Avellon Williams
PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI- Gunshots erupted from heavy automatic weapons across the capital and neighboring areas of Haiti on Monday, sending scores of people into a state of panic. A gang leader had vowed to cause chaos in certain areas days before ninth-graders began their annual state exams.
Throughout the day, social media was flooded with images of burning tires and men riding motorcycles armed with heavy weapons in downtown Port-au-Prince. According to local news reports, burning tires were erected on John Brown Avenue and Lamarre Street. The road near the Champ-de-Mars area was not accessible to private vehicles or public transportation buses.
Residents of Tabarre, a locality in Croix-des-Bouquets, complained on the local radio that they heard automatic weapons discharged, causing anxiety among residents. A similar scenario was reported to local media by residents of Pernier, a locality of Pétion Ville.
Several residents have linked the chaos to a suspected criminal known as Vitelhomme, believed to be the gang leader of the ‘400 Mawozo gang’, which operates in Croix-des-Bouquets.
According to the residents, Vitelhomme warned Haiti’s political authorities not to refuse to negotiate with their group in a June 17 statement on Radio Méga. As a threat, he threatened to set Pernier on fire if the government did not engage him in conversations to restore peace and harmony through the Haitian National Police (PNH).
Haiti has been caught up in a cycle of gang violence and poverty for decades. As the country continues to struggle, gangs have taken control of large parts of the capital city Port-au-Prince. And as official state exams for ninth graders began on Monday and are set to run for four days, gunshots are causing panic among the population.
The violence is not limited to Port-au-Prince; it is present in other parts of Haiti as well. These gangs are largely composed of young men who were born into poverty and lack any other opportunities for economic advancement. The government has been unable to provide these people with any hope for a better future, so they turn to crime instead.
