Resistance Against Foreign Police Force in Haiti: Gang Leader Warns of Abuses of Power

A potential foreign police force will face stiff resistance if they commit abuses of power, warns a prominent gang leader in Haiti.

Jimmy Chérizier, also known under the pseudonym “Barbecue”, also asks the inhabitants of the Caribbean island state to mobilize against the authorities in the country.

Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry has long asked for foreign support to crack down on criminal gangs. The UN also believes that a multinational police force is needed to restore law and order in Haiti.

Chérizier says an international force is welcome, but only to arrest the prime minister and what he refers to as corrupt politicians.

Many Haitians have bad memories of the UN’s previous peacekeeping mission in the island nation, where soldiers were accused of abuse and of bringing dangerous germs with them. If something like this happens again, Chérizier promises to give the force fierce resistance.

– We will fight them until our last breath, he warns.