A few weeks ago, two of the main criminal gangs in Haiti joined forces, staging a full-scale insurrection while the prime minister, Ariel Henry, was travelling abroad. Thousands of gang members took over government buildings, police stations and hospitals and broke into prisons, where they released thousands more gang members into their ranks. Before long, it was clear that the Haitian government and the police had lost control of the capital, Port-au-Prince.
Widlore Mérancourt, the editor-in-chief of Haiti’s Ayibo Post, tells Michael Safi that for the first time he fears for his life while reporting from Port-au-Prince, such is the violent chaos there.
For women it is even more terrifying. Monique Kleska, a Haitian journalist, explains how sexual violence is deployed indiscriminately by the gangs against women and girls.
As international pressure mounts for a solution, many Haitians are wary of outside forces who presume to know best. Haiti’s long – as well as recent – history is littered with failed interventions that have done more harm than good.
Photograph: Ralph Tedy Erol/Reuters
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