By David C. Adams and Frances Robles
Last weekend, approximately 150 foreign officers arrived in Haiti to strengthen an international security team tasked with combatting powerful and heavily armed gangs that have brought extensive suffering to the nation for several months.
However, based on historical patterns, this new addition is unlikely to produce significant change.
Recent massacres claiming over 350 lives, along with a Christmas Eve attack on Haiti’s largest public hospital, have underscored the diminishing control the Haitian government has over the escalating crisis.
A press conference intended to announce the reopening of a public hospital that had previously been shuttered for nine months due to gang violence was interrupted by another gang attack, resulting in the deaths of two reporters and a police officer.
More than 20 journalists caught in the ambush were stranded for two hours treating seven injured colleagues before help arrived. They improvised tourniquets from their clothing and used tampons to stop the bleeding since, according to witnesses, the limited medical staff at the hospital fled in panic. Reporters managed to escape by scaling a back wall.
“Blood was everywhere on the floor and our clothes,” recounted Jephte Bazil, a reporter from the online news outlet Machann Zen Haïti, noting that there was nothing “available to treat the injured.”
The shooting incident at the hospital followed two separate massacres throughout the country that resulted in over 350 fatalities, bringing to light the failures and inadequacies of local authorities as well as the international security mission intended to guard innocent civilians.
One of the massacres occurred last month in a poor, sprawling, gang-dominated neighborhood of Port-au-Prince where the absence of law enforcement allowed for three days of violence; elderly individuals were dismembered and disposed of at sea without any official awareness. The United Nations reported at least 207 fatalities between December 6 and December 11.
Simultaneously, another three-day slaughter unfolded 70 miles north in Petite Rivière. Community leaders reported that 150 lives were lost due to clashes between gang members and vigilante groups.
This ongoing violence is part of a relentless wave of bloodshed gripping Haiti over the previous two months, revealing the fragility of its interim government and raising doubts about the efficacy of a U.S.-mediated security operation, all while threatening the prospect of elections and stable leadership.
With President-elect Donald Trump preparing to take charge of an international operation facing criticism for ineffectiveness and lack of funding, the outlook for Haiti appears dire.
Justice Minister Patrick Pelissier expressed optimism that the 150 soldiers, mostly from Guatemala, would help shift the momentum, highlighting that certain gang-dominated areas had been reclaimed and that assistance was being provided to displaced individuals.
“The state has not collapsed,” asserted Pelissier. “The state exists. The state is functioning.”
Yet, many analysts view Haiti as a failing state, with diverse factions of the interim government engaged in political infighting and lacking a coherent strategy to address escalating violence and pave the way for elections that were slated for this year.
“Political conflicts translate into violence,” commented Diego Da Rin, a Haiti analyst at the International Crisis Group. “The gangs know precisely when to transition from a defensive to an offensive stance. They assert themselves when it is opportune.”
The gang violence has also highlighted the vulnerabilities of the U.S.-supported Multinational Security Support mission, which consists of several hundred predominantly Kenyan police officers who began arriving in Haiti in June.
The operation was anticipated to include up to 2,500 officers, but due to a lack of financial support, the actual number is significantly lower and insufficient to address the numerous areas dominated by gangs.
Haiti’s slide into chaos was primarily triggered by the assassination of its last elected president, Jovenel Moïse, in July 2021. Gangs began to exploit the political void, expanding their territories through illegal checkpoints, extortion, and kidnappings.
With no elected leaders, the governance of the country is in the hands of a transitional council composed of competing political factions, with the interim presidency rotating among its members.
The most recent spike in violence erupted on November 11, coinciding with the council’s decision to replace the prime minister, allowing gangs to seize upon the political turmoil to target U.S. commercial aircraft, intensifying their brutality. The main airport in Haiti has since been closed.
Last year, more than 5,300 individuals were murdered in Haiti, and the number of people forcibly displaced has surpassed 700,000, as reported by the International Organization for Migration.
Gang checkpoints and ambushes have severely disrupted food supplies, and Mercy Corps estimates that nearly 5 million people—half of the nation’s populace—are facing extreme food insecurity.
The newly appointed prime minister, Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, during his initial press conference since assuming office nearly two months ago, announced pay raises for police officers and expressed his commitment to reinstating law and order.
The prime minister and members of the presidential council opted not to comment for this article.
In a New Year’s Day address, the council president, Leslie Voltaire, emphasized that elections would still occur this year, but compared the current conditions to wartime. A police spokesperson stated there would be no comment.
The commander of the Kenyan-led mission, Godfrey Otunge, who also did not respond to requests for comment, has voiced concerns that the mission’s successes have not been adequately acknowledged.
In a recent online statement, he proclaimed that “the future of Haiti is bright.”
The U.S. State Department, which has allocated $600 million to support the Kenyan mission, defended its record, highlighting a recent operation alongside police that resulted in the elimination of a notable gang leader.
Two police stations have recently reopened and the Kenyan mission now maintains a permanent presence near the main port, which has been dominated by gangs for an extended period, according to the State Department.
