Haiti's notorious gang leader, Barbecue, says his forces are ready for a long fight

MAY 13, 20247:27 AM ET

Eyder Peralta



Jimmy Chérizier, a former elite police officer known as Barbecue, who now runs a Haitian gang federation.
Odelyn Joseph/AP

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — The gangs in Haiti can't be ignored. This weekend they took the streets in their neighborhoods in a show of force. NPR saw dozens of heavily armed men, some wearing balaclavas in the blazing Caribbean heat, with handguns, with assault rifles with machetes.

And Jimmy Chérizier, known as Babekyou in Haitian Creole — or Barbecue — is one of the most powerful and notorious gang leaders. He heads the G9 federation of gangs.

He is the man who convinced many of Haiti's gangs to stop fighting each other and start fighting the government. The alliance of rival gangs is known as Viv Ansanm, or "Living Together."

Over the past two months, they've attacked government installations, brought down a prime minister and nearly paralyzed the capital city. Haitians have largely been left to fend for themselves.

. . .

He claims the system made him who he is. As a policeman, he said, he learned that politicians created the gangs, that they used them and the police to do their dirty work, to target their business rivals and their enemies. And so he started fighting against the political elite to try to change the system.

More:
https://www.npr.org/2024/05/13/1250860448/haitis-notorious-gang-leader-barbecue-says-his-forces-are-ready-for-a-long-fight