Haiti's gangs control most of the capital. 'You never know if a vehicle just wants to pass you' or 'force you to stop for a kidnapping,' says one Haitian.
Haitian musician Jean Jean-Pierre says most people he knows who live in Port-au-Prince avoid leaving their homes unless they need food or other essential supplies.
The reason? Violence. Murder. Gangs.
"When you do go out you are so aware of everything – a car behind you, a motorcycle behind you. You never know if a vehicle just wants to pass you, or pass you and force you to stop for a kidnapping because it happens so often," said Jean-Pierre, 69.
"They catch you and demand $200,000. Where do I get $200,000 from?"
The Caribbean nation has long been in turmoil.
But over the last few years on every metric from territory controlled by gangs to kidnappings, from homicides to the number of police killed, from social unrest to economic conditions, the situation has deteriorated.
The recent chaos could complicate U.S. foreign policy on drug trafficking and immigration and a United Nations report released recently concludes that increasingly sophisticated weapons being smuggled into Haiti from the U.S. – and more specifically, from Florida – are adding to the chaos.
Why is Haiti such a mess?
Gangs now control much of the capital Port-au-Prince following President Jovenel Moïse's 2021 assassination. His killing was orchestrated by a group of foreign mercenaries, mostly Colombians and a few Haitian-Americans, according to charges brought by the U.S. Justice Department. The gangs use commercial terrorism, sexual violence, massacres, extortion and kidnappings to accumulate power and fund their operations. Acting President Ariel Henry, a former neurosurgeon, has appealed for armed foreign intervention to help stabilize the country.
There are few signs it's about to happen.
An estimated 200 gangs now hold sway in Haiti, around 100 in Port-au-Prince alone, according to the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, a Switzerland-based group. The U.N. says 60% of territory in the capital is controlled by gangs.
The U.S. repatriated more than 21,000 Haitians in 2022, according to data collected by the International Organization for Migration, a U.N. agency. They are being returned to a country where thousands have been displaced and murder is common.
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