Haiti gang leader vows to fight any foreign armed force if it commits abuses
Associated PressPORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — An ex-police officer considered by many to be Haiti’s most powerful gang leader warned Wednesday that he would fight any international armed force deployed to the Caribbean country if it committed any abuses. Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who has led Haiti since the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, has been pushing for the deployment of a foreign armed force since October to help fight powerful gangs that are estimated to now control 80% of the capital of Port-au-Prince. Chérizier said he would welcome a foreign force if it were to arrest the prime minister and people he described as corrupt politicians and local police allegedly selling ammunitions and guns in Haiti’s slums. But he said Haitians would rise up if any international force repeated the actions of previous U.N. peacekeepers, including committing sexual abuses and inadvertently introducing cholera into water sources. “We love life a lot.” Chérizier is the only Haitian under U.N. sanctions, with the Security Council saying he “has engaged in acts that threaten the peace, security, and stability of Haiti and has planned, directed, or committed acts that constitute serious human rights abuses.” He called on the Ministry of Education to reopen schools in Cite Soleil and other slums that have been closed because warring gangs who are raping and killing people.