“Barbecue” and the gangs close take over

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Barbecue and the gangs close take over
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Criminal gangs control 80 percent of Haiti’s capital on a daily basis.

But it completely degenerated when the Prime Minister left the country.

Now gang leader Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier is threatening gang war if the Prime Minister does not resign.

– We have chosen to take our fate into our own hands, says gang leader Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier, according to CNN.

  • Haiti is rocked by unrest as criminal gangs seek to expand in the capital Port-au-Prince, which escalated into violence when Prime Minister Ariel Henry was abroad.
  • Following an agreement for Kenya to send police reinforcements to Haiti, gang leader Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier threatened to kidnap ministers and prevent Henry’s return.
  • Major prison breakouts have taken place, thousands of prisoners have escaped, and attempts to occupy the country’s airport have been reported in a situation the UN described as “deeply concerned”.

    • ⓘ The summary is made with the support of AI tools from OpenAI and quality assured by Aftonbladet. Read our AI policy here.

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    Massive unrest is now affecting the population of Haiti as criminal gangs try to gain more land in the capital Port-au-Prince.

    At the end of February, the country’s Prime Minister Ariel Henry was in Kenya and signed an agreement with the decision that Kenya will send 1,000 Kenyan police to Haiti in the fight against the gangs, reports NTV Kenya.

    It led to great aggression among the criminal gangs and one of the country’s biggest gang leaders, Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier, threatened to capture ministers and ensure that the Prime Minister was not allowed into the country, reports AP.

    According to BBC “Barbecue” now warns of civil war if Prime Minister Henry does not resign.

    – With our weapons and the Haitian people, we will liberate the country, he said in a clip.

    Thousands of prisoners have escaped

    ‘Barbeque’ is a former police officer and sees himself as a ‘Robin Hood’ character in his part of town, reports CNN with reference to local media.

    – We have chosen to take our fate into our own hands. The fight we are waging will not only overthrow Ariel’s government. It’s a fight that will change the whole system, says Jimmy “Barbeque” Cherizier.

    In recent days, the violence has escalated. Police stations and policemen have been shelled. The National Penitentiary was stormed on Saturday and 3,789 prisoners escaped. Only 98 prisoners remained. In another prison attack, 1,000 prisoners managed to break out.

    During Monday, gang criminals tried to occupy the airport. All flights were canceled and AP journalists tells the news agency that an armored truck fired at gang members and tried to prevent them from entering the airport area. At the same time, employees at the airport fled and in the streets people are seen crouching and running to dodge the bullets.

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    full screenSoldiers stand guard at the airport. Photo: Odelyn Joseph/AP

    “Short of time”

    At least nine people have died in the clashes, four of whom are police officers, AP writes.

    A state of emergency has been announced and there is a curfew at night. Even before the current attack, as much as 80 percent of the capital was controlled by criminal gangs.

    The situation in Haiti has caused the UN to call an emergency crisis meeting on Wednesday.

    Before the meeting, the organization’s head of human rights, Volker Türk, has called for an urgent deployment of a multinational support force in Haiti.

    According to Reuters the UN has given the support force powers to “take all possible measures” against the gang members. The force must cooperate with the police to ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid and reduce suffering.

    “The reality is that at the moment there is no realistic alternative to protect life. Time is short,” says UN human rights chief Volker Türk in a clip on X.

    – The Secretary-General is deeply concerned about the rapidly deteriorating security situation in Port-au-Prince, where armed gangs have intensified their attacks on critical infrastructure over the weekend, says UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.



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