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| Brute force alone won't solve this problem. |
An excerpt from, "Haiti: A Gangster’s Paradise" by Rafael Fernández, ReVista, Mar 21, 2024:
So how did Haiti become entrapped in such a violent limbo? How exactly did these gangs grow powerful enough to become an insurgent army that practically pushed out a sitting prime minister?
Haiti’s gangs date back to the late 1950s and early 1960s, when dictator François Duvalier (also known as Papa Doc) came to power and purged the nation’s security forces. Duvalier soon created a militia he could trust, a militia whose sole intent was to suppress the opposition and all dissenting voices. This group acted as a secret police for the dictator and became popularly known as “Tonton Macoute,” a name that references a local boogeyman legend. Tonton Macoute leaders welcomed the nickname and conducted gruesome acts of torture and murder that honored it. Some Haitians made the climate of fear even worse by spreading rumors that the Tonton Macoute had in fact supernatural voodoo powers. Superstitions aside, the Tonton Macoute operated for nearly 30 years, reportedly killing tens of thousands of people in their wake and traumatizing several generations.
Eventually, the Tonton Macoute dissolved when Duvalier and the subsequent presidency of his son came to an end following yet another coup. The army was also disbanded, and more coups followed. Naturally, ex-militia and ex-military came together to form a series of mercenary gangs at the service of powerful businessmen, politicians and virtually anyone who would fund them. Gangs soon became the staple of corrupt elites and political actors who needed private armies or muscle to carry out all kinds of nefarious acts, from voting suppression to the outright intimidation of opponents. These gangs also started exploring side hustles such as drug trafficking, kidnapping, extortion and racketeering.
The gangs quickly armed themselves through their former military connections as well as the illegal firearm trade stemming from the United States. Funded by their patrons as well as by their illicit activities, some Haitian gangs grew big enough to declare autonomy. They eventually began fighting each other for control of urban sectors, trafficking routes and ports. Instead of battling the gangs, many politicians continued to embrace them to do their bidding and advance their respective agendas.
In many ways, the gangs became a cultural norm. However, many locals refused to accept this. The prevalence of gangs and their terrorizing modus operandi pushed some angry citizens to take matters into their own hands. Vigilante groups spurred to counter police inaction in the face of rampant kidnapping, extortion and abuse. In April 2023, the vigilante movement known as Bwa Kale gained traction and began hunting down criminals. To date, the vigilantes have reportedly killed hundreds of gang members. Nonetheless, they risk becoming a gang in their own right and don’t stand a fighting chance against the better equipped and organized groups. Neither does the country’s weak security forces.
While most estimates put Haiti’s gangs at 200, there are two large and powerful rivals worth noting: G9 and G-Pep.
