Front Burner - How gang leader “Barbeque” took over Haiti

Episode Date: March 15, 2024

On Monday, Haiti's Prime Minister Ariel Henry announced from Puerto Rico that he would be stepping down. He’s been unable to return to Haiti since January, because heavily armed gangs have shut down the airport and taken over much of the country.Today, Haitian reporter and editor-in-chief of AyiboPost, Widlore Merancourt, explains what it’s like on the streets of Port-au-Prince, what the gangs want, and whether more foreign intervention is really the answer.For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcriptsTranscripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

In the Dragon's Den, a simple pitch can lead to a life-changing connection. Watch new episodes of Dragon's Den free on CBC Gem. Brought to you in part by National Angel Capital Organization, empowering Canada's entrepreneurs through angel investment and industry connections. This is a CBC Podcast. Hi, I'm Tamara Kandaker, in for Jamie Poisson. On Monday, Ariel Henry, the unelected prime minister of Haiti, released a video announcing his resignation. He recorded that video not from inside his country, but from Puerto Rico.

He's been prevented from returning to Haiti by an unprecedented surge in violence, unleashed by a coalition of gangs who've come together to overthrow him. Haiti is on a brink of becoming a failed state. A gangland rebellion is ripping through the republic. The human toll, hunger, violence, and unrest has been unthinkable. The UN now says 15,000 people have been displaced over just the past week. Henri took over in 2021,

following the assassination of President Jovenel Moise. Henri promised to restore order and to lead Haiti into new elections. Instead, the countries descended even further into violence and insecurity. The out-of-control violence escalating over the last week when the same gangs who once fought each other then banded together, attacking airports, police stations, the presidential palace, even prisons, releasing thousands of inmates into the streets. Now, as international diplomats scramble to cobble together a transitional government, Haiti remains gripped by hunger and bloodshed, and it's unclear who's going to lead the country out of this chaos.

To understand how the crisis reached this point and what could happen next, I'm joined by Weedlor Marincor. He's the editor-in-chief of Aibo Post, a Haitian online news organization and a regular contributor to The Washington Post. Hi, Weedlor. Welcome back to FrontBurner. Thanks so much for doing this. Hi, thanks for having me. So tell me about what life has been like in the streets of Port-au-Prince over the last week or so. life in Port-au-Prince have been extremely difficult. And it is on top of a situation that was already untenable before. Last week, when the gangs in Port-au-Prince waged a series of coordinated attacks on Haitian institutions, they attacked, burned down or damaged at least 12 police stations, according to a police union. They attacked the two biggest penitentiaries in Port-au-Prince,

Aqueducte and the Haitian National Penitentiary, you know, releasing thousands of inmates, some of them, you know, criminals of, you know, the highest caliber. A 72-hour state of emergency declared after armed gangs stormed two of the nation's largest prisons. Close to 4,000 prisoners reportedly escaped during the violent assault. The exact death toll is unknown, but bodies were seen lining the streets of Port-au-Prince as police unions publicly pleaded for backup. They essentially blocked many institutions, making it impossible for them to operate.

Gangs have in recent days attacked the country's container port, international airport and central bank. Nothing seems to be functioning here anymore. Thousands of people are fleeing their homes. Many are having to queue up to get clean water. And can I ask, how have you been feeling about your own safety? How is this affecting your day-to-day life, your ability to get food, go to work, that kind of thing? You know, conversations about what are we going to do if the gangs come to our neighborhood is common where I live. You know, a couple of days ago, the gangs attacked the Haitian National Palace and the gunshots were so closed that I, you know, tried to get ready, put on my sneakers, just in case something happened. It is a situation that is extremely tough to be in.

When you go to work, it is not uncommon to see dead bodies in the streets, sometimes burnt down, because most institutions in Haiti streets, sometimes burnt down because most institutions in Haiti today, especially in Port-au-Prince, are not functioning properly. The morgues, I talked to some of them, they say it's difficult, especially when the gangs are operating,

to go out and pick up corpses. If you are shocked, you know, God forbid, this is one of the biggest fear of people in today to be hit by straight bullets um hospitals many of them are closed uh because of gang violence and those who are still functioning they will tell you they have they are close to shortages of you they are close to shortages of medicines and all other all sorts of other things that are necessary um to function properly uh in the supermarkets you can see there are still some products but uh there is fear that the prices that are extremely high

makes food and so many other necessities very difficult for poor people or the overall majority of people living in Port-au-Prince makes it inaccessible. While Haiti's political crisis plays out, more than a million people are now on the brink of famine. That's coming from the World Food Programme, which is struggling to feed them. It's a losing battle because the country and especially the capital are cut off from outside supplies.

And there is also fear that we can have shortages any time if the police officers, you know, cannot control the situation. And if the gangs were all powerful and probably more powerful today than they were, you know, in the past years, if they decided to saw more chaos in Port-au-Prince. Wow. I can't imagine how stressful that is. And I imagine the port situation is also making things worse. I appreciate you sharing all facto leader of the country following the assassination of former President Jovenel Moise, but he was not elected by the Haitian public. And just briefly, without getting into too many of the details, who did select him to lead the country? Well, you know, he was selected to become prime minister a couple of days before the assassination, the 7th of July 2021. Then the president of Haiti, Jovenel Moïse, was a very contested leader. The brazen attack unfolded overnight at the private residence of

Haitian President Jovenel Moïse. The gunmen, speaking English and Spanish, reportedly yelled they were DEA agents, but the Haitian government says they were instead mercenaries, highly trained killers who shot dead the 53-year-old Moïse and critically wounded his wife. Right after this assassination, the cabinet of Ayeni was not put in place. There was a prime minister at the time and he intended to lead the country to the next elections. However, the international community in Haiti, led by the US, put out a press release under a banner called Core Group group which is a collection of um and embassies and other institutions operating foreign institutions operating uh in in haiti and they you know encouraged ariana lee to form his cabinet and lead the country and this is at the time that

claudio zeff then the prime minister accepted to resign and to, you know, give power to Aguilar. Yeah. And if I'm understanding correctly, this was supposed to be temporary, right? He was just supposed to lead Haiti through to the new elections. But what has happened instead? Aguilar made several promises when he became prime minister. And his primary goal was to organize quickly elections and to make sure that this country today, where we have zero elected officials, can come to some sense of normalcy in terms of how the institutions are working.

We will create a secure, reliable and stable environment to facilitate political activities throughout the country. We will expect massive participation in the next presidential elections, the highest participation of citizens of voting age. However, the many promises he made did not materialize. The last one was to give power to elected officials on the 7th of February this year. However, that did not happen. And the security that he promised so many times in so many speeches did not materialize, quite the contrary. Right. And then under his leadership for the last two and a half years, how has gang violence intensified? Gangs violence today in Haiti are probably the worst in the past decade.

If you talk to experts, they will tell you the hold of gangs in so many territories, controlling so much of the Haitian life is unheard of. Although we had this gang problem before he came in power. But what we are observing today is the collapsing of the rest of the institutions, the few ones that, you know, were still functioning since he became prime minister. Hundreds of thousands of people had to flee their homes because of gangs' violence, you have all sorts of brutal, violent actions, burning down of houses, collective rape. And so many, we put out a report with the Washington Post recently, speaking with women who were sexually abused. And because Haiti doesn't have abortion and because abortion when you have the money and the means to do it is so expensive and so inaccessible for most folks they carry on pregnancies with kids that they don't know who is the father and even if they did

They don't know who is the father. And even if they did, they would, I believe, despise these people because the child comes from extreme violence. So the situation in terms of security is today worse than it was when he came in power. power. So these attacks were spearheaded by the gang leader Jimmy Cherizier, known as Barbecue. And many experts seem to be speculating that Barbecue is now the most powerful man in Haiti. So tell me a bit about him. what do we need to know about him well it's important to be cautious when you talk about the most powerful gang leader in Haiti because it depends on how you define powerful so who is Jimmy Shays Jimmy Shays is a former police officer he rose to prominence in Haiti in 2018 because he was accused of massacring regular citizens in a slum called La Saline.

And after that massacre, he left the Haitian National Police to become the thug that he's known for today. You know, in this context, he created what he called G9. The G9 was a coalition of the nine biggest gangs in the country. He is the spokesperson for the gangs. So that makes him the most visible gang leader in Haiti. Although he is the feared leader of a violent criminal gang, Cherose appears to be trying to reinvent himself as a leader, a man of the people battling a corrupt system and the current government led by Prime Minister Ariel Henry, whom Cherosé condemns. The others, they

speak for instance someone like Izzo, which is know, probably the biggest kidnapper in the country. He used TikTok to, you know, spread fear and chaos amongst the population. But he's not a very political person. You know, he would not be making speeches and interacting with journalists as Jimmy Chéguisier does. be making speeches and interacting with journalists as Jimmy Chéguisier does. So I believe he's vocal. He's probably the most vocal gang leader in Haiti. We are fighting for another society, another Haiti that is not only for the 5% of the people who keep all the wealth, but a new Haiti where everyone can have food, clean water, so they can have a decent house to live in.

Another Haiti where we don't have to leave the country. But when it comes to the firepower, when it comes to how many guns you have under your direct control, I don't think he's the most powerful. However, he is very influential. That's for sure. Yeah. And so what has he said about why the gangs wanted to band together with this goal of overthrowing Henri? Well, the official line for the gangs and for Jimmy Cherizier's band is what they call the revolution. It's a rhetoric that we hear so many times from Jiménez Chirizier. He wants to attack the corrupt class of politicians and the corrupt class of businesses and bring back power or take power for the population. This system is criminal. The revolution we are preaching today, we cannot

do this without guns because we have our own guns. This gun is a symbol of our revolution, the revolution against the 5% of those who hold all the wealth of our nation. But it's a rhetoric, it's a rhetoric. The victims of the violence of these gangs, the victims of the kidnappings, the victims of the rape, the victims of the businesses that are being branched, most of them are poor people in Haiti. The very people that his revolution is supposed to help.

Yeah, right. Even though he portrays himself as this Robin Hood type figure, talks about being inspired by people like MLK Jr., Malcolm X, Fidel Castro. He's known for this violence that ultimately affects the poorest people. Yes. And it is something that we need to be extremely careful because he knows that this speech is going to make waves, especially in international media. And you also have so many, sometimes, you know, foreign journalists coming to Haiti,

believing that speech and giving him a platform that so many people in Haiti do not think he deserves. No one in Haiti today would follow, you know, willingly Jimmy Cherise or would, you know,

be sad if something was to happen to him. That's how he's not liked because the population is fed up and has enough of the actions of his and his bands of gangs. However, it sells well to introduce yourself as some form of revolutionary leader against the rich and the corrupt politicians in a context where you have so much inequality, in a context where the Haitian population, the vast majority of it is living in poverty.

Haitian population, the vast majority of it is living in poverty. And in a country where, quite frankly, we are some of the best in terms of corruption in the whole region. Yeah. Do you have a sense then of what the gangs really want if it's not revolution to help poor people in the country? Like, what is their end goal? Well, their end goal is power and money. It's an old story, quite frankly, and it's not just a Haitian story. But in the Haitian context today, I believe what they are looking for, they did not want a foreign force to come in Haiti because if this force is effective and has equipment and has professionals who know how to conduct effective operations,

that is practically an end to the reign of terror in Haiti. But if they cannot do such feats, I think the second goal would be to corrupt the political discussions and negotiations to have what is being called an amnesty today. Meaning even if such force was to come, even if the rain was to come to an end at some point, they would go free without any actions, without justice, without any repercussion for their actions in the past years. In the Dragon's Den, a simple pitch can lead to a life-changing connection. Watch new episodes of Dragon's Den free on CBC Gem. Brought to you in part by National Angel Capital Organization, empowering Canada's entrepreneurs through angel investment and industry connections.

Hi, it's Ramit Sethi here. You may have seen my money show on Netflix. Empowering Canada's entrepreneurs through angel investment and industry connections. do not know their own household income. That's not a typo. 50%. That's because money is confusing. In my new book and podcast, Money for Couples, I help you and your partner create a financial vision together. To listen to this podcast, just search for Money for Couples. Now that Henri has agreed to resign, what is supposed to happen moving forward? The framework that is emerging so far is a presidential council of nine members. Seven would have voting power and they would pick a new prime minister and bring some sort of nemesis to the country.

and bring some sort of nemesis to the country. And maybe at some point we will have elections and a renewal of the democratic experience in Haiti. Yeah, but Henri was pushed out by these gangs. And I'm wondering how likely is it, do you think, that they will allow the transition to some other authority? Well, there are rumors today that they don't just oppose what is being discussed. They don't just oppose it because they feel like they are sidelined by, you know, on these negotiations there are rumors that they plans to conduct some high-profile actions the same type of those they you know initiated a

couple of weeks ago when they attacked the the prisons the attacks so many police stations killing brutally mercilessly, police officers, and so many poor people who were victims. We have yet to know what they are going to do, but what is certain is they are extremely powerful. And if there is nothing in front of them to stop, you know, their actions, the civil population today in Haiti will fall victims of, you know, their violence. And then one last thing that feels worth touching on before I let you go is that

Henri was in essence put in power by a group of international diplomats. And in fact, Haitians haven't picked their leader since 2016. And like you mentioned this throughout our conversation, this is a country that has a long history of foreign intervention. What kind of impact do you think that has on this situation? Well, I do think that's probably the most important part of the world conversation today. You are in a country when, at least since the assassination of the Haitian national president, the population was asking the international community to let them resolve that situation.

So many stakeholders were asking for a Haitian-led solution to the world crisis, but they were muted, not heard, you know, and the many protests that they organized did not bring about any change in the policies of, you know, embassies like the European embassy here, like the US or France, right? You have now meetings on the future of Haiti being conducted outside of Haiti and sometimes without any Haitian presence whatsoever.

It is an old story and so many here fear that the future won't look that much different from the past. Haitian history and Haitian culture and Haitian ways of habitating this space are not heard and do not have enough weight in the discussion. The solution proposed won't be effective. That's what they fear. Wee Lord, thanks so much for taking the time and for all your insight and explaining this to us. I really, really appreciate it. Thank you. All right, that's all for today. Front Burner was produced this week by Matt Muse,

Allie Janes, Sarah Jackson, and Derek Vanderwyk. Sound design was by Mackenzie Cameron, Sarah Jackson, and Derek Vanderwyk. Sound design was by Mackenzie Cameron, Marco Luciano, and Sam McNulty. Music is by Joseph Chabison. Our senior producer is Elaine Chao. Our executive producer is Nick McCabe-Locos. The show is hosted by Jamie Poisson, and this week by Ali Janes and me, Tamara Kandaker.

Thanks so much for listening. FrontBurner will be back on Monday.