Haiti: Gangs to Maintain Coalition With Foreign Troops

May 27, 2024 Hour: 8:07 pm

On Monday, many gangs in the capital ceased to be isolated groups with different objectives to become a coalition, a format they intend to maintain to confront a common threat, the foreign troops coming to Haiti.

Related:

International Security Forces Will Arrive Haiti in Three Weeks

Enmanuel Paul, a security specialist, explained that the recent attacks by criminal gangs in the face of the imminent arrival of foreign forces is not a sign of panic, they are simply executing a plan based on active defence.

They are methodically destroying all the infrastructure that could allow police and foreign forces to gain a foothold in the areas they manage to occupy, in short leaving them with no quarter, Paul said.

They are now also attacking new areas by expanding their front lines, but in small strikes, which would force foreign troops to do more to control each area.

�� Armed gangs are ruling much of #Haiti‘s capital #PortauPrince and swathes of the country since they made an alliance back in February.#FRANCE24’s @cnorristrent spoke with the leader of this gang coalition, #JimmyChérizier, a former policeman also known as “Barbecue” �� pic.twitter.com/IU5yDA2p1e

— FRANCE 24 English (@France24_en)
May 27, 2024

“The current coalition is going through several trends, noting that in the beginning the armed groups were a patchwork with various objectives. Today, this coalition is born out of the common threat they face,” Paul stressed.

They gained experience unconsciously, and their strategy to receive foreign troops may benefit from the opinions of certain intelligence services, suggested the security expert quoted by the daily Le Nouvelliste.

Foreign troops will come to Haiti where it is inevitable to talk about transnational crime, in a country where 360 kilometres of borders are unprotected and 1,770 kilometres of coastline are unguarded, he recalled.

In this space, several transitional activities are carried out and the beneficiaries of these activities will do everything possible to keep them, so there will be resistance, the specialist inferred.

Regarding the Kenyan president, William Ruto, he recalled that the dignitary said in the United States that his troops can annihilate the gangs, as they have no status, no religion and will be treated with firmness and determination.

Ruto made these statements based on information he received from his officials’ preliminary mission or from the Haitian authorities, but it remains to be seen whether this operation will be successful, he said.

In his view, every operation is different and the nature of the problems may be more complex than on paper.