Haiti crisis: powerful gang leader Barbecue threatens politicians as fires break out in capital

Haiti’s political future in limbo as country’s top gang leader issues warning to transition council candidates

Prime minister agreed to step aside this week as gangs have taken over much of the Caribbean nation

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Gang leader Jimmy ‘Barbecue’ Cherizier. Photo: Reuters

Published: 1:50pm, 15 Mar 2024Updated: 2:11pm, 18 Mar 2024

A powerful gang leader in Haiti has issued a threatening message aimed at political leaders who would participate in a planned transition council, as fires broke out amid a fresh surge of violence in the Caribbean nation’s capital.

Nearby countries bolstered their border security and withdrew staff from embassies while plans to send a long-awaited international security force remain uncertain.

After unpopular Prime Minister Ariel Henry announced on Monday he would step down once the council was in place, the capital, Port-au-Prince, was initially quieter, but violence appeared to be flaring up again as of late Wednesday, with a shoot-out in one neighbourhood and an attack on the police academy early on Thursday.

A fire broke out at the main penitentiary, emptied of prisoners by armed men earlier this month.

Police guard outside the empty main penitentiary after a small fire inside. Photo: AP

Thick black smoke earlier billowed out from the facility, but the fire appeared to be out by Thursday afternoon, when local media showed heavily armed police entering the partially blackened site filled with mounds of trash.