Haiti’s ‘Barbecue’ Threatens Families of Anyone Aiding Biden-Backed ‘Transitional Council’

Haitian gang lord Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier on Thursday threatened violence against the families of anyone who joins the Biden administration-backed “transitional council” to select an interim prime minister.

“Don’t you have any shame? You have taken the country where it is today. You have no idea what will happen,” Cherizier said in an audio message posted to social media on Thursday morning, suggesting he views the proposed transitional council as merely an extension of the corrupt Haitian ruling elite.

“I’ll know if your kids are in Haiti, if your wives are in Haiti … if your husbands are in Haiti,” he said menacingly.

Cherizier diluted the threat slightly by suggesting he meant anyone who aspires to govern Haiti should live in the country. “If you’re gonna run the country all your family ought to be there,” he grumbled.

The gang boss applauded the announced, but not yet implemented, resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry, but added that even Henry’s ouster would be only “a first step in the battle” for Haiti’s future.

After two days of relative calm, gang violence surged again on Thursday with an attack on a police academy and reports of a fire breaking out at the National Penitentiary in Port-au-Prince, which the gangs attacked and largely emptied of prisoners two weeks ago.

Heavily armed police officers entered the National Penitentiary on Thursday afternoon and were apparently able to extinguish the fire, the cause and extent of which have not been made public.

A police union representative said the home of Haitian National Police (HNP) chief Frantz Elbe was also set ablaze on Thursday. Italian news agency Agenzia Nova reported an armed gang ransacked the house and set it on fire, but Elbe and his family had already departed the premises because they feared for their safety.

Elbe is one of the officials included on Cherizier’s published list of Ariel Henry supporters targeted for violence. Cherizier said this week he plans to capture Elbe and other officials and subject them to some sort of gang trial. He warned his men would deal harshly with anyone who shelters the officials on his enemies list.

“We’re not in a peaceful revolution. We are making a bloody revolution in the country because this system is an apartheid system, a wicked system,” Cherizier said when issuing his threats.

The transition plan brokered by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the CARICOM group of Caribbean nations appeared to be in disarray on Friday after several key Haitian leaders withdrew their support, including former rebel and gang-friendly politician Guy Philippe. 

“The decision of CARICOM is not our decision. Haitians will decide who will govern Haiti,” Philippe said on Thursday.

Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported on additional rejections of the transition plan:

Other high-profile Haitian politicians declined to participate in the proposed transitional council. Among them were Himmler Rébu, former colonel of Haiti’s army and president of the Grand Rally for the Evolution of Haiti, a party that is part of a coalition awarded a spot on the transitional council.

He said in a statement that the party prefers that a judge from Haiti’s Supreme Court assume the reins of power.

Rébu added that the party is “ashamed and angry” upon seeing “the search for positions of power that do not take into account the responsibilities attached to them.”

Kenya’s long-discussed but never-realized plan to send a thousand police officers into Haiti suffered another setback this week, as the Kenyan government announced the latest in a long series of “suspensions” of the plan, prompted by court rulings that said President William Ruto lacks the constitutional authority to deploy the police into other countries.

Africa News reported on Thursday that Kenyans are largely opposed to the intervention proposal, and relieved that the courts have blocked Ruto’s efforts to send their sons and husbands into the bloody chaos of Haiti:

Nairobi resident Lameck Ochieng said he was not surprised by the court ruling. “Our children who were going to be killed outside (in Haiti) now are safe,” he said.

“As a Kenyan, this is the situation which we saw before, even the courts ruled against it (deployment of Kenyan police to Haiti). But the outcome has not that much maybe scared me because we knew that it was something which was not going to be achieved.” 

“Haiti has no government, it has no structure so it’s not advisable, you know. Let’s say like, if our government really cares for our people, they wouldn’t even consider doing that (deploying Kenyan Police to Haiti),” said Rose Wanjiku, a student.

Republicans in Congress put a hold on $40 million in funding for the proposed – but still non-existent – Haiti multinational intervention force on Tuesday, accusing the Biden administration of lacking both a coherent plan and transparency in how the money would be spent.

House Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) and Senate Foreign Relations ranking member Jim Risch (R-ID) said:

The human suffering and devolving crisis in Haiti is tragic. Yet, after years of discussions, repeated requests for information, and providing partial funding to help them plan, the administration only this afternoon sent us a rough plan to address this crisis. Whether it’s ‘credible and implementable’ remains to be seen. 

An unnamed State Department official complained to Reuters on Friday that the blocked funding is “critical for deployment” of the Kenyan police into Haiti, although as noted above the Kenyan Supreme Court has already suspended that plan, and the pause had nothing to do with United States funding.

The Royal Caribbean cruise line said Thursday it was suspending cruise visits to Haiti’s Labadee resort peninsula for at least a week, due to deteriorating security conditions.

“The safety and security of our guests, crew, and communities we visit are our top priority,” a representative for the cruise line said.

Royal Caribbean said it is “closely monitoring the evolving situation in Haiti” and would notify its customers daily if the suspension is extended. Travel agents said stops in Labadee have been replaced by stops in Turks and Caicos.