The gang leader threatens the country with a “civil war” if the prime minister remains in power

Mistrust of authority in Haiti is becoming more and more dangerous. “If (Prime Minister) Ariel Henry does not resign, if the international community continues to support him, we are heading straight for a civil war that will lead to genocide.On Tuesday March 5, Jimmy Charizier, nicknamed “Barbecue”, is revealed to be a powerful gang leader in a small impoverished Caribbean country plagued by intense violence.

Armed groups that control large parts of Haiti and the capital, Port-au-Prince, recently announced that they are ganging up against the government and carrying out attacks on infrastructure and strategic locations. Minister’s foreign tour. The capital has been under a state of emergency and curfew since Sunday after armed gangs freed thousands of detainees.

“We must come together. Either Haiti becomes heaven for all of us, or hell for all of us”This went on for the 46-year-old former police officer, who became the leader of a coalition of armed gangs nicknamed the “G9 family”, and was targeted by United Nations (UN) sanctions. “There is no question that a small group of wealthy people living in big hotels will decide the fate of the residents of working-class neighborhoods.”He announced again, armed with bulletproof vests, carrying weapons and surrounded by hooded men.

Flights to Port-au-Prince cancelled

Armed gangs attacked a police academy in the Haitian capital on Tuesday, after attempting to seize Toussaint-Louverture international airport a day earlier. Lionel Lazare, coordinator of the National Union of Haitian Police Officers (Sinapoha), said the attack on the academy, where more than 800 people are training, was repelled by police officers deployed as reinforcements.

Several armed men attacked a police station near the airport and set it on fire, according to the same source. International airlines canceled all flights to Port-au-Prince due to the unrest.

The violence follows attacks launched against two prisons in Port-au-Prince over the weekend, which resulted in the escape of thousands of inmates and the death of nearly ten. In response, the government declared a state of emergency and a three-day nighttime curfew, renewable until Wednesday.

This new “increase” The violence has forced nearly 15,000 people to flee their homes in Port-au-Prince, UN General Secretariat spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in New York on Tuesday as humanitarians began distributing food and other basic necessities to three newly displaced people. sites

The UN Security Council will meet behind closed doors on the subject on Wednesday, according to the council’s program. The United Nations representative in Haiti, Maria Isabel Salvador, will provide them with updates on the situation remotely.

Ariel Henry unable to return

After being paralyzed, the capital, however, seemed to resume a semblance of activity on Tuesday, even though some streets were blocked by stones and tree trunks placed by residents to protect themselves, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP) journalists. have ). Transport is working again and businesses have reopened. There are long queues in front of shops, banks and gas stations.

Ariel Henry, in 2021, in power after the assassination of President Jovenel Moise, for his part, is trying to return to Haiti and landed in Puerto Rico on Tuesday, while he was visiting Kenya last week to sign an agreement to send Kenya. Police officers in their country as part of an international mission supported by the UN and the United States.

According to local media radio Tele Metronome, Ariel Henry was unable to return to Port-au-Prince.
Due to the lack of security at the airport. According to Dominican media CDN, the Prime Minister’s private plane, departing from the American state of New Jersey, landed in the American territory of Puerto Rico in the Caribbean after refusing to land in the neighboring Dominican Republic. from Haiti. . Relations between the two countries are strained.

Contacted by AFP, Puerto Rico’s government spokeswoman Sheila Anglero said she did not know if Haiti’s prime minister was still on the island.

“Rethinking the New Haiti”

Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, is facing a deep political, humanitarian and security crisis exacerbated by the assassination of Jovenel Moise, with the political process at a complete standstill.

According to the UN, more than 8,400 people were victims of gang violence, killed, injured or kidnapped in 2023. “Increase of 122% compared to 2022”.

Recognizing the abuse perpetrated by gang members, the “Barbecue” leader on Tuesday called on society to step up: “Yes, we know that armed men have committed acts harmful to society, but (…) I think society should forgive them and unite to reimagine a new Haiti”He declared.