Endless Violence in Haiti: Gang Leader Threatens Civil War

Violence in Haiti continues without a clear end in sight. Gang leader Jimmy Cherizier, also known as Barbecue, has issued a stark warning. Cherizier, a former police officer who now heads the G9 gang coalition, stated that if Prime Minister Ariel Henry stays in office beyond his expected departure date of February 7, Haiti could face a civil war.

Cherizier has threatened to provoke a “genocide” if the current president does not leave power, as he promised to do. “If Ariel Henry does not resign, if the international community continues to support him, we are heading towards a civil war that will lead to genocide,” declared Jimmy Cherizier, during an interview with the press.

In a context of increasing violence, according to the United Nations, more than 8,400 people were victims of gang violence last year, including dead, wounded and kidnapped, “an increase of 122% compared to 2022”.

Targeted attacks on power

Beyond the climate of social violence that the country has endured since the assassination of President Moïse in July 2021, for the past week criminal gangs have been focusing their attacks inside and outside the capital, Port-au-Prince, on strategic locations for the government. The objective is clear: to force the departure of Ariel Henry, who should have left power a month ago.

As of today, however, Henry remains entrenched in the power he gained shortly after Moise’s assassination, and does not seem willing to give it up easily. “We must unite. Either Haiti becomes a paradise for all or a hell for all”, added ex-cop Cherizier, now leader of a coalition of gangs known as the G9 and object of UN sanctions.

While the whole country succumbs to ongoing violence, Henry’s bureaucratic power is opposed by a series of warlords, criminals without any political legitimacy who use brute force as a political discourse and who worry the international community.

False political speech of a criminal leader

At this moment, there does not seem to be a truly democratic and legitimate opposition leader to present a legal battle to Henry, only various criminals who have taken the task upon themselves, but whose effectiveness does not go beyond the weapons they carry. These leaders are taking advantage of the climate of violence that eats away at Haiti.

Jimmy Cherizier, an elite police officer turned gang leader, expressed that “it is not for a small group of rich people living in big hotels to decide the destiny of the inhabitants of the popular neighborhoods”, trying to link his demands to a supposed democratic and popular current that may not even exist.

Today the former law-enforcer is head of the G-9 and Familia group and a high-profile criminal with several accusations against him. The United States and the UN have linked him to human rights violations, accusations he has always denied.

The motives of alias Barbecue

Jimmy Cherizier is believed to be 47 years old. There are various explanations for his alias; on the one hand, some say it comes from the fact that before becoming a police officer he sold chickens on the street. Other versions claim that it derives from his habit, as a gang leader, of burning the bodies of his victims and their houses.

In November 2017, during his time as a policeman, he was linked to the death of nine civilians while carrying out a police operation against mafias in Port-au-Prince. The United Nations and the United States have suggested that alias Barbecue was also implicated in the La Saline massacre, an instance in which at least 71 people were killed in a confrontation between police and criminal groups.

The motivations against Henry are not political. According to data from the Insightcrime Foundation, before the assassination of President Moïse, 50% of the G-9’s funds came from the government, 30% from kidnappings and 20% from extortion. However, after the assassination attempt against the then president, government funding decreased by 30%. This is said to be the real reason for Barbecue’s break with the Haitian political power and the cause of his gang’s fight against the authorities.

President Henry is out of the country

Henry has not returned to Haiti since he traveled last week to Kenya, where he signed an agreement to send police to his country as part of an international mission supported by Washington and the UN.

He is currently believed to be in Puerto Rico, and there is no news on the date of his return to Haiti. According to the Dominican media CDN, the Prime Minister tried to travel this Tuesday to the Dominican Republic on a flight from New Jersey, but the authorities of Haiti’s neighboring country denied him permission to land. It would be for this reason that Henry traveled to Puerto Rico, his current whereabouts.

While all this was going on, gangs attacked a police academy this week, as well as attempting to take over several prisons and even the Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince. So far, all attacks have been repelled by Haitian law enforcement.

The latest violence has caused the displacement of more than 15,000 people, who have fled the capital Port-au-Prince in search of a safer place for their families, according to UN sources. Since last weekend, the city has been in a state of emergency, with curfews at night.