Haiti in disarray, but gangs grow organized

An elderly man drinks water inside a shelter for displaced Haitians, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Saturday, July 10, 2021, three days after Haitian President Jovenel Moise was assassinated in his home. The displaced Haitians were forced to flee their community where they had settled after the 2010 earthquake, after armed gangs set their homes on fire in late June. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
An elderly man drinks water inside a shelter for displaced Haitians, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Saturday, July 10, 2021, three days after Haitian President Jovenel Moise was assassinated in his home. The displaced Haitians were forced to flee their community where they had settled after the 2010 earthquake, after armed gangs set their homes on fire in late June. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- Gangs in Haiti have long been financed by powerful politicians and their allies -- and many Haitians fear those backers may be losing control of the increasingly powerful armed groups that have driven thousands of people from their homes as they battle over territory, kill civilians and raid warehouses of food.

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The escalation in gang violence threatens to complicate -- and be aggravated by -- political efforts to recover from last week's slaying of President Jovenel Moise. Haiti's government is in disarray; no parliament, no president, a dispute over who is prime minister, a weak police force. But the gangs seem more organized and powerful than ever.

While the violence has been centered on the capital of Port-au-Prince, it has affected life across Haiti, paralyzing the fragile economy, shuttering schools, overwhelming police and disrupting efforts to fight the covid-19 pandemic.

"The country is transformed into a vast desert where wild animals engulf us," said the Haitian Conference of the Religious in a recent statement decrying the spike in violent crime. "We are refugees and exiles in our own country."

Gangs recently have stolen tens of thousands of bags of sugar, rice and flour, as well as ransacked and burned homes in the capital. That has driven thousands of people to seek shelter at churches, outdoor fields and a large gymnasium, where the government and international donors struggle to feed them and find long-term housing.

Those included dozens of disabled people who were forced to flee last month when gangs set fire to the encampment where they settled after being injured in the 2010 earthquake.

"I was running for my life in the camp on these crutches," said 44-year-old Obas Woylky, who lost a leg in the quake. "Bullets were flying from different directions. ... All I was able to see was fire in the homes."

He was among more than 350 people crammed into a school converted into a makeshift shelter where hardly anyone wore masks.

WORSENING VIOLENCE

Experts say the violence is the worst they've seen in roughly two decades -- since before creation of a second U.N. peacekeeping mission in 2004.

Programs aimed at reducing gang activity and an influx of aid after the earthquake helped quell some of the problem, but once that money dried up and aid programs shut down, gangs turned to kidnappings and extortion from businesses and neighborhoods they control.

Gangs are in part funded by powerful politicians, a practice recently denounced even by one of its reputed beneficiaries -- Jimmy Cherizier, a former police officer who heads a gang coalition known as G9 Family and Allies.

He complained that the country is being held "hostage" by people he did not identify: "They reign supreme everywhere, distribute weapons to the populous quarters, playing the division card to establish their domination."

Cherizier, known as "Barbecue," has been linked to several massacres, and his coalition is believed to be allied with Moise's right-wing party. He criticized those he called "bourgeois" and "exploiters," adding: "We will use our weapons against them in favor of the Haitian people. ... We're ready for war."

Cherizier in a news conference Saturday called Moise's killing "cowardly and villainous" and said that while many disagreed with him, "no one wanted this tragic outcome that will worsen the crisis and amplify political instability."

He also issued a veiled warning: "We invite all those who are trying to take advantage of this coup to think carefully, to consider whether they have in their hands the appropriate solution to the country's problems."

Cherizier added that he and others will demand justice for Moise: "We are just now warming up."

G9 is one of at least 30 gangs that authorities believe control nearly half of Port-au-Prince. Their names range from "5 Seconds" -- for how long it allegedly takes them to commit a crime -- to "400 Mawozo" -- which roughly translated means 400 lame men.

The epicenter of the recent gang violence is Martissant, a community in southern Port-au-Prince whose main road connects the capital to southern Haiti. Drivers' fear of being caught in a crossfire or worse has almost paralyzed commercial connections between the two regions, driving up prices, delaying the transportation of food and fuel, and forcing international organizations to cancel programs including the distribution of cash to more than 30,000 people, according to a July 1 report by the U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

HUMANITARIAN EFFECTS

The agency said more than 1 million people need immediate humanitarian assistance and protection.

"Newly displaced people seek refuge in shelters every day," it said, adding that hygiene there was "appalling." Authorities worry about a spike in covid-19 cases in a country that has yet to give a single vaccine.

"Escalating violence on an almost daily basis is expected to last for some time," the agency said in a report.

The overall economy doesn't help. The U.N. said the cost of a basic food basket rose by 13% in May compared with February, and that foreign direct investment fell by more than 70% from 2018-20, dropping from $105 million to $30 million. That translates into fewer jobs and increased poverty in a country where 60% of the population makes less than $2 a day and 25% less than $1 a day.

Many also worry that the gangs could derail elections scheduled for September and November -- a contest crucial to restoring functional legislative and executive branches now largely moribund in the wake of Moise's slaying.

But Haiti's elections minister, Mathias Pierre, said Saturday that those backing the gangs may want to disrupt the elections. Such periods commonly see an upsurge in violence as groups try to use fear to nullify rivals' advantages.

He said that wouldn't work this time, noting that countries have held elections even during wars. "We need to organize elections. ... They need to back off."

Haiti's Office of the Protection of Citizens, a sort of ombudsman agency, has urged the international community to help Haiti's National Police, which it said was "unable to respond effectively to the gangsterization of the country."

Pierre said lack of resources and weakness of Haiti's police led the government to ask the U.S. and U.N. to send troops to help maintain order after Moise's killing: "We have a responsibility to avoid chaos."

Officials say they have been trying to boost the budget and manpower of a police force that now has about 9,000 operational officers for a country of more than 11 million people. Experts say it needs at least 30,000 officers to maintain control.

The government also is trying to figure out where to put people who have fled their homes because of the violence, such as 43-year-old Marjorie Benoit, her husband and their three children.

Benoit, who lost an arm in the earthquake, said they fled as gunfire crackled around their neighborhood. She now also has lost her home and all their belongings.

"We have been uprooted," she said, "and we don't know where to start."

A man sleeps on a mattress inside a shelter for displaced Haitians, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Saturday, July 10, 2021, three days after Haitian President Jovenel Moise was assassinated in his home. The displaced Haitians were forced to flee their community where they had settled after the 2010 earthquake, after armed gangs set their homes on fire in late June. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
A man sleeps on a mattress inside a shelter for displaced Haitians, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Saturday, July 10, 2021, three days after Haitian President Jovenel Moise was assassinated in his home. The displaced Haitians were forced to flee their community where they had settled after the 2010 earthquake, after armed gangs set their homes on fire in late June. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
Displaced Haitians eat in a shelter for refugees, after armed gangs set their homes on fire in Port au Prince, Haiti, Thursday, June 24, 2021.Insecurity continues throughout the country with Port-au-Prince being the most-affected. (AP Photo/Joseph Odelyn)
Displaced Haitians eat in a shelter for refugees, after armed gangs set their homes on fire in Port au Prince, Haiti, Thursday, June 24, 2021.Insecurity continues throughout the country with Port-au-Prince being the most-affected. (AP Photo/Joseph Odelyn)
FILE - In this June 24, 2021 file photo, a group of blind and disabled people stay at a refuge for displaced persons after armed gangs set their homes on fire in Port au Prince, Haiti. Gangs have driven thousands of people to seek shelter at churches, outdoor fields and a large gymnasium, where the government and international donors struggle to feed them and find long-term housing, included are these disabled people who were burned out of their homes. (AP Photo/Joseph Odelyn, File)
FILE - In this June 24, 2021 file photo, a group of blind and disabled people stay at a refuge for displaced persons after armed gangs set their homes on fire in Port au Prince, Haiti. Gangs have driven thousands of people to seek shelter at churches, outdoor fields and a large gymnasium, where the government and international donors struggle to feed them and find long-term housing, included are these disabled people who were burned out of their homes. (AP Photo/Joseph Odelyn, File)
FILE - In this May 24, 2019 file photo, Barbecue, whose real name is Jimmy Cherizier, sits at his house during an interview with AP, in Lower Delmas, a district of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. He's a former policeman, a suspect in the massacre of dozens of men, women and children and a hero in his neighborhood, followed by crowds of adoring residents who consider him their protector. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery, File)
FILE - In this May 24, 2019 file photo, Barbecue, whose real name is Jimmy Cherizier, sits at his house during an interview with AP, in Lower Delmas, a district of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. He's a former policeman, a suspect in the massacre of dozens of men, women and children and a hero in his neighborhood, followed by crowds of adoring residents who consider him their protector. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery, File)
FILE - In this Dec. 10, 2020 file photo, a protester holds a sign with a message to stop supporting gangs during a protest demanding the resignation of Haitian President Jovenel Moise in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. A UNICEF report says that escalating gang violence has displaced thousands of women and children in the capital in the first two weeks of June 2021. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery, File)
FILE - In this Dec. 10, 2020 file photo, a protester holds a sign with a message to stop supporting gangs during a protest demanding the resignation of Haitian President Jovenel Moise in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. A UNICEF report says that escalating gang violence has displaced thousands of women and children in the capital in the first two weeks of June 2021. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery, File)
FILE - In this Nov. 21, 2018 file photo, an armed civilian carries a weapon on during a shootout between rival gangs to take control of the Croix-des-Bossales market, on Boulevard Jean-Jacques Dessalines, a main commercial artery, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2018. The fight for control of the market, where vendors pay the controlling gang regular payments, erupted amid days of protests and a strike against alleged government corruption. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery, File)
FILE - In this Nov. 21, 2018 file photo, an armed civilian carries a weapon on during a shootout between rival gangs to take control of the Croix-des-Bossales market, on Boulevard Jean-Jacques Dessalines, a main commercial artery, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2018. The fight for control of the market, where vendors pay the controlling gang regular payments, erupted amid days of protests and a strike against alleged government corruption. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery, File)

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