Jimmy ‘Barbecue’ Chérizier has emerged has one of the most powerful armed gang leaders in Haiti
Published March 30, 2024
One of Haiti’s most powerful gang leaders says he would consider laying down weapons if armed groups were allowed to take part in talks to establish a new government.
Groups led by Jimmy Chérizier, also known as Barbecue, are in control of most of the capital Port-au-Prince.
He predicted the violence which has gripped Haiti in recent weeks could escalate in the coming days.
However, he told Sky News: “We are ready for solutions.”
Haiti, an impoverished Caribbean nation home to more than 11 million people, has been without a prime minister since 12 March.
Ariel Henry resigned after being blocked by armed gangs from returning from Kenya, where he had signed a deal to import a multinational security force in a bid to restore law and order.
Gangs have capitalised on the power vacuum and expanded their control over swathes of the country, which has effectively been rendered lawless in places.
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SOURCE: www.bbc.com
RELATED: Haiti needs outside help to fight gangs
People walk past the body of a man shot dead by unidentified armed men on the night of March 27 in Port-au-Prince on March 28, 2024. The situation in chaos-wracked Haiti is ‘cataclysmic’, with more than 1,500 people killed by gang violence so far this year and more weapons pouring into the country, the UN said Thursday. In a fresh report, the United Nations rights office detailed how ‘corruption, impunity and poor governance, compounded by increasing levels of gang violence (had) eroded the rule of law and brought state institutions… close to collapse’. (Photo by Clarens SIFFROY / AFP)
Published March 30, 2024
UNITED NATIONS: Haiti now needs between 4,000 and 5,000 international police officers to help tackle gang violence targeting key individuals and hospitals, schools, banks and other critical institutions, a UN rights expert for the Caribbean nation said Thursday.
Last July, William O’Neill said Haiti needed between 1,000 and 2,000 international policemen trained to deal with gangs.
Today, he said the situation is much worse so more are needed to help the Haitian National Police regain control of security and curb human rights abuses.
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SOURCE: www.manilatimes.net
RELATED: American YouTube star YourFellowArab kidnapped in Haiti while trying to meet gang leader ‘Barbecue’
Published March 29, 2024
An American YouTube star has been kidnapped in Haiti by one of the gangs that have become its de facto rulers, as he was attempting to interview the nation’s most notorious gang leader.
Addison Pierre Maalouf, known online as YourFellowArab or just “Arab,” traveled from his home in Atlanta to interview Jimmy “Barbecue” Chérizier, the leader of the notorious G9 Family and Allies gang that has seized control of the government, according to Haiti 24.net.
But just 24 hours after he arrived in the country, Maalouf and a Haitian colleague were taken by members of the 400 Mawozo gang on March 14.
He is being held for a $600,000 ransom, and even though $40,000 has already been paid, the kidnappers are continuing to demand a large sum of money to secure Maalouf’s release, the Haitian outlet reports.
