with announces resignation For Prime Minister Ariel Henry, the most powerful man in bloody Haiti is ex-cop gang boss Jimmy “Barbeque” Chéridier.
Barbecue isn’t without its competitors. At the head of the group is a 26-year-old rapping gangster named Johnson Andre, aka Izo Viraj de Dai. His career includes kidnapping, extortion, and brutal murder, and he won a YouTube award for one of his music videos. .
“Izzo,” as he prefers to be called, began making political rap videos shortly after joining a rival Haitian gang. kidnapped The song, titled “Se Fot Yo,” accused the Haitian government of arming gangs and using them as enforcers for militia groups.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaCVCQUbj1I
Izo’s YouTube channel quickly gained 100,000 subscribers, earning him a “Silver Play Button” plaque and a cash prize from the video streaming service. Ms. Izzo posed with her winnings in a social media snapshot in which she declared herself part of the “artist mafia.”
This is not an exaggeration. lead One of Haiti’s most feared gangs, the Baz 5 Segon, or “Five Seconds Gang.” Chéridier’s rival gangs are actually a coalition of smaller criminal groups called G9 and the Family.There is at least There are 200 different gangs operating in Haiti, 23 of which are vying for control of the capital, Port-au-Prince.
Armed gang leader Jimmy “Barbeque” Chéridier and his subordinates were seen in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on March 5, 2024. (CLARENS SIFFROY/AFP via Getty Images)
Izzo’s gang controls one of Haiti’s most dire slums, the Village of God, where abuses include murder, rape, killing of police officers, recruitment of child soldiers, and kidnapping. There is. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) was indicted A gang leader with ties to Izo For kidnapping an American citizen.
A petition campaign was quickly organized to have Izo’s platinum award revoked and his YouTube channel shut down.
“Given the violence and insecurity he has caused in Haiti, we cannot in good faith allow this man to continue to expand his influence. and should be banned from YouTube,” said Men Anpil, the group that organized the campaign.
The petition ultimately won after gathering more than 20,000 signatures, including one of Segon’s five former kidnapping victims, and Izzo’s YouTube channel Ended April 2023 for violating community guidelines.
The rap gang leader was banned from Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp in 2022 after posting a video in which he threatened to kill 30 people in retaliation if they harmed a target in God’s Village. He reminded his “soldiers” not to wait for his orders to start killing.
Izou continued: dedicated In October 2023, they kidnapped 38 people from two minibuses and occupied the Haitian Supreme Court building in retaliation for the extrajudicial killing of one of their soldiers.
The petition against Izo’s YouTube award alleges that he is not only using the platform to monetize crime and disorder, but also to recruit more young “soldiers” to his gang. accused of doing so. Veterans who have watched Haiti’s deteriorating situation agree that social media has made gangs more powerful and violent.
“Without social media, bandits would never have become so powerful in Haiti. There have always been bandits in Haiti, but without these platforms they would never have been as famous. ” said Ibns Lambold of the Haitian think tank Polité. Said of washington post In June 2022, he cited Chéridier and Izzo as prime examples.
Some of those analysts view Izzo as follows. more powerful Rather than Cheridier, the loudmouth who attracts foreign media attention by railing against the devastated Haitian government. threatening If other countries tried to encourage this, it would be “genocide.”
Chéridier took on the stance of a revolutionary standing up for “the people” against a corrupt government, adopting theatrical flourishes such as posing with heavy weapons during press conferences (and On some occasions, pop out a few rounds to make his agenda bullet points literal). He masterminded several headline-grabbing terrorist acts, including: blockade Fuel and food deliveries at Haiti’s main ports in 2021.
Jimmy Chélisier speaks during a press conference in the Delmas 6 neighborhood in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on March 5, 2024. (Oderin Joseph/Associated Press)
Meanwhile, Izou has more thugs under his control and is more ruthless in guarding his criminal enterprise. He probably has more money than Cherizier, thanks to the thriving drug trade under his control, and has a track record of winning turf wars with other gangs.
Izo is so confident in his powers that he is known to sell his surplus weapons to rival gangs for cash. Mr. Chélisier may prove much more difficult for multinational peacekeeping forces to subdue than Mr. Chélisier. Chéridier’s influence stems primarily from his control of the vital Valu fuel terminal, which will almost certainly be the first asset secured by arriving peacekeepers.On the other hand, Izo Control His operations are agile and resilient as he utilizes a variety of maritime smuggling routes across Port-au-Prince.
Analyst Said ABC News on Tuesday reported that it will be nearly impossible to form a post-Henry government in Haiti unless gang leaders like Izzo and Cherisier win seats. Gang leaders have yet to publicly respond to the interim council and interim prime minister’s plans.
Seats on its transitional council are not reserved for Chéridier, Izzo or other crime bosses. There appears to be some vague hope in the international community that the gangs will accept the leadership role of Guy Philippe, a former rebel leader who has just finished serving a sentence in a US prison on money laundering charges. Mr Philippe’s close ally Moise Jean-Charles will be one of the seven voting members of the transitional council.
Renata Segura of the International Crisis Group told the ABC that Philippe is “one of the few politicians at the moment who has an open channel with gangs” and “has a foot in both worlds”. Told.
