{"id":1022,"date":"2024-03-15T03:04:01","date_gmt":"2024-03-15T03:04:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/15\/why-everything-changed-in-haiti-the-gangs-united\/"},"modified":"2024-03-15T03:04:01","modified_gmt":"2024-03-15T03:04:01","slug":"why-everything-changed-in-haiti-the-gangs-united","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/15\/why-everything-changed-in-haiti-the-gangs-united\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Everything Changed in Haiti: The Gangs United"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"549\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/03\/13\/multimedia\/00haiti-gangs-top-lvjg\/00haiti-gangs-top-lvjg-facebookJumbo.jpg?resize=1050,549&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Why Everything Changed in Haiti: The Gangs United\" title=\"Why Everything Changed in Haiti: The Gangs United\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Even as gangs terrorized Haiti, kidnapped civilians en masse and killed at will, the country\u2019s embattled prime minister held on to power for years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Then, in a matter of days, everything changed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In the midst of political upheaval not seen since the country\u2019s president was assassinated in 2021, Haiti\u2019s prime minister, Ariel Henry, agreed to step down. Now, neighboring countries are scrambling to create a transitional council to run the country and plot a course for elections, which once seemed a distant possibility.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">What made this moment different, experts say: The gangs united, forcing the country\u2019s leader to relinquish power.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cPrime Minister Ariel resigned not because of politics, not because of the massive street demonstrations against him over the years, but because of the violence gangs have carried out,\u201d said Judes Jonathas, a Haitian consultant who has worked for years in aid delivery. \u201cThe situation totally changed now, because the gangs are now working together.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">It is unclear how strong the alliance is or whether it will last. What is apparent is that the gangs are trying to capitalize on their control of Port-au-Prince, the capital, to become a legitimate political force in the negotiations being brokered by foreign governments including the United States, France and Caribbean nations.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In early March, Mr. Henry traveled to Nairobi to finalize a deal for a Kenyan-led security force to deploy to Haiti. Criminal groups seized on the absence of Mr. Henry, who is highly unpopular. Within days, the gangs shut down the airport, looted seaports, attacked about a dozen police stations and released about 4,600 prisoners from jail.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">They demanded that Mr. Henry resign, threatening to worsen the violence if he refused. Since he agreed to step down, the gangs seem to be largely focused on securing immunity from criminal prosecution and staying out of jail, analysts said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cTheir biggest objective is amnesty,\u201d Mr. Jonathas said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The criminals\u2019 most prominent political ally is <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/11\/30\/world\/americas\/guy-philippe-haiti-return.html\" title=\"\">Guy Philippe<\/a>, a former police commander and coup leader who served six years in U.S. federal prison for laundering drug money before being deported back to Haiti late last year. He has led the push for Mr. Henry to resign.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Now Mr. Philippe is openly calling for the gangs to receive amnesty.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe have to tell them, \u2018You will put down the weapons or you will face big consequences,\u2019\u201d Mr. Philippe told The New York Times in an interview in January, referring to the gangs. \u201cIf you put down the weapons,\u201d he said, \u201cyou will have a second chance. You will have some kind of amnesty.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Philippe does not have a seat on the transitional council appointed to lead Haiti. But he is using his connections to the Pitit Desalin political party to bring those demands to the negotiating table in Jamaica, where Caribbean and international officials are meeting to forge a solution to the crisis in Haiti, according to three people familiar with the discussions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Gang leaders\u2019 decision to unite was most likely motivated by a desire to consolidate power after Mr. Henry signed the agreement with Kenya to bring 1,000 police officers to Port-au-Prince, said William O\u2019Neill, the United Nations expert on human rights in Haiti.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Many gang members in Haiti are teenagers, he said, who are looking to be paid but who probably have little interest in going to war with a well-armed police force.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The gangs respect \u201cfear and force,\u201d Mr. O\u2019Neill said. \u201cThey fear a force stronger than they are.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">While many doubt that the Kenyan force will bring lasting stability, its arrival would represent the biggest challenge to the gang\u2019s territorial control in years.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe gangs have been hearing about this Kenyan-led force,\u201d for years, said Louis-Henri Mars, the executive director of Lakou Lap\u00e8, a peacekeeping organization that works with Haitian gangs. \u201cThen they saw that it was finally coming, so they launched a pre-emptive strike.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The violence unleashed by the gangs shut down much of the capital and prevented Mr. Henry from being able to return to his country.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">This was the tipping point: The United States and Caribbean leaders viewed Haiti\u2019s situation as \u201cuntenable.\u201d U.S. officials concluded Mr. Henry was no longer a viable partner and sharpened their calls for him to move quickly toward a transition of power, officials involved in the political negotiations said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Since then, gang leaders have been speaking to journalists, holding news conferences, promising peace and demanding a seat at the table.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Jimmy Ch\u00e9rizier, a powerful gang leader also known as Barbecue, has become one of the best-known faces of the new gang alliance, known as Living Together.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\"><a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/03\/07\/world\/americas\/haiti-gangs-explainer.html\" title=\"\">The G-9, the gang of Mr. Ch\u00e9rizier,<\/a> a former police officer known for his ruthlessness, controls downtown Port-au-Prince and has been accused of attacking neighborhoods allied with opposition political parties, looting houses, raping women and killing people at random.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Yet in his news conferences, Mr. Ch\u00e9rizier has apologized for the violence and blamed Haiti\u2019s economic and political systems for country\u2019s destitution and inequality. Mr. Philippe has echoed that thinking.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThose young girls, those young boys, they have no other opportunity \u2014 to die starving or to take weapons,\u201d Mr. Philippe told The Times. \u201cThey chose to take weapons.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-798hid etfikam0\">Andre Paultre<!-- --> contributed reporting from Port-au-Prince.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Even as gangs terrorized Haiti, kidnapped civilians en masse and killed at will, the country\u2019s embattled prime minister held on to power for years. Then, in a matter of days, everything changed. In the midst of political upheaval not seen since the country\u2019s president was assassinated in 2021, Haiti\u2019s prime minister, Ariel Henry, agreed to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1023,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/03\/13\/multimedia\/00haiti-gangs-top-lvjg\/00haiti-gangs-top-lvjg-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1417,1419,1418,308],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1022"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1022"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1022\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1024,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1022\/revisions\/1024"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}