The two Haitis have come to a collision course.
One Haiti as imagined by its corrupt political elites, sometimes from outside the country.
One Haiti was built on the ground by the ultra-violent gangs that control 80% of the capital Port-au-Prince.
Now, the big players are vying for unelected political power – that is meant to be transitional but never really is.
But to do so, they need to overpower the gangs – something the police and the armies haven’t been able to do.
So, multiple police and militia attacks have begun targeting rebel gang fighters and their gang leaders.
Reuters reported:
“A police operation killed the head of the Delmas 95 gang, Ernst Julme, known as Ti Greg, a day after another gang leader was killed in an apparent resurgence of vigilante justice, police and sources confirmed.
The death of Julme, a member of gang leader Jimmy ‘Barbeque’ Cherizier’s “Viv Ansanm” alliance, marks a setback for gangs’ moves to take over more of the city. Julme had recently escaped from Haiti’s largest prison in a mass jailbreak.”
The United Nations celebrated the selection of all members of a ‘transitional council’.
It will appoint a replacement for exiled Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who announced his resignation on March 11.
The transition plan was brokered in Jamaica by the intergovernmental Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
But rebel gang leader Chérizier has threatened reprisals against politicians and their families if they take part in the council.
“As the council seemed to near completion, heavy gunfire was heard on Thursday near the National Palace off the Champ de Mars square in downtown Port-au-Prince, while people fled shootings in the capital’s Petion-Ville suburb.
On Wednesday suspected gang members in Petion-Ville, which has been under attack over recent days, were killed and set on fire – including one leader known as Makandal – in what appeared to be a resurgence of a civilian vigilante movement known as Bwa Kale.”
Bwa Kale reportedly killed another rebel leader outside the capital on Thursday.
“The state has been largely absent during the violence and police are ill-equipped against heavily armed criminal groups seeking to expand their territorial control of the capital city. Plans for an international security mission, requested by [PM] Henry in 2022, remain on hold.”
Read more:
HAITI HELL: International Community Backs Unelected Transitional Council – Gangs Kill 12 in Rich Neighborhoods of the Capital – Kenya Hesitates To Send UN Peacekeeping Troops
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