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19-03-2024
PORT-AU-PRINCE: A powerful Haitian gang leader has rejected attempts by foreign nations for an electoral road map and a path to peace as the country plunges deeper into violent chaos and armed groups control most of the capital following the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry.
Regional leaders of the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) held an emergency summit last week to discuss a framework for a political transition, which the United States had urged to be “expedited” as gangs wrought chaos in the capital, Port-au-Prince, amid repeatedly postponed elections.
“We’re not going to recognize the decisions that CARICOM takes,” Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier, a former police officer whose gang rules vast swaths of Port-au-Prince, told media. Rights groups have accused his gang alliance of committing atrocities, including killings and rape.
“I’m going to say to the traditional politicians that are sitting down with CARICOM, since they went with their families abroad, we who stayed in Haiti have to take the decisions,” Cherizier said, flanked by gang members wearing face masks, adding that he rejected plans for a transitional council made up of the country’s political parties.
“It’s not just people with guns who’ve damaged the country but the politicians too,” he added.
The United States and Caribbean nations have been pushing for the proposed council to appoint a new interim prime minister and lay a road map for elections.
Cherizier and his G9 Family and Allies gang alliance have been major contributors to years of escalating violence and political instability in Port-au-Prince.
They have blockaded fuel terminals, clashed with rival gangs and used violence to cement their grip on areas under their control, forcing thousands of Haitians to flee their homes.
Cherizier who is under sanctions from the United Nations, US and other countries has been at the centre of a new surge in unrest in Port-au-Prince as he called for Henry’s resignation.
In early March, Cherizier warned that Haiti faced the prospect of “civil war” if Henry did not step down.
Haiti’s Prime Minister Ariel Henry has tendered his resignation and appealed for calm as the country descends into chaos.
The 74-year-old announced he would step aside late on Monday following an emergency meeting of regional nations. Haiti has been plagued by spiraling violence in recent weeks as armed gangs have taken control, calling for Henry to go. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
