RALPH TEDY EROL / REUTERS
Armed gangs attempted during the night from Friday to Saturday to take control of police buildings in the capital. Other official buildings were reportedly attacked.
Heavy shooting was reported Friday evening March 8 near the Presidential Palace of Haiti, in the capital Port-au-Prince, according to information from the EFE news agency. Exchanges of gunfire were heard throughout the evening, according to the AFP journalist on site, with the city center districts, such as Turgeau, Pacot, Lalue, Canapé-Vert, being particularly under tension. The port was the scene of scenes of looting, said the director general of the National Port Authority (APN), Jocelin Villier. The police managed to secure part of the compound but the looting of containers continued there.
Residents fearing attacks from armed groups are taking shelter. Residents contacted by AFP claim to have witnessed clashes “between police officers and bandits”. The latter obviously want to take control of the police buildings located on Champ-de-Mars, in the center of the capital. According to Jaqueline Charles, correspondent for Miami Heraldthe Ministry of the Interior was engulfed in flames during the night from Friday to Saturday, and gangs also tried to attack the Supreme Court building.
Prime Minister Ariel Henry in Puerto Rico
Criminal gangs, who control most of the capital as well as the roads leading to the rest of the territory, have been attacking strategic sites (police stations, prisons and even courts) for several days, in the absence of Prime Minister Ariel Henry , whose resignation they are demanding, just like part of the population. The island, in the grip of chaos, entered a state of emergency last Sunday after armed gangs stormed several prisons, causing their inmates to escape by the thousands.
Meanwhile, the prime minister and interim president, who was in Kenya seeking an agreement for an international force to fight Haitian gangs, arrived in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico on Tuesday. The United States asked him earlier this week to speed up a political transition as armed gangs seek to oust him.
Some 23 “major gangs” operate in the capital, controlling 80% of the territory. They are grouped into two main coalitions engaged in turf wars: the “G9 family” led by Jimmy Chérizier, alias “Barbecue”, and the G-Pèp. But several of their leaders have joined forces in the attacks in recent days against the country’s strategic sites, demanding the resignation of Ariel Henry. “Uniting is the only way for the gangs to have far-reaching influence over what happens in the country now and in shaping the next government.”explains Robert Fatton, of the University of Virginia, doubting, however, that their alliance “opportunistic” can last.
“Towards a civil war which will lead to genocide”
Jimmy Cherizier, alias “Barbecue”, the most powerful gang leader in Port-au-Prince who controls a good half of the city with the thousands of men in his service, including many former police officers like him, called at the end of February to the overthrow of the prime minister. “If Ariel Henry does not resign, if the international community continues to support him, we are heading straight towards a civil war which will lead to genocide”he declared recently during a press interview.
The Caribbean Community (Caricom) has invited representatives from the United States, France, Canada and the United Nations to a meeting on Monday in Jamaica to discuss the outbreak of violence. “Critical questions for stabilizing security and providing urgent humanitarian assistance” will be discussed, said the President of Guyana Mohamed Irfaan Ali, who holds the rotating presidency of this regional organization.