Overview:
A video that includes Jimmy “Barbecue” Chérizier surfaced Saturday evening, refuting unverified experiences of his dying and disputing authorities claims of a safety operation in Delmas 6. The footage was launched hours after Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé introduced a government-led operation concentrating on gangs in Bas-Delmas. Whereas the federal government reported neutralizing a number of gang members, officers didn’t verify any motion in opposition to Chérizier.
NEW YORK – A video circulated Saturday evening that includes Jimmy “Barbecue” Chérizier, the chief of the G9 and Allies gang federation, disputing unconfirmed experiences of his dying and difficult authorities claims of a serious safety operation in his stronghold within the Delams 6 neighborhood of Port-au-Prince.
The video was posted hours after Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé introduced on X, previously often known as Twitter {that a} activity pressure created by the federal government and the Presidential Transitional Council (CPT), had performed a large-scale operation in Bas-Delmas ensuing within the neutralization of a number of gang members.
Wearing all black, Chérizier recorded the video at 7:16 p.m., stating the date and time to counter hypothesis about his situation. Within the footage, he dismissed authorities claims of an assault on his stronghold and requested people off-camera –—whom he known as his “troopers”—whether or not an operation had taken place. Voices within the background responded that no such occasion had occurred.
Earlier within the night, Fils-Aimé declared the operation successful, stating that the federal government activity pressure was already yielding outcomes inside 48 hours of its formation. Following his announcement, unverified experiences circulated suggesting that Chérizier had been shot, severely injured or probably killed. Nevertheless, the Haitian Nationwide Police (PNH) didn’t verify these claims, and the federal government didn’t state that Chérizier was amongst these neutralized within the operation.
In one other a part of the video, Chérizier mocked the federal government’s offensive and claimed he has entry to the identical drones and new ammunition authorities used within the alleged assault. He additionally issued a warning stating that he was ready to reply with pressure.
Ongoing instability in Port-au-Prince
The operation comes amid escalating gang violence in Port-au-Prince, the place armed teams have tightened their management over varied components of the capital. Chérizier, a former police officer turned highly effective gang chief, has been a central determine in clashes involving gangs and safety forces. Authorities have linked him to a collection of violent incidents, together with kidnappings and assaults on rival teams and legislation enforcement. Chérizier has lengthy evaded legislation enforcement regardless of being one in all Haiti’s most wished males. He was beneath investigation by the PNH for orchestrating massacres, kidnappings, and widespread extortion in Port-au-Prince.
His gang coalition controls massive sections of the capital, tightening its grip over key neighborhoods by way of brutal violence and strategic alliances. Beneath his management, armed teams carried out lethal assaults, together with the 2018 La Saline bloodbath, the place dozens of civilians have been slaughtered. Chérizier can be accused of main coordinated offensives in opposition to rival gangs and safety forces, additional destabilizing town.
Since February of final yr, Port-au-Prince has been in a state of near-total paralysis attributable to escalating violence from gangs. Their alleged legal actions have instilled a local weather of terror that impacts all sectors of exercise within the nation. The human toll has been devastating, with each civilians and law enforcement officials falling sufferer to gang violence. These gangs have focused hospitals, colleges, and industrial banks, and have set hearth to at the least a dozen police stations and substations.