The Press in Haiti | “It’s the bandits who are the leaders now”

The Press crisscrossed downtown Port-au-Prince on Monday, the day after the assault by armed gangs on Haiti’s two largest prisons, and as they attempted to take control of the country’s main airport

(Port-au-Prince) The civil prison of Port-au-Prince was deserted Monday noon. Under a blazing sun, three rotting corpses still littered the street a few steps from the entrance, whose doors were still wide open. The few people still around the prison were carrying personal belongings to leave the area, on foot or in vehicles.

The last detainees on site – a little less than a hundred out of the 3,800 that the prison had before the assault – were moved on Sunday by the police, who abandoned the place, as we saw. The Press. A 72-hour state of emergency and curfew have been imposed by the country.

Without any protection, most residents and businesses in the city center have also left the surrounding area in recent days.

“The bandits have taken control of all the areas below,” explains Lucien Sanom, a 32-year-old mechanic, pointing towards the sea. We met him on Monday on the main square of Champ-de-Mars, two blocks from the civil prison. “It’s the bandits who are the leaders now. It can not be helped. »

Met nearby, Manouchka, 42, owns a store selling motor oil and other mechanical products on the main street of Port-au-Prince. Given the scale of the shooting, she had to leave her business and her house to sleep on the Champ-de-Mars, in front of the Port-au-Prince police station, one of the last in operation in the city.

Until last Thursday, she lived behind her business with her three children. She is unable to join the rest of her family who live in the suburbs since she would have to cross another area controlled by armed criminal groups since the start of the year.

“I only need security to live in my country,” she pleads with emotion. I don’t need anything else. I do not need help. I trade for a living, I have four children to take care of. It’s just security that I need. »

Repeated attacks

“Everyone has to leave,” explains Jeff, 30, as he places new furniture in a pick-up in the shadow of the large exterior wall of the civil prison. The family business, opposite the penitentiary, must be relocated, he explains. “The city center has become deserted. Look around, there’s no one left. »

For three years, the Haitian national police have been abandoning neighborhood police stations one by one in the face of criminal gangs armed with war rifles. In the last few days, at least four police stations have been attacked, but also ministries and certain banks.

On Monday, armed gangs attempted to take control of Haiti’s international airport by exchanging gunfire with police and soldiers of the Haitian army, which was deployed. Toussaint-Louverture airport was closed at the time of the attack, with no planes in circulation or passengers on site. It was still unclear by evening whether the attack – the largest in Haiti’s history targeting an airport – had been successful.

Associated Press journalists saw an armored truck on the tarmac firing at gang members in an attempt to prevent them from entering airport grounds, as dozens of employees and others Workers fled under the whistling bullets.

Many residents do not have access to the internet, after Haiti’s main mobile phone provider said a fiber optic cable was severed in an attack.

The large part of the city center still under police control seems to have passed into the hands of these groups in recent days. “They started by asking us to pay a ‘tax’ and mistreating us,” explains Mr. Sanom, who moved his business to another area of ​​the city in November.

“But today, everything that was downstairs is broken,” notes the mechanic. They destroyed or took everything there was to take from the shops. »

Foreign forces

Last Thursday, the very unpopular Prime Minister Ariel Henry signed an agreement in Nairobi to allow the sending of 1,000 Kenyan police officers to support the Haitian police. Some of the leaders of the armed groups say they want to block his return to the country in messages posted online. Since the end of last week, most international and domestic flights have been canceled.

“Whether Ariel leaves or stays, I just want security to live,” explains Manouchka, who does not have much faith in the ability of the international community to improve the situation.

“We must give Haitian police officers the equipment to intervene in the country,” she concludes. How much will they spend for Kenya to come and bring us to safety? »

Mr. Sanom is of the same opinion.

For now, the next few days look uncertain for the residents of Port-au-Prince. Many of those who escaped have joined the ranks of criminal groups, including some notorious leaders.

“We are prisoners in the street,” adds Mr. Sanom. The gangs have grown stronger. »

* The people cited in this text preferred to withhold their last names out of fear for their safety.

With Agence France-Presse and the Associated Press