Lawlessness in Haiti puts Florida on high alert

By Johania Charles Miami Times Staff Writer

On March 19, 2024

Haiti, an island nation long plagued by natural disasters, political strife and violence, is in total disarray as the country’s humanitarian crisis persists and gang violence reaches an all-time high.

Things drastically escalated over the weekend and leading into Monday morning when gang members looted homes and businesses, exchanged gunfire with police and attacked two affluent neighborhoods in Port-au-Prince, leaving at least 12 people gunned down in city streets despite a government-declared curfew.

Also on Monday, Haiti’s power company reported that four of its substations were destroyed, eliminating power in various parts of the capital, including a hospital.

The surge in violence came on the heels of embattled Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry’s resignation and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announcing the deployment of more than 380 law enforcement officers to stop a possible influx of Haitian migrants arriving in South Florida.

“The last thing you should want to do is get on some boat and think you’re going to come through from any of those islands to get to the state of Florida,” said DeSantis at a Friday press conference for a bill to stop illegal immigration. “The most likely scenario is you will be stopped and you will be returned to your country of origin. It’s a hazardous journey. It’s not worth doing.”

“Securing our borders in a legal and humane way requires real governance, not political posturing,” said Florida District 108 Rep. Dotie Joseph, in an interview with Florida Politics. “In this case, digging deeper into what’s fueling the current violence in Haiti, we know that the guns – none of which are manufactured in Haiti – are being shipped from the United States, and primarily from Florida.”

Tessa Petit, executive director of the Florida Immigrant Coalition, shared similar thoughts with the news organization.

“The cruelty of the governor’s use of military power shows a lack of humanity and consideration for our Haitian brothers and sisters who are fleeing deadly violence and persecution,” said the Haiti native.

Broward Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, the first Haitian American elected to Congress, says elected leaders should focus on garnering support for a Kenyan-led multinational security mission to Haiti.

The U.S. committed $300 million to the mission but congressional Republicans have blocked the release of $40 million in security assistance to the ailing country.

“If anyone is preparing for an exodus, I think that they’re misfocused,” Cherfilus-McCormick told The Miami Times. “I ask the governor to join me in asking Republicans to release the funding so that there won’t be an exodus. We don’t want to spend Florida’s tax money on sending extra people to the shores to stop [migrants] from coming in. We want to say, ‘Hey, this is a solution that we can use to prevent it from even happening.’”

According to DeSantis, a boat carrying 25 migrants from Haiti, five of whom were children, was intercepted by Florida law enforcement and turned over to the Florida Coast Guard for deportation weeks ago.

CNN reported last week that hundreds of wealthy foreigners and diplomats are awaiting private flights costing more than $10,000 per seat to escape Port-au-Prince.

Nearly 1,000 Americans in Haiti have reached out to the U.S. government via a crisis intake form for help in evacuating the country, said State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel at a press briefing Monday.

Meanwhile, Haitian citizens have informed reporters on the ground that they are forced to seek refuge in churches and schools because of the violence.

“It is very difficult to leave because of infrastructure issues and the airport has been closed for some time now,” said Paul Christian Namphy, political director of the Family Action Network Movement. “There was a shooting at the airport … flights have gone to a halt and most people don’t have that luxury of being able to travel even when there are flights.”

“Being a Haitian American with family in Haiti, it’s just a crushing feeling to never know when the phone rings if they’re calling to tell you that someone broke into the house or that a family member has passed,” said Cherfilus-McCormick. “It’s been a very tough time for Haitian Americans everywhere and anybody with a heart seeing this country, that was once so great, going through this again.”

The United Nations estimates that 80% of Haiti’s capital is controlled by gangs, such as the infamous G9, led by former Haitian police officer Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier, and GPep, led by Gabriel Jean-Pierre.

Almost half of Haiti’s population, an estimated 5.5 million people, require humanitarian aid. However, the violence has made it increasingly difficult for those resources to get to needy families amid medical, fuel, electricity and food supply shortages.

Armed groups gained control of more than 260 humanitarian containers and looted those carrying items for newborn babies and mothers on Saturday, UNICEF revealed in a statement.

“It’s heartbreaking. The country is falling apart by the minute,” said North Miami Mayor Alix Desulme, who shared that this is the worst he’s seen the country in years. “You have gangs running the country and there’s no form of government. Right now, we are at a crossroads. I’m 46 and I can’t think of one time where there was never an issue in Haiti.”

Desulme, whose sister-in-law was kidnapped in Haiti nearly two years ago, said there’s no evidence supporting a mass exodus when people can’t even leave their homes without putting their lives at risk.

He says requests to meet with White House officials in the past to come up with a Haitian-led solution to the crisis fell on deaf ears.

“We’ve sent multiple requests to meet with them, but they have completely ignored the Haitian American elected officials,” said the former chair of the National Haitian American Elected Officials Network.

Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, in a letter to President Joe Biden, proposed a multiagency in-person meeting with community leaders to address the crisis that could potentially impact South Florida, which has a significant Haitian American population.

“I get frustrated when people say ‘I don’t want this. This is terrible.’ And when I ask them for a solution, there is no solution,” said Cherfilus-McCormick about opposition to foreign intervention. “Every time we have these conversations, there’s another Haitian life that has ended. The truth is we’ve seen more than a 190% rise in violence and killings in Haiti. In the U.S. we can sit here safely and have these conversations and negotiations. However, in Haiti, they can’t.”

Namphy says the road ahead for Haiti is very uncertain, as the country remains without governance and awaits elections after the assassination of its 43rd president, Jovenel Moïse, three years ago.

“The country has moved back light years,” he said. “What we’ve seen for over a decade is that the party in power, which is PHTK (Parti Haitien Tet Kale), never had a credible election. If we want to see Haiti return to having aspects of a vibrant democracy … there needs to be a series of conditions where Haitian people have faith and confidence in the procedures and in those who are running the show.”

A pending transitional presidential council for Haiti will be responsible for selecting an interim prime minister.

This piece was republished from The Miami Times.