As the United States evacuates Americans from Haiti, a notorious gang leader known as "Barbeque" has emerged as arguably the most powerful figure in the crisis-stricken nation. With the embattled prime minister unable to return home, Jimmy Chérizier and his "G9 and Family" gang hold sway over large swaths of the capital Port-au-Prince.
On Sunday, the U.S. military announced it had airlifted embassy personnel out of Haiti and deployed additional forces to secure the diplomatic compound amid escalating violence. The move comes as Chérizier's heavily armed fighters have rampaged through the streets, destroying police stations and government facilities in an attempt to force out Prime Minister Ariel Henry.
The 47-year-old gang leader, whose nickname refers to his alleged penchant for burning victims, has rallied his men with inflammatory rhetoric. "I am ready to make an alliance with the devil, ready to sleep in the same bed as the devil," Chérizier told supporters recently, vowing to fight until Henry resigns.
Once a police officer expelled in 2018 over alleged ties to massacres and rapes, Chérizier now controls many of Port-au-Prince's slums and neighborhoods through the G9 gang alliance. Shocking social media videos show residents fleeing for their lives amid raging gunbattles in the streets.
"Unfortunately, Barbecue is now the most powerful man in Haiti," said one Port-au-Prince consultant, referring to the gang leader by his nickname. As Henry remains stuck in Puerto Rico after a regional leader barred his return, many see Chérizier as the de facto authority holding the reins of a nation in anarchy.
The U.S. deployment comes as proposals for a UN-authorized security force have stalled so far. Meanwhile, Henry's administration, formed after the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, struggles to restore order and hold elections by mid-2025 as pledged.
As the nightmare conditions worsen, the notorious "Barbeque" and his gang cohorts are tightening their grip over a country increasingly slipping into a state of urban warfare and lawlessness.