Haiti’s civil war has broken out as masked vigilantes fight back against Barbecue’s bloodthirsty gangs, leaving the island nation on the brink.
Hundreds of corpses now lie unburied in the streets while residents band together to protect themselves against armed factions supported by thousands of inmates released from stormed prisons.
Chaos has intensified since Prime Minister Ariel Henry was forced from office last week, following attempts by armed gang leader Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier to seize power.
Nearly 1.5 million Haitians are on the brink of starvation and Monday’s attacks on five state power plants have left them “completely dysfunctional.”
“Such acts of theft and sabotage only further aggravate the financial and technical situation of the company, through the acts of vandalism and terror of the bandits,” said an EDH spokesperson.
A resident checks to see if he knows any of the hundreds of dead now littering the streets
The attackers took away electrical equipment, batteries, computers and office equipment, as well as company documents.
This left much of the capital in darkness, including the area around the US embassy in the east of the city.
About 80 percent of Port-au-Prince was already in the hands of armed gangs before Henry was ousted from power last week after announcing another postponement of long-delayed elections.
He is now stuck in neighboring Puerto Rico, trying to negotiate a transitional government as gangs expand their control, blocking fuel, food and water supplies outside the city.
Cherizier, a former police officer turned gangster, claimed responsibility for the latest wave of attacks and said his goal was to capture Haiti’s police chief and government ministers and prevent Henry’s return in this Caribbean country.
Barbecue’s threats will have struck fear in the hearts of many Haitians, his reputation for burning people alive – something he has long denied – having preceded him.
But terrified residents are flocking to a self-defense movement known as “bwa kale,” which attempts to keep the neighborhood safe through shared surveillance systems, checkpoints and patrols.
Gang leader Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier vowed to take over the Caribbean island
Capital woman cries as bodies of people she knew removed from streets
No area of the capital is safe from the horror as gangs fight police and each other for control.
Ariel Henry, 74, submitted his resignation on March 11, a week after the growing gang coalition warned of civil war if he did not resign.
Bodies lay in trash cans as residents attempted random cremation in the streets
Thousands of people have been killed in the violence and nearly 1.5 million face starvation.
The movement took off last year when residents of relatively well-off neighborhoods managed to expel the Ti Makak gang from their streets.
“This is how gangs work: They take over areas where big companies are located and force them to pay them while maintaining control,” one vigilante told CNN on Monday.
“We constantly receive threats; They say they are going to come attack us, destroy the neighborhood.
“So we block the streets and the police to carry out searches; no civilians are involved in searching the cars.
He said the militiamen are armed only with “machetes and our bare hands”, but the UN considers them responsible for killing hundreds of “gang members”, often burning their bodies in the streets.
“The bandits send the spy on a motorbike to see if there is a barricade on the road and how many people are manning it,” the vigilante explained.
“But if someone seems suspicious, they will question him, find out who he is, check his phone. If he has messages with bandits, they have to take him away.
“Then they burn them.
“It’s not a war, the neighborhood is trying to protect itself.”
The city’s port and airport have been closed and parts of the east of the city “have malnutrition rates comparable to those in any war zone in the world”, according to Jean-Martin Bauer of the UN World Food Program.
He noted that Croix-des-Bouquets, in the eastern part of the Haitian capital, “has malnutrition rates comparable to those of any war zone in the world.”
Gang alliance leader, former police officer Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier, reportedly earned his nickname after incinerating his enemies
Violence escalated on March 11 and left police struggling to gain control.
Some hospitals in Port-au-Prince have been forced to close for security reasons, and only two surgical facilities are operational, according to UNICEF.
And shortages of electricity, fuel and medical supplies have hit hospitals across the country, with six in 10 facilities unable to operate.
“It’s like a scene from Mad Max. Honestly, that’s what it looks like,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.
“Gangs, vigilantes responding to gangs.
“Now they have practically taken over the capital, they have taken control of the airport. What that means for people is we can’t get help anymore, it’s very difficult for us to do that,” Russell said.
“I mean, it’s literally one situation after another for Haiti, and I think right now it’s the worst we’ve seen in decades.”
A charter flight carrying dozens of US citizens fleeing the country landed in Miami on Sunday, after the US Embassy urged citizens to leave “as soon as possible”.
Passenger Avlot Quessa, who lives in Boston, traveled from the center of the country to board the charter flight after traveling to Haiti last month on a supposed week-long trip to visit his mother.
Armed militias roam the anarchic streets of the capital with complete impunity
Basic services are a distant memory in a country that was already struggling to recover from two devastating earthquakes in 2011 and 2020.
The situation has caused thousands of people to flee their homes, as residents continue to report the overwhelming stench of the dead. Meanwhile, politicians across the region are racing to find a solution – one that may now be in sight following Henry’s impeachment.
“It’s just terrible. The suffering, you can only imagine,” Quessa told the Miami Herald of the neighboring Caribbean nation.
“Haiti is my homeland and it is very stressful to see it suffer this act of violence and destruction, even though they are our neighbors.
The State Department announced Saturday that it would offer limited charter flights to U.S. citizens from the less chaotic northern city of Cap-Haitien.
Officials said they could not provide ground transportation to Cap-Haitien and that U.S. citizens should consider charter flights “only if you think you can reach the Cap-Haitien airport safely.”
“We encourage U.S. citizens still in Haiti who are looking to leave to contact the Department of State using the crisis support form on our website if they have not already done so,” said the agency.
“They’re only miles from Miami,” Quessa said. “We cannot turn our eyes to Haiti. »