something like this in Port-au-Prince,’ said Renoir Auxil, who now lives in an abandoned bathroom in the Champ de Mars park after gangs raided his neighborhood.
He said the ongoing violence should not deter Haiti from moving forward.
‘Whatever the circumstance is, they have to swear in the council,’ he said.
Former police officer Jimmy ‘Barbecue’ Cherizier, leader of the ‘G9’ gang alliance, speaks during a press conference in Delmas 6
Neighbors raise a metal gate as they work to install it as a barricade against gangs, in the Petion-Ville neighborhood of Port-au-Prince
A resident uses a loudspeaker to ask neighbors for a donation to pay for a metal gate to be installed as a barricade as protection against gangs
UN special envoy for Haiti María Isabel Salvador said In a speech on Monday at the UN Security Council that its priorities should include a plan for near-term security.
‘Gang leaders and other spoilers have stated their intention to violently disrupt the current political process,’ she said.
‘I cannot stress enough the need to assist Haiti with its efforts to reestablish security.’
Residents in the capital recently voted to buy a metal barricade to protect citizens from the unrelenting violence which has become a terrifying part of their daily life.
‘Every day I wake up and find a dead body,’ said Noune-Carme Manoune, an immigration officer in Port-au-Prince.
The country’s biggest seaport is largely paralyzed by marauding gangs.
‘People living in the capital are locked in, they have nowhere to go,’ Philippe Branchat, International Organization for Migration chief in Haiti, said.
‘The capital is surrounded by armed groups and danger. It is a city under siege.’
A man lifts a chain being used as a barricade for neighbors to pass into the neighborhood as they work to prepare a metal gate to protect themselves from gangs
Neighbors raise a metal gate as they work to install it as a barricade as protection against gangs, in the Petion-Ville neighborhood of Port-au-Prince
Neighbors pass in and out of a passageway as others erect a metal gate as protection against gangs, in the Petion-Ville neighborhood of Port-au-Prince
Phones ping often with alerts reporting gunfire, kidnappings and fatal shootings, and some supermarkets have so many armed guards that they resemble small police stations.
Gang attacks used to occur only in certain areas, but now they can happen anywhere, any time.
Staying home does not guarantee safety: One man playing with his daughter at home was shot in the back by a stray bullet. Others have been killed.
Schools and gas stations are shuttered, with fuel on the black market selling for $9 a gallon, roughly three times the official price.
Banks have prohibited customers from withdrawing more than $100 a day, and checks that used to take three days to clear now take a month or more. Police officers have to wait weeks to be paid.
‘Everyone is under stress,’ said Isidore Gédéon, a 38-year-old musician. ‘After the prison break, people don´t trust anyone. The state doesn´t have control.’
Neighbors pass in and out of a passageway as others erect a metal gate as protection against gangs, in the Petion-Ville neighborhood of Port-au-Prince
A vendor balances on his head a bag filled with smaller bags of water in the streets of Port-au-Prince
A child watches from an opening in a security gate as residents flee their homes due to gang violence
It’s not only the gangs unleashing violence; Haitians have embraced a vigilante movement known as ‘bwa kale,’ that has killed several hundred suspected gang members or their associates.
‘There are certain communities I can´t go to because everyone is scared of everyone,’ Gédéon said. ‘You could be innocent, and you end up dead.’
More than 95,000 people have fled Port-au-Prince in one month alone as gangs raid communities, torching homes and killing people in territories controlled by their rivals.
Those who flee via bus to Haiti´s southern and northern regions risk being gang-raped or killed as they pass through gang-controlled areas where gunmen have opened fire.
Violence in the capital has left some 160,000 people homeless, according to the IOM. ‘This is hell,’ said Nelson Langlois, a producer and cameraman.
Langlois, his wife and three children spent two nights lying flat on the roof of their home as gangs raided the neighborhood.
‘Time after time, we peered over to see when we could flee,’ he recalled.
Forced to split up because of the lack of shelter, Langlois is living in a Vodou temple and his wife and children are elsewhere in Port-au-Prince.
A server ladles soup into a container as children line up to receive food at a shelter for families displaced by gang violence,
Motorcyclists navigate around a charred body lying in the road as pedestrians walk past, in the Petion-Ville neighborhood
A man, who says he was shot in the hand by a gang member, is treated at a Doctors Without Borders emergency room in the Cite Soleil neighborhood
Residents fill their containers with potable water in Port-au-Prince
Like most people in the city, Langlois usually stays indoors. The days of pickup soccer games on dusty roads and the nights of drinking Prestige beer in bars with hip-hop, reggae or African music playing are long gone.
‘It´s an open-air prison,’ Langlois said.
The violence has also forced businesses, government agencies and schools to close, leaving scores of Haitians unemployed.
Manoune, the government immigration officer, said she has been earning money selling treated water since she has no work because deportations are stalled.
Meanwhile, Gédéon said he no longer plays the drums for a living, noting that bars and other venues are shuttered.
He sells small plastic bags of water on the street and has become a handyman, installing fans and fixing appliances.
Even students are joining the workforce as the crisis deepens poverty across Haiti.
Sully, a 10th grader whose school closed nearly two months ago, stood on a street corner in the community of Pétion-Ville selling gasoline that he buys on the black market.
A vendor carries empty containers for fuel in Port-au-Prince
People crowd around a fuel pump at a gas station in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, April 6, 2024
Youth take cover after hearing gunshots at a public school that serves as a shelter for people displaced by gang violence
Laundry hangs to dry om makeshift clotheslines as children play in the courtyard of a shelter for families displaced by gang violence
‘You have to be careful,’ said Sully, who asked that his last name be withheld for safety. ‘During the morning it´s safer.’
He sells about five gallons a week, generating roughly $40 for his family, but he cannot afford to join his classmates who are learning remotely.
‘Online class is for people more fortunate than me, who have more money,’ Sully said.
The European Union last week announced the launch of a humanitarian air bridge from the Central American country of Panama to Haiti.
Five flights have landed in the northern city of Cap-Haïtien, site of Haiti´s sole functioning airport, bringing 62 tons of medicine, water, emergency shelter equipment and other essential supplies.
Street vendors withdraw from the area where they were selling their bread, near the National Palace
But there is no guarantee that critical items will reach those who most need them. Many Haitians remain trapped in their homes, unable to buy or look for food amid whizzing bullets.
Aid groups say nearly two million Haitians are on the verge of famine, more than 600,000 of them children. Nonetheless, people are finding ways to survive.
Back in the neighborhood where residents are installing a metal barricade, sparks fly as one man cuts metal while others shovel and mix cement. They are well underway, and hope to finish the project soon.
Others remain skeptical, citing reports of gangs jumping into loaders and other heavy equipment to tear down police stations and, more recently, metal barricades.