Port-au-Prince’s gunmen are preparing for a confrontation with the troops of Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele
Haiti’s most powerful armed gangs are stepping up preparations in anticipation of possible operations in the Plaine du Cul-de-Sac, following Nayib Bukele’s threats to target them after the disappearance, on October 18 in Santo, of four citizens of his country.
The gunmen are erecting barricades, blocking major roads, forcing residents to participate in demonstrations against the foreign presence in the country, and coercively recruiting young men, according to half a dozen people familiar with these activities.
Two Santo residents report that armed men are threatening reprisals against anyone attempting to leave the neighborhood.
The gang led by Claudy “Chen Mechan” Célestin is using tree trunks to block access to the territories it controls in order to prevent any advance by security forces.
Barricades have been observed in Lillavois, Lizon, Marin, Lathan, Carrefour Shada, Santo and Damien. They are also multiplying in Santo 11, Santo 17, Croix-des-Missions, Carrefour Fouji and Bajou.
According to testimonies collected by AyiboPost in these areas, gang members are dumping truckloads of stones onto certain roads in order to obstruct traffic and slow the movement of armored law enforcement vehicles.
Men, often heavily armed young individuals, are slowing motorcycle taxi traffic in Santo 9. A resident who wished to leave the neighborhood told AyiboPost that she could only do so empty-handed, “because the gangs would prevent her from taking her belongings.”
According to the same source, some armed groups warn residents fleeing their homes that they will have to pay in order to return once the situation has calmed down.
The gangs are also conducting a campaign of forced recruitment among young men. These pressures are pushing many residents to flee their homes in haste.
Since the disappearance last month of four Salvadoran aeronautical technicians involved in the Anti-Gang Force (FRG), more than 2,000 members of that country’s special forces have arrived in Haiti to reinforce search operations. Barely 200 of these new troops will be placed under the command of the FRG.
Negotiations with the Haitian state are underway to determine the parameters, chain of command and operational zones of the Salvadoran force, AyiboPost learned from a source familiar with the discussions.
According to Bukele, the main objective is to bring back his four compatriots “alive, safe and sound.”
On October 24, the FRG received suspicious human remains. Investigators are analyzing their DNA abroad to determine whether they belong to the missing Salvadorans, but Bukele stated that the bodies are not those of his compatriots.
Haitian authorities have said little publicly about the case, but several gang leaders have responded to the Salvadoran president’s threats.
“Lanmò San Jou,” based in the municipality of Croix-des-Bouquets, released images of bags filled with ammunition and firearms, claiming that its members would fight to “stay alive.”
A source close to Chen Mechan says the gang leader does not share Lanmò San Jou’s combative rhetoric. According to this source, the alleged killing of the Salvadorans is considered within the group to have been a “mistake.”
More than two weeks after the disappearance of the Salvadorans and the start of rescue operations, the situation remains tense in the Plaine du Cul-de-Sac.
In Santo and several surrounding localities, gangs are forcing residents to take part in their preparations. According to two sources familiar with the situation, civilians are notably being compelled to help build the barricades.
“The gunmen have barricaded the streets and force everyone they encounter to help them build the roadblocks,” a resident explained.
Residents are approached when they go out to shop or simply pass through the area. Faced with threats, they cannot refuse, the resident added.
In Santo 11, a woman fled with her ten-year-old son after a statement by the Salvadoran president announcing an intensification of operations. She feared she would later be unable to leave the area. During the motorcycle ride out, she said she noticed several trees felled by gangs and placed across the roads.
In Bon-Repos, another resident who managed to leave the area to make a few purchases reported seeing residents fleeing toward Delmas. The roads were barricaded and traffic was moving very slowly, he told AyiboPost.
A communications professional living in Santo also said he left the neighborhood with his mother a week ago after an armed man entered his home to seek protection from helicopters flying overhead. According to him, these operations prevented some residents from leaving their homes and caused deaths among the civilian population. “I told myself I couldn’t stay any longer,” he said.
Since then, hundreds of people have continued to leave the area in search of refuge elsewhere.
The gunmen are trying to mobilize the population against the foreign presence in the country, according to two sources familiar with their actions.
A high school teacher in Santo reports that two of his students told him that some young people had been forced to participate in a march organized on October 30 under pressure from the gangs.
The two students, who still cannot leave the area, refuse to speak with journalists for fear of being killed by the gunmen.
According to the communications professional cited above, armed groups have already attempted, on at least two occasions, to force residents to demonstrate against the authorities. A march that was supposed to go to Lizon on the last Wednesday of last month was largely boycotted by the population.
By : Jérôme Wendy Norestyl , Wethzer Piercin, Fenel Pélissier
Wilder Sylvain et Widlore Mérancourt contributed to this article.
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