Haiti’s capital in ‘panic mode’ as civil unrest reaches breaking point

Escalating gang violence has resulted in the death of dozens of people in recent weeks. A further 15,000 have been rendered homeless in the recent wave of attacks, which have forced Prime Minister Ariel Henry to resign as law and order collapses.

Jimmy Chérizier, Haiti’s most powerful gang leader, has claimed responsibility for several of the attacks and warned his nation is on a rapid path to civil war.

“If Ariel Henry doesn’t resign, if the international community continues to support him, we’ll be heading straight for a civil war that will lead to genocide,” Chérizier said at the time.

UNICEF has described the state of Port-au-Prince as “almost like a scene out of ‘Mad Max’,” warning people were suffering “famine and malnutrition” with aid groups unable to gain access.

Several countries, including the US and EU member states, have evacuated diplomatic staff due to the crisis. International pressure from neighbouring Caribbean nations and the White House has now led to discussions on forming a transitional government.

Residents have been shaken by the overt violence on the streets, as gangs seize more and more territory across the city.

“They came wearing balaclavas in their cars, on motorcycles, with their own ambulance, then they massacred the population of Petion-Ville,” local resident Vincent Jean Robert said, detailing the attack that left a dozen more dead.

“I was on my motorcycle when they arrived and started shooting,” a motorcycle taxi driver added.

“We don’t know if it’s bandits or the police who were behind this.”

He suspected that the victims were those who had been out late at night, “searching for something to eat for their children”.

A fortnight ago, the capital was largely shut down as authorities imposed a state of emergency after an attack on a prison freed thousands of inmates.

Aid organisations estimate around 3,000 pregnant women are at risk of having to give birth with no maternity care amid the closure of several hospitals around the capital.

The chaos has also affected the local power grid, with Haiti’s power company announcing that four substations “were destroyed and rendered completely dysfunctional”, leaving thousands in the dark.

Haiti, the world’s first nation to be formed by a rebellion of enslaved people, has never recovered after a devastating earthquake killed 100,000 people in 2010.

The still unsolved assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021 has further destabilised the country in recent years. Police say Moïse was shot dead inside his home by a group of mercenaries linked to a potential plot to usurp leadership of the nation.

The US State Department says it is hopeful that a Transitional Presidential Council, comprising Haitian stakeholders and international representatives, would soon be announced to facilitate free elections and stabilise the country.

The council is expected to have seven voting and two observer members and will appoint an interim government pending elections not held since 2016.