Haiti is witnessing increasing gang violence in recent days. Armed gang members have attempted to control the main international airport, and attacked police stations and prisons. The aim is to get Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry removed.
Who has claimed responsibility for the attacks? Jimmy ‘Barbecue’ Cherizier.
Who is Jimmy ‘Barbecue’ Cherizier?
Cherizier is a former elite police officer who now runs a gang federation. The leader of the infamous ‘G9 and Family’ gang has vowed to fight until Prime Minister Ariel Henry resigns.
“I am ready to make an alliance with the devil, ready to sleep in the same bed as the devil,” Cherizier told his supporters last week.
It is believed that the 47-year-old was given the nickname Barbeque because he sets many of his victims on fire. However, he says it is a moniker his mother gave him when he was a child, according to New York Post.
During an interview with the New Yorker, Cherizier had likened himself to Martin Luther King, Jr. He was a member of the Haitian national police but was expelled from the force in 2018. His expulsion came after he was accused of having ties to several heinous crimes, including murders in the La Saline slums were 71 people were killed and seven women were raped. As many as 400 homes were burned down. However, he has denied any involvement in the crimes.
Cherizier eventually took over the G9 Family. It controls several slums and streets of Port-au-Prince.
“Unfortunately, Barbecue is now the most powerful man in Haiti,” Judes Jonathas, an independent consultant based in Port-au-Prince, told The Guardian.
Meanwhile, the US has reportedly airlifted non-essential embassy staff from Haiti as gang violence worsened. Americans have now boosted security at their mission in Port-au-Prince.
“Heightened gang violence in the neighbourhood near US embassy compounds and near the airport led to the State Department’s decision to arrange for the departure of additional embassy personnel,” the embassy posted on social media.