Haiti's Political Crisis Plunges Its Capital Into Chaos

[Music] [Music] citizens [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] um foreign [Music] [Music] the streets of the country's capital port-au-prince there's real anger at years of government corruption and chaos these protesters say it's time for the rule of president jovenel moise and his party the phtk to end [Music] the capital city of port-au-prince is home to more than two million people spread out across dozens of neighborhoods divided by political and economic fault lines like many places in the world violence and politics have long gone hand in hand here but recently the fighting that has engulfed the capital has reached a new level of intensity in many neighborhoods there's almost no official police presence and residents are forming their own armed groups to protect themselves [Applause] [Music] foreign so we just got to bel air uh we were told there was fighting here earlier in the day that some people were burned out of their homes they'd been quiet for a while um but shortly after we got here they started firing again so we're just kind of hunkered [Music] [Music] [Music] is a businessman who rose to power in 2017 after an election and re-election that were widely condemned by his opponents as rigged he promised to make life better for haitians and to stamp out corruption instead haitians got an administration hit with more corruption scandals and violence civil rights lawyers activists and journalists have all been murdered gangs control many of the capital streets moyi's recently dissolved parliament and is ruling the country by decree now there's disagreement as to when his five-year term ends the opposition claims it's over in february 2021 but maui says he has another year in powerpoint [Music] [Music] works for the national network for the defense of human rights his organization has been investigating the links he claims exists between the government and the violence under moise to understand the connections he says you need to go back to 2018 to a neighborhood where opposition to the government was entrenched a neighborhood called la saleem [Music] [Music] [Music] the original story told about lassaline was that it was a bloody gang war but soon evidence emerged that the violence may have been orchestrated leaked police reports and investigations by human rights groups in the united nations were picked up by the media they paint a picture of a well-coordinated massacre the killings in la saline came on the back of protests against government corruption a government-owned vehicle that had been assigned to a special police unit was used in the attack eyewitnesses accused a high-ranking official from the president's party joseph pierre richard duplant of being on the ground speaking to the attackers when he arrived they said he was reportedly frustrated you killed too many he told the attackers du plan denies being there or having any involvement [Music] so we've driven a couple hours outside of port-au-prince to visit a man whose three-year-old daughter was disappeared during the last lane massacre in 2018 most of the people we spoke with were forced out of their homes so far i've chosen to stay within the city but his wife is pregnant he has another young child and he's worried they can be attacked again so he's left the capital [Music] altogether [Music] me do you have any hope that your daughter is still alive i guess the government strongly denied any involvement and despite a police investigation to date no one has been arrested a warrant was issued for one man who witnesses say helped plan the last celine attack it's never been served that man was an active policeman at the time of the massacre he was fired soon after another report from the u.n put him at the center of human rights abuses in bel air in 2019 his name is jimmy barbecue police his power in port-au-prince has only grown operating with seeming impunity he created the g9 uniting a coalition of nine separate gangs those gangs have been named in reports as being behind a series of attacks on neighborhoods known for opposing the government neighborhoods like fortimarsh chancerell tokyo and bel-air [Music] emalia varen is a resident of bel air just days before we spoke to her she says armed men raided the neighborhood [Music] [Applause] [Laughter] [Music] [Music] [Laughter] my bbq [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign despite the evidence against him charizier promotes himself not as a criminal but as a man who can bring order to the streets the power to do that he says comes from his position as the man who brought the g9 alliance together totally you [Music] [Music] those hospitals and schools have yet to materialize [Music] but the g9 has control over large parts of port-au-prince charizia claims that he's even welcome in la salina the very sight of the massacre he's accused of orchestrating and he wanted our camera to record it [Music] you have a reputation in parts of this community for being behind the massacre how do you feel walking around here right now [Music] foreign leaders say the massacre in la saline was anything but random that neighborhoods like these have the power to swing elections and this makes them important places to influence and intimidate [Music] claims he wasn't part of the massacre but investigations by the national human rights defense network and the united nations both implicate him in the orchestration of the violence according to those reports eyewitnesses state that a planning meeting for the attack was held a week earlier that charizier was present and that he handed out weapons to the individuals who would go on to carry out the attack [Music] do you think people in this area fear you see open foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] the state of haiti has used paramilitary power to crack down on dissent before in the 1970s president jean claude duvalier deployed a paramilitary organization that's believed to have been responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of haitians and also helped rig elections [Music] but haiti is a country with a history of casting out its oppressors born out of the first and only successful slave revolt it has fought and won wars against france britain and spain in 1986 haitians rose up in a series of massive protests that forced davalier to flee the country see your friends [Music] in the presidential election an election he claims was fraudulent [Music] [Music] foreign four candidates claimed presidential victory before the official count indicated juvenile moyes had won but transfer of power was delayed due to massive protests and evidence of widespread fraud still moyes took power [Music] foreign in neighborhoods like del mar there's no official police presence at all this is charizary's stronghold so how much of this area here is under your control [Music] abs see [Music] is trying to show that he's not a criminal but a legitimate power broker it's likely part of the reason he agreed to be filmed by us he has his own camera crew and entourage what followed was a pr tour impossible for us to take at face value our tour of his stronghold in delmar was punctuated with what seemed like pre-planned stops and a bit of posturing was keen to show us one of the more tangible examples of his good works around town a church turned safe house for people he says are victims of violence perpetrated by rivals who wish to do him and his supporters harm where have all these people come from and how long have they been here the people encouraged us to hear this woman's story though she also requested she remained anonymous [Music] [Music] [Music] we were unable to substantiate reports about this particular attack or this woman's assault but trezia does style himself as a benefactor to the people in the neighborhoods he controls the borders that divide his territory and the oppositions are well known to those living in the area but they're almost imperceptible to an outsider with a single building or sign demarcating enemy turf [Music] there it [Music] [Music] [Music] it's hard to tell if the gunfire is outgoing or incoming but it gave charizae a chance to make another speech established [Music] know [Applause] pr tour or not it's clear charizard holds real power and not just in this neighborhood but across the city he denies he takes orders from the government but there's resistance too we've toured several neighborhoods that people said have been attacked by gang members loyal to jimmy shrizier but we have not yet seen an area that's been as totally destroyed as this one completely brought to the ground and there's nobody around totally deserted maya borders bel air to the north it's also been experiencing a surge of violence schools like this one where reginald jacqueline once taught are now abandoned what happened here why is the school empty now barbecue souvenir episode so it became impossible for students to learn here reginald claims that charizier or those allied with him are behind what's happened here all these cars were burnt by barbecues guys we tutored that barbecue bullet i say on policy policy [Music] no one here seems immune to the violence not even those whose job it is to protect the community [Music] is a veteran police officer in maya who was recently burned out of his apartment [Music] did the police have any authority in this neighborhood [Music] um [Music] every day every morning every evening people have been warning of all of it my house been destroyed the power is only on one hand the government and haitian with ancient and haitian fighting it's not haitian fighting united states it's not haitian fighting with with another country it's the same haitian fighting with haitian for what for money so i got to leave this country leave it right it is what we're going to do luck with this joy and we can't talk if we talk we're going to die i want to tell you that you but if i tell that you i will die this afternoon you understand i don't even sleep in the house i just take my grab my bag with my intensification the paper of my house and i sleep in the street why why all this going on they have to stop this thing that violence got to stop [Music] at night these men come out they call themselves a local security force there to protect their neighborhood the truth is it's unclear exactly who they are but they say they will do everything to stop the g9 gang from taking over maya [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] do you think president moise is in any way connected to the surge in violence here we say this [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] see [Music] [Music] how many people lived in this home [Music] who did this to your family [Music] barbecue [Music] a lot of people in this area are scared to even say his name why aren't you [Music] while we couldn't independently corroborate whether srisier himself was in maya when the attacks took place reginel says he has no doubt [Music] when we spoke to charizier he claimed maya was the source of the violence when we were out with you the other day a lot of the shootings seem to be coming from this neighborhood over here maya why is that area so hostile uh some people accuse you of running an extortion racket of drug dealing being involved in guns what do you say to them system in a country where those with power have historically ruled with impunity the hope there might be justice anytime soon doesn't seem likely gabriel de carmel is the chief prosecutor of port-au-prince he signed an arrest warrant for charizard last year but to this day no arrest has been made [Music] [Music] given the state of the capital right now we thought that every official in the haitian government would be talking about the internal police investigation called for the arrest of jimmy shirizier that was two years ago why hasn't he been arrested [Music] with government officials refusing to speak with us we visited the one institution where charizier once worked the headquarters of the national police charizae was fired back in 2018 for failing to report for duty but he's believed to still have close allies amongst its ranks [Music] [Music] [Music] um [Music] is so after all these weeks of waiting uh no one from the haitian government is willing to speak with us no one from the prime minister's office no one from the justice ministry the attorney general nor the head of police no one [Music] having fisa ability who's behind the surge in street violence that we're seeing [Music] pepe [Music] [Music] it's a cruel paradox of haitian politics today at a time when large numbers of people are demanding radical change through the ballot box gang enforcers seem capable of holding entire communities hostage at gunpoint [Music] gladys john paul has lived in bel air for 27 years it's where she raised her son danny along [Music] my [Music] just days ago gunfire broke out near her home she says her 18 year old son was dragged from the house and killed [Music] yay [Music] ah [Laughter] [Music] me [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] who do you blame for your son's death maybe if you have any questions for you one victim i don't need [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] foreign may seem effective but it's creating real anger and there are many in haiti who refuse to be intimidated and as the opposition hardens there are signs that a tipping point may be coming one that could plunge the country into chaos what happens if president juvenile doesn't leave office [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Music] you

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Id: Qvp1WVl6nrY

Length: 44min 12sec (2652 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 06 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/zombigoutesel]

Ironically you cant watch this in Haiti.

Wasn't made available here by the video uploader

[u/DreSheets]

interesting

[u/menocare_77]

Haïti is lead by the bourgeoisie who is stealing money from the country. Jovnel Moïse brought the issue to light but he is very restrained since he is a sheep in the middle of wolves. The current president was able to remove a couple of corrupted senators from the senate but it's very hard since most of the Haitian political sphere is in bed with the bourgeoisie(some of them are even in place of power). The bourgeoisie (mostly naturalized Syrians and Arméniens) controls the airport/ports, that's how those big guns get imported into the country. Jovnel Moïse asked for a referendum of the constitution but, the bourgeoisie who is stealing from the country is trying to delay it but putting the country into “Pays Lock” until the next elections so they can put one of their own into office (Laurent Lamothe). In this new referendum, new laws will be put in place to stop corruption from thriving in Haïti and the other very important change it will bring is to give the right to the Haitian diaspora to vote.

The bourgeoisie control most of the economic fields in Haïti, the only thing they are missing is political power. The US is also to blame, they are heading into making Haïti the next Puerto Rico.