Interview

“In Haiti, we assume that gangs always have strong links with power”

Criminal gangs, who control most of Port-au-Prince as well as the roads leading to the rest of the territory, have attacked strategic sites in Haiti in recent days, including several police stations.

The armed gangs are still demanding the departure of Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who remains silent and cannot return to his country for the moment.

Interview with Romain Le Cour Grandmaison, researcher at the Global Initiative organization.

Armed police vehicles control the perimeter of the police station burned the day before by armed gangs, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, March 6, 2024. AFP - CLARENS SIFFROY

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RFI: Was the violence we have seen in recent days planned by the gangs or was it rather opportunistic, taking advantage of Ariel Henry's trip abroad?

Romain Lecourt Grandmaison:

I think, through the information that I was able to gather in

Haiti

through interviews, that it is in reality a mixture.

The attacks, which began last week, were carried out by part of the coalition called G-Pèp, particularly at the beginning.

These are attacks which took place simultaneously in several points of the city, very violent attacks which require a strong degree of planning, a degree of organization and a strong degree of coordination.

Then, I think that a second sequence began – in which we still find ourselves – which is in particular the consequence of the first attack by G-Pèp, but also the announcements of Ariel Henry, at the time of leaving

Guyana

and the Caricom [Caribbean Community, Editor’s note] summit for

Kenya

.

Ariel Henry announces just before taking the plane the holding of elections for August 2025. From what I had felt through my interviews, my discussions in Port-au-Prince at that time, it was that this announcement was experienced at the same time as a political explosion, a form of provocation, also political, and a kind of alert from Ariel Henry who said: “ 

I will be there until August 2025. 

” Which was very bad experienced by a part, I believe, of Haitian civil society, but also, obviously, on the part of the political class.

When the attacks began, so last week, the context was this.

I think there is a form of opportunism on the part of other criminal groups on the ground, who were losing ground until that moment, who see the attacks as a way to come back to the forefront. from the scene.

And then, unfortunately, I think that we are still in this sequence: a form of strong convergence of interests between gangs and different political and economic structures, in Haiti and abroad, which see in the current chaos the best way to get Ariel Henry to leave – which is, for part of the political class, a prerequisite for any negotiation.

If Ariel Henry's departure meant the gangs were victorious, who would really be victorious?

Because these gangs are not autonomous, not completely at least.

Absolutely, I think it would mark a victory for the gangs.

On the other hand, I think it is important to remember that gangs are not completely autonomous structures of political and economic power.

They have acquired extremely strong financial autonomy which gives them power.

They have very strong territorial power that they are capable of converting into political power, but the question you ask of who benefits, who will benefit, who will be there to take power or ensure the political transition when this crisis, will be outdated, it's a bit like "the million dollar question" today.

And I think that what is at stake here is perhaps the fall of the Henry government through the gangs.

But I don't believe that the gangs will take power for themselves.

And this is where the great political crisis lies behind the immense humanitarian and violent crisis which is playing out at the moment, unfortunately.

We see, for example, at the moment, a lot of Jimmy Chérizier – nicknamed “

Barbecue

 ”

– on the networks, where he shows himself as the leader.

He multiplies alarmist and very provocative statements, and presents himself as a political alternative.

Does he have the means?

I'm not going to risk such complex predictions.

Honestly, I think that what is important in the present is the absolutely preponderant place that Jimmy Chérizier takes in the political landscape.

Perhaps more so the media-political landscape elsewhere, in Haiti and internationally.

I have the impression that he uses media platforms very well, whether social networks or traditional media, with a small risk, especially on the part of international media, of making him a kind of revolutionary figure.

I think we still need to make an effort to recontextualize who Jimmy Chérizier is;

what is he doing in Haiti;

what is his leadership;

and not take his words, his interventions, as absolute truth.

The place that Jimmy Chérizier will have in the political future of Haiti, in the transition and the general future, I think that there are a lot of actors who will take care of finding a solution to that.

It will nevertheless be a probably essential player, in one way or another, in the future of Haiti, it will have to be taken very seriously.

For a long time, gangs have been exploited by political leaders.

In your opinion, does the surge of violence that we have seen over the past few days, and more generally over the past two or three years, mean that the gangs have become a sort of uncontrolled creature?

It's quite difficult to say honestly.

I think that here we get to the heart of the problem, in a certain way, and it is the most complicated part to grasp, to analyze, to document, but also to prove, in a certain way.

In Haiti, we assume that gangs always have strong links with the economic and political power of the country, that they cannot be autonomous structures.

I think that the best way to see it, at least from the outside and without having access, obviously, to evidence that would show the opposite, is a relationship that is very unstable between criminal groups and political and economic supporters. who are in Haiti or outside.

Relations which involve absolutely permanent negotiations, almost daily, I think, which aim to negotiate the way in which gangs can behave, how gangs can advance, how gangs can serve.

And obviously, in this relationship, the gangs have room for maneuver, they have free will, they have their own strategy.

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