{"id":55105,"date":"2024-05-21T05:07:14","date_gmt":"2024-05-21T05:07:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/05\/21\/haitis-gangs-grow-stronger-as-kenyan-led-force-prepares-to-deploy\/"},"modified":"2024-05-21T05:07:14","modified_gmt":"2024-05-21T05:07:14","slug":"haitis-gangs-grow-stronger-as-kenyan-led-force-prepares-to-deploy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/05\/21\/haitis-gangs-grow-stronger-as-kenyan-led-force-prepares-to-deploy\/","title":{"rendered":"Haiti\u2019s Gangs Grow Stronger as Kenyan-Led Force Prepares to Deploy"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"549\" src=\"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/05\/17\/multimedia\/00Haiti-arms-lqhw\/00Haiti-arms-lqhw-facebookJumbo.jpg?resize=1050,549&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Haiti\u2019s Gangs Grow Stronger as Kenyan-Led Force Prepares to Deploy\" title=\"Haiti\u2019s Gangs Grow Stronger as Kenyan-Led Force Prepares to Deploy\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">They have a stranglehold on the country\u2019s infrastructure, from police stations to seaports. They have chased hundreds of thousands of people from the capital. And they are suspected of having ties to the 2021 assassination of Haiti\u2019s president.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Western diplomats and officials say the influence and capability of many Haitian gangs are evolving, making them ever more threatening to the <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/05\/14\/world\/africa\/kenya-haiti-police.html\" title=\"\">Kenyan-led multinational police force <\/a>soon deploying to Haiti as well as the fragile transitional council trying to set a path for elections.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">With their arrival <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/05\/14\/world\/africa\/kenya-haiti-police.html\" title=\"\">just days away<\/a>, the 2,500 police officers will confront a better equipped, funded, trained and unified gang force than any mission previously deployed to the Caribbean nation, security experts say.<\/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\">Once largely reliant on Haiti\u2019s political and business elite for money, some gangs have found independent financial lifelines since the assassination of President Jovenel Mo\u00efse in 2021 and the collapse of the state that ensued.<\/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 had been making their money from kidnappings and extortion and from payouts from politicians during elections and the business elites in between,\u201d said William O\u2019Neill, the United Nations-appointed human rights expert for Haiti.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cBut the gangs are now much more autonomous and don\u2019t need the old guard\u2019s financial support,\u201d he added. \u201cThey have created a Frankenstein that is beyond anyone\u2019s control.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Aiding the gangs is an arsenal more powerful than any they have ever possessed before, according to two Justice Department officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence assessments. Since February, some gangs have acquired automatic weapons \u2014 possibly a mix of arms stolen from regional militaries and others converted from semiautomatic rifles, the officials said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The gangs have also changed their public posture, posting social-media videos of themselves acting like militias with national ambitions and less concerned with their usual turf wars.<\/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\">Some of Haiti\u2019s gangs started working together last September, when they announced the alliance called Vivre Ensemble, or Living Together, just days after the <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/09\/14\/world\/americas\/dominican-republic-haiti-border-water.html\" title=\"\">Dominican Republic closed its land border<\/a> with Haiti.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The idea was to unite the gangs to overcome the obstacles that the border closure posed to their drug-smuggling operations, according to two Western diplomats focused on Haiti who were not authorized to speak publicly.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But the alliance fell apart about a week after it was announced, after some two tons of cocaine was stolen from the Haitian gang leader Johnson Andr\u00e9, known as Izo, the diplomats said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Izo\u2019s 5 Segonn gang, or \u201cFive Seconds\u201d in Creole, is believed to be the largest cocaine trafficker in the country, sending much of its product directly to Europe, according to the diplomats.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In late February, Vivre Ensemble was resurrected. The gangs publicly pledged to overthrow the country\u2019s prime minister and vowed to resist the Kenyan-led security force once it deployed, calling the troops \u201cinvaders.\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\">Days later, the alliance stormed two prisons, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/03\/03\/world\/americas\/haiti-prison-escape-gangs.html\" title=\"\">releasing some 4,600 prisoners<\/a>, many of whom joined their ranks. The chaos forced Haiti\u2019s prime minister, who had been out of the country, 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\">Among the escapees was Dimitri H\u00e9rard, according to Haitian officials, the head of the security unit that protected Mr. Mo\u00efse\u2019s presidential palace before he was assassinated. Mr. H\u00e9rard <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/07\/15\/world\/americas\/haiti-president-security-chief-custody.html\" title=\"\">ordered his forces to stand down<\/a> as mercenaries stormed Mr. Mo\u00efse\u2019s home. He had been in prison awaiting trial on charges tied to the assassination when he was freed in the prison break.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. H\u00e9rard is now helping organize and advise Izo\u2019s gang and may be providing connections to larger criminal organizations in the region, including drug cartels, according to a senior regional intelligence official and the two Western diplomats.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. H\u00e9rard could not be reached for comment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Haitian gangs appear to be using weapons also used by the Gulf Clan, a Colombian cartel, which operates along the country\u2019s Caribbean coastline and uses neighboring countries to traffic cocaine. President Gustavo Petro of Colombia said last month that thousands of military weapons had been stolen and sold to armed groups, like cartels, and may have gone to Haiti.<\/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\">Another powerful gang leader, Vitel\u2019homme Innocent, has also been linked by the authorities to Mr. Mo\u00efse\u2019s killing. He rented one of the cars used in Mr. Mo\u00efse\u2019s killing, according to a Haitian police report.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. H\u00e9rard was also a prime suspect in one of the largest cases the Drug Enforcement Administration ever pursued in Haiti. In 2015, the <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/08\/21\/world\/americas\/haiti-president-assassination-drugs.html\" title=\"\">MV Manzanares cargo ship<\/a> docked in Port-au-Prince with more than 1,000 kilograms of cocaine and heroin hidden among sacks of sugar.<\/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\">At the time, Michel Martelly was Haiti\u2019s president and Mr. H\u00e9rard was a senior member of his presidential security force. Mr. H\u00e9rard <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/08\/21\/world\/americas\/haiti-president-assassination-drugs.html\" title=\"\">was seen by multiple witnesses<\/a> at the port ordering members of the presidential guard to ferry drugs off the ship and into police vehicles.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Most of the drugs in the case disappeared. Witnesses were intimidated by Haitian government officials, including by Jimmy Ch\u00e9rizier, a police officer, according to Keith McNichols, a former Drug Enforcement Administration officer who worked on the case.<\/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\">Mr. Ch\u00e9rizier, also known as Barbecue, is now one of Haiti\u2019s most powerful gang leaders and a key part of the Vivre Ensemble coalition.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe gangs are more and more linked to drug trafficking,\u201d said Mr. O\u2019Neill, of the United Nations. \u201cAnd given that some former police officers like H\u00e9rard were involved in the drug trade when Martelly came to power, it wouldn\u2019t surprise me if the gangs are now trying to court those ex-security officials.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">More recently, officials with knowledge of the negotiations to appoint a new Haitian prime minister say that Mr. Martelly has been lobbying Caribbean leaders and his political allies to try to influence the makeup of the interim government.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">His allies on the transitional council have quietly floated a proposal that immunity should be given to the gangs, the officials said, possibly as part of a wider immunity for previous government officials who could be accused of corruption.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI categorically deny these unfounded allegations of active interference with the transition council,\u201d Mr. Martelly said in a statement to The New York Times, calling the accusations politically motivated. \u201cI have never had any relationship with gangs, nor have I made any reference to amnesty for anyone.\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\">The government of Mr. Martelly, who served as president from 2011 to 2016, was <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2015\/03\/17\/world\/americas\/haitian-president-tightens-grip-as-scandal-engulfs-circle-of-friends.html\" title=\"\">accused of rampant corruption<\/a>, including misappropriation of aid worth about <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/11\/23\/world\/americas\/haiti-protests-unrest-instability.html\" title=\"\">$2 billion from Venezuela<\/a>. In 2022, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/11\/20\/world\/canada\/canada-haiti-sanctions.html\" title=\"\">Canada imposed sanctions on him and other Haitian politicians<\/a> for protecting and empowering local gangs, \u201cincluding through money laundering and other acts of corruption.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe idea of an amnesty could add fuel to the fire if Haitians are not consulted,\u201d said Romain Le Cour, a Haiti security analyst at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, \u201cconsidering the inability of politicians to come together in this moment of crisis and given that the gangs have committed severe human rights violations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-798hid etfikam0\">Reporting was contributed by <!-- -->Christiaan Triebert<!-- -->, <!-- -->Andre Paultre<!-- -->, <!-- -->John Ismay<!-- -->, <!-- -->Adam Entous<!-- -->, <!-- -->Julian E. Barnes<!-- --> and <!-- -->David C. Adams<!-- -->.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/05\/21\/world\/americas\/haiti-gangs-weapons.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>They have a stranglehold on the country\u2019s infrastructure, from police stations to seaports. They have chased hundreds of thousands of people from the capital. And they are suspected of having ties to the 2021 assassination of Haiti\u2019s president. Western diplomats and officials say the influence and capability of many Haitian gangs are evolving, making them [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":55106,"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\/05\/17\/multimedia\/00Haiti-arms-lqhw\/00Haiti-arms-lqhw-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2989,5401,1419,7743,4712,54413,20071,19244],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55105"}],"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=55105"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55105\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55107,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55105\/revisions\/55107"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}