In Haiti’s slums, gang leaders who escaped from prison in January’s earthquake are trying to wrest back control of their turf, sparking a bloody power struggle that the UN fears could destabilize the country.
UN troops are beefing up operations in Port-au-Prince after 5,000 prisoners escaped from jail on Jan. 12, as fears grow that the convicts are swelling the ranks of the country’s once-powerful gangs and seeking top positions.
“My understanding is that they are trying to reorganize themselves, trying to establish a kind of kingdom for themselves inside the slums,” UN force commander Floriano Peixoto said. “To establish that, they need to fight with each other. This is what we don’t want,” he said.
Already, there are UN reports that in the city’s worst slums, former prisoners have caused a surge in violence and upset the status quo. The chaos wrought by the quake has also made access to weapons easier. Some gang leaders have gone into hiding, others have been shot or hacked to death.
Just five years ago, Haiti’s gangs, some politically linked, controlled swathes of the capital, were responsible for innumerable murders and made kidnapping endemic.
Robert Perito of the US Institute of Peace warned in a recent report that the gangs could best the Haitian police and UN forces when the US withdraws its 10,000-plus troops from the country, if reinforcements are not brought in.
Before the quake, the gangs had been all but wiped out thanks to a UN offensive that took effect by 2007. Peixoto wants to make sure that progress is not rolled-back.
He will soon get 900 more Brazilian troops to work roadblocks, increase patrols and be a visible deterrent to the gangs.
“The strategy is to deter, to tell them ‘do not show up, because if I see you, I catch you.’”
One place that gang members do show up is Port-au-Prince’s most notorious slum, Cite Soleil.
In the heart of the sprawling mass of corrugated iron and breeze blocks is Strong Point 16, a heavily fortified UN military compound that is home to around 120 troops.
Inside, under floodlights, a dozen heavily armed Brazilian soldiers mounted their vehicles for one of the night patrols that take place every two hours in this sector.
The soldiers are from second company of BRABAT, a Brazilian battalion that makes up the bulk the UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti. They eased out into the darkness, which is punctuated only by a handful of candles and a paraffin lamp here and there.
As they edge through the slum, each vehicle has one soldier training his weapon on the road in front, while two monitor the sides and one soldier with a pump-action shotgun guards the rear.
In an area from which gangs have been largely cleared, they dismounted from the vehicle, got in formation and began a short walk in the back streets of the slum.
A couple of days ago, the UN patrol commander said shots were fired near his troops, causing backup to be called in and security procedures to be stepped up. For the UN, the area is now terrain for armored tanks.
Much of the recent violence is thought to be linked to a power struggle between rival leaders Toutouba and adversaries Gro Pouchon, Ti Blan and Bazou. The three members of the latter alliance have been seen armed in broad daylight and locals believe a hit is being planned.
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