The synergy of criminal and political violence in Haiti’s embattled capital, Port-au-Prince, is threatening the stability of President Rene Preval’s government. In office for two months, Preval contends with an escalation of gang elements throughout the slums that circumvent the capital. UN officials stated the violence is well coordinated, suggesting the presence of politically-aligned?and possibly funded?gangs. UN peacekeepers, in combination with the fledgling Haitian national police, are unable to impose security measures to limit the street fighting between rival gangs that occurs almost daily in Port-au-Prince’s streets. The Haitian government’s situation will continue to grow more precarious unless the international community commits to supporting the disarmament and/or elimination of anti-government forces .
Haitian gangs initially contained their fighting, directing attacks against rival drug gangs and limiting firefights to Cite Soleil . UN peacekeepers, fearful of violent incursions, remained unengaged, allowing gangs to leach outside the slum. Kidnappings of locals continue; ransoms have decreased, as the majority of foreigners have left the island. Kidnapping locals does not generate sufficient income for gangsters who, instead, turn to drug operations, prompting turf wars.
The next months will be crucial for Preval and his administration as well as for the future of democratic governance in Haiti. The involvement of militias loyal to exiled former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide are likely the cause of the violence in Cite Soleil, as they try to regain lost political influence and, thus, power within the country. The gangs have both a political and an economic incentive to continue their violence, and they will resist violently attempts to curtail their activities.
A possible spillover of gangs and/or narcotics operations into neighboring Dominican Republic prompted increased Dominican border patrols. Likewise, a sudden increase of violent crime in Santo Domingo forced the Dominican government to deploy joint military and police patrols throughout the country. The sudden rise in violent crime in the Dominican Republic is not definitively attributed to criminal enterprises in Haiti. However, Hispaniola’s growth as a narcotics transit point from Latin America to the US is contributing to both the increase in gangs in Haiti and the meteoric rise in violent crime in the Dominican Republic.
The repercussions from the prolific growth of criminal/political elements in Haiti are undeterminable. However, historical experience suggests that the unhindered rise of drug-related violence intertwined with politically-motivated interests will give way to a permanently failed Haitian state.
