Haiti 

A Gangster’s Paradise

by | Mar 21, 2024

Haiti is in the news. In recent weeks, gangs have coordinated violent actions, taken to the streets and liberated thousands of inmates to spread chaos and solidify their control of the Port-au-Prince capital. Despite their crimes, they may end up at the negotiation table to call for elections and establish a new government.

Violence, disaster and reaching terms with perverse actors are not new to Haiti. The small Caribbean island has had it rough ever since its inception. Its Indigenous people were wiped out by different European explorers and settlers who trafficked and exploited tens of thousands of Africans to turn the island into a sugar-producing hub. The slaves eventually revolted and expelled French colonists and foreign invaders. 

There was a glimmer of hope when Haiti became the world’s first “Black-led republic.” It was the second nation in the Americas to declare and achieve independence after the United States (which in 1915 invaded and occupied the island). Furthermore, Haiti actively helped Latin American liberator Simon Bolívar in his efforts to rid the region of colonialist rule. Nonetheless, the island’s own hopes for democracy and prosperity were quickly dashed by the corrupt dictators that followed (occasionally supported by foreign powers and interests) and a series of coup d’etats that only seemed to impose more of the same. Haiti’s recent history is no less complicated. 

The year 2004 was marked by yet another coup. In 2010, an earthquake killed tens of thousands while crippling infrastructure throughout the island. International aid was mismanaged and a large bulk never reached the nation. Economic instability lingered. In 2021, President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated after reportedly trying to illegally extend his mandate. His murder has so far been attributed to a group of former Colombian military operatives, local conspiring politicians, authorities and the president’s own widow. Motives and details remain murky. 

Following the shocking hit, Prime Minister Ariel Henry filled the power vacuum. However, his fragile government failed to call for new elections on time, giving the country’s infamous criminals gangs a window to frame Henry as illegitimate while rebranding themselves as rebels.

The gangs also reacted to a government plan to bring 1,000 Kenyan officers to the island to support local police efforts.

 Similar to what happened in El Salvador and Ecuador, a state of emergency was declared. However, in this case, Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who was in Kenya soliciting police support, was unable or unwilling to return to Haiti as violence quickly escalated. His absence further weakened the morale among state forces and emboldened the gangs. Shortly after landing in Puerto Rico, Prime Minister Henry announced his resignation. History seemed to repeat itself. 

So how did Haiti become entrapped in such a violent limbo? How exactly did these gangs grow powerful enough to become an insurgent army that practically pushed out a sitting prime minister? 

YouTube. The Haitian gang leader popularly known as Barbecue threatened civil war if Prime Minister Ariel Henry did not resign. Credit: YouTube

From Private Armies to Criminal Organizations

Haiti’s gangs date back to the late 1950s and early 1960s, when dictator François Duvalier (also known as Papa Doc) came to power and purged the nation’s security forces. Duvalier soon created a militia he could trust, a militia whose sole intent was to suppress the opposition and all dissenting voices. This group acted as a secret police for the dictator and became popularly known as “Tonton Macoute,” a name that references a local boogeyman legend. Tonton Macoute leaders welcomed the nickname and conducted gruesome acts of torture and murder that honored it. Some Haitians made the climate of fear even worse by spreading rumors that the Tonton Macoute had in fact supernatural voodoo powers. Superstitions aside, the Tonton Macoute operated for nearly 30 years, reportedly killing tens of thousands of people in their wake and traumatizing several generations.

Eventually, the Tonton Macoute dissolved when Duvalier and the subsequent presidency of his son came to an end following yet another coup. The army was also disbanded, and more coups followed. Naturally, ex-militia and ex-military came together to form a series of mercenary gangs at the service of powerful businessmen, politicians and virtually anyone who would fund them. Gangs soon became the staple of corrupt elites and political actors who needed private armies or muscle to carry out all kinds of nefarious acts, from voting suppression to the outright intimidation of opponents. These gangs also started exploring side hustles such as drug trafficking, kidnapping, extortion and racketeering. 

The gangs quickly armed themselves through their former military connections as well as the illegal firearm trade stemming from the United States. Funded by their patrons as well as by their illicit activities, some Haitian gangs grew big enough to declare autonomy. They eventually began fighting each other for control of urban sectors, trafficking routes and ports. Instead of battling the gangs, many politicians continued to embrace them to do their bidding and advance their respective agendas. 

In many ways, the gangs became a cultural norm. However, many locals refused to accept this. The prevalence of gangs and their terrorizing modus operandi pushed some angry citizens to take matters into their own hands. Vigilante groups spurred to counter police inaction in the face of rampant kidnapping, extortion and abuse. In April 2023, the vigilante movement known as Bwa Kale gained traction and began hunting down criminals. To date, the vigilantes have reportedly killed hundreds of gang members. Nonetheless, they risk becoming a gang in their own right and don’t stand a fighting chance against the better equipped and organized groups. Neither does the country’s weak security forces. 

While most estimates put Haiti’s gangs at 200, there are two large and powerful rivals worth noting: G9 and G-Pep. 

G9 Alliance

This mega-gang comprises, as its name entails, nine smaller gangs that came together in 2020 under the leadership of Jimmy Chérizier a.k.a Barbecue, a former cop turned gangster who has been known to conduct massacres and has often acted as a political fixer. 

In 2022, he was responsible for instructing his men to blockade the country’s main gateway for fuel imports, causing shortages throughout the island. It was Chérizier who recently threatened Prime Minister Ariel Henry to resign or else subject the country to civil war and genocide. It was also Chérizer who orchestrated the mass jailbreak that liberated 4,000 inmates on March 4, 2024.

Chérizier has been a longtime ally of the Haitian political party PHTK and reportedly received funding and support from deceased President Jovenel Moïse. Since Moïse’s assassination, Chérizier has been at the helm of violent protests and acts. Yet he tends to describe himself as a revolutionary in the same vein of world renowned black leaders such as U.S. civil rights activist Malcolm X and Caribbean icon Fidel Castro.

Haiti’s present power vacuum has given Chérizier the opportunity to attempt just that: rebrand himself, at least locally, as a guerilla fighter trying to topple an unjust and illegitimate government in the name of the people.

G-Pep

G-Pep is Chérizier’s main rival, another alliance of gangs that are in cahoots with opposition politicians. The group is led by Gabriel Jean-Pierre a.k.a Ti Gabriel, who created the larger group to fight the G9 Alliance and incorporated gangs such as 400 Mawozo, which was targeted by U.S. prosecutors after it kidnapped 17 American religious missionaries. 

In November 2021, Jean-Pierre and his men attacked a hospital and took several hostages, including women and children. The brutal turf war with G9 is ongoing and both leaders seem to be aiming to impose their will and that of their respective business and political backers. This has happened as the international community remains indecisive and cautious given an ample history of past failures. 

The Ghost of International Intervention

Haiti has a complicated relationship with international intervention. On one hand, it tends to directly solicit it in the aftermath of natural disasters or when the country enters yet another turbulent period of serious economic and political instability. On the other hand, it deeply resents and mistrusts it. After all, many Haitians attribute the island’s current troubles, specifically poverty, to the abuses committed by foreign powers in the past. 

France is usually the first to be blamed, as in 1825 independent Haiti was practically forced to pay millions in reparations to the European nation which shamelessly cited economic losses endured by former slaveholders. This, according to some analysts, severely hindered the island’s financial development. 

U.S. officials and businessmen also played a role in this, while participating in the ransacking of Haiti through the guise of furthering stability, investment, and progress. The United States also supported brutal dictator François Duvalier during the Cold War since he decried communism.  

In 1994, President Bill Clinton and the United Nations deployed tens of thousands of troops in Haiti to keep President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in power. In 2004, Aristide was overthrown again. The United States secured him refuge while helping put together a UN Blue Helmet coalition led by Brazil and other Latin American nations to once more send troops to the Caribbean island. The list goes on and on. The message is clear: foreign intervention has been nothing but a band-aid and in some cases, it has made matters worse.

Haitian civil society, the diaspora, and some exile groups have often worked to find a solution, one led by Haitians. They are now participating in talks with Caribbean leaders and other actors to form a transition council. However, negotiations have been reportedly stalled by the inability of local political parties to agree on a plan. Furthermore, some gang leaders and sympathizers are demanding a seat at the table, a wild move that could be granted if violence continues to spiral out of control and authorities grow desperate enough. Entrenched divisions aside, what most Haitians can agree on is that foreigners shouldn’t be deciding their future. 

Be that as it may, the United States played a part in urging Prime Minister Ariel Henry to step down to pave the way for a transition of power. Kenya also announced it will lead an international police coalition to restore order in Haiti despite concerns of foreign troops and security forces engaging in past crimes against locals and even sparking a cholera outbreak.  

“Damned if you do, damned if you don’t” seems to be the motto.

However, one thing stands. Haiti’s gangs will remain a de facto power regardless of who decides the country’s next course of action, who gains and eventually loses the presidency. A de facto power that continuously blurs the lines between organized crime, terrorists and so-called rebels with political ambitions of their own.

 Rafael Fernández is a writer and security expert.

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