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Haiti gang threatens politicians, fires in capital

Gang violence has escalated in Haiti where long-running political and social crises are unresolved.

Gang violence has escalated in Haiti where long-running political and social crises are unresolved. Photo: EPA

A powerful gang leader in Haiti has issued a threatening message aimed at political leaders who would take part in a planned transition council, as fires broke out amid a fresh surge of violence in the capital.

After unpopular Prime Minister Ariel Henry announced on Monday he would step down once the council was in place, the capital was initially quieter but violence appeared to be flaring up again as of late Wednesday, with a shootout in one neighbourhood and an attack on the police academy early on Thursday.

A fire broke out at the main penitentiary, emptied of prisoners by armed men earlier this month. Thick black smoke earlier billowed out from the facility, but the fire appeared to be under control by Thursday afternoon. Reuters could not immediately establish if any people had remained in the jail or what sparked the blaze.

A police union said the national police chief Frantz Elbe’s house had also been set on fire on Thursday. It did not say whether anyone had been hurt or give details on Elbe’s whereabouts.

The Caribbean country is struggling to resolve a long-running political and humanitarian crisis. Heavily-armed gangs have taken over much of the capital, and rights groups have reported widespread killings, kidnappings and sexual violence. Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced.

The comments from gang alliance head Jimmy “Barbeque” Cherizier were recorded on Wednesday and distributed via a rambling seven-minute audio message widely shared on Thursday morning on WhatsApp.

“Don’t you have any shame?” said Cherizier, directing his remarks at politicians who he said were looking to join the council.

“You have taken the country where it is today. You have no idea what will happen,” he added.

“I’ll know if your kids are in Haiti, if your wives are in Haiti … if your husbands are in Haiti,” he said in an apparent threat to their families.

“If you’re gonna run the country all your family ought to be there.”

In his remarks, Cherizier said the resignation of Henry was only “a first step in the battle” for the island nation of about 11 million.

With Haiti’s political future in limbo and the timing of a long-delayed Kenyan-led security mission unclear, the already sparse international presence in Haiti has been further receding.

Canada announced a reduction to its embassy staff that will leave only essential employees in the country, and said the embassy was temporarily closed to the public. The move follows similar drawdowns by the United Nations and at the US embassy in recent days.

Meanwhile, major passenger cruise line Royal Caribbean Group said it had suspended for a week its regular visits to Labadee, its private resort in northern Haiti, in a decision the company said was made in “an abundance of caution.”

Fearing a spread of instability in the region, Britain said it was bolstering security in the Turks and Caicos Islands, an overseas territory, as did Florida’s governor in the US state. The Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, closed the shared border last year and has regularly deported Haitians.

Aid group Mercy Corps said Port-au-Prince residents were being reduced to “forced nomads,” seeking refuge from shootings in temporary shelters with family or strangers and battling constant uncertainty, food shortages, trauma, illness and overcrowding.

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