First modification:
Since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021, the political, economic and social crisis that Haiti has experienced for decades has intensified. Especially in terms of security, since kidnappings and homicides have become commonplace. The population lives in terror and the authorities are unable to stop the violence.
The authority of the transitional government, led by Prime Minister Ariel Henry, has been overwhelmed by the increase in criminal gangs that have taken control of various areas of Port-au-Prince. The few police forces that try to maintain order raised their voices in protest after the death of 14 police officers at the hands of these armed gangs. The citizens of the capital live in constant fear, afraid of being kidnapped or attacked.
Radio France International spoke with Oscar, a Colombian citizen who has lived in Haiti for several years – and who prefers to keep his identity confidential – shares his experience:
“There are specific areas where armed gangs control practically everything. If someone is going to pass through those areas in a vehicle, these groups have security points where you have to pay to let them pass. They also occasionally travel to other areas of the city to kidnap people. And not necessarily people who have a lot of money, but employees of a company. For example, in the company where I work, in November they kidnapped two of our workers. So, for a year now, What I do is go out for what is strictly necessary ”.
For Diego Darín, a consultant for Latin America for the Crisis Group organization, the security crisis is also accentuated by the lack of resources to sustain a police force. Some officers even resign from their posts or are forced to join these criminal gangs.
“The local security forces have a great loss of troops because many end up leaving the police. They have poor working conditions or are poorly paid. Many of the active police officers live in gang-controlled areas and are forced to collaborate with them. Since a few months ago, certain special anti-gang units have been established but they are not enough.”
The UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, asked the Security Council to send an international armed force to put an end to this escalation of violence. According to a report by this organization, in 2022 there were more than a thousand kidnappings and two thousand murders, a third more than in 2021.
