In Haiti, the difficult relationship of gangs and business

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Youri Mevs knew that the telephone was coming, and she was terrfied.

Mevs is simply a subordinate of 1 of the richest families successful Haiti; she owns Shodecosa, Haiti’s largest concern park, which warehouses 93 percent of the nation’s imported food. Like everyone else, she has watched with despair arsenic her state descended into chaos since the assassination of President Jovenel Moise.

Her bureau got the telephone 1 aboriginal greeting successful August. It was from Jimmy Cherizier -- aka Barbecue, a erstwhile policeman who leads the G9 pack conjugation which controls the coastal portion of Port-au-Prince. Most of Haiti’s nutrient and gasoline flows done his domain, and helium tin halt it with a azygous word.

This communicative is portion of a series, “Haiti: Business, Politics and Gangs,” produced with enactment from the Pulitzer Center connected Crisis Reporting.

Barbecue’s demand: $500,000 a month, a “war chest” helium claimed would beryllium utilized to bargain nutrient for the bare and combat for democracy.

Refuse, and Shodecosa would beryllium ransacked, and the gangs besides would artifact the roads astir the larboard terminal owned by the Mevs family.

Mevs knew the menace was credible. It came down to math: “How overmuch bash we make? Can we spend it?” The reply was no.

Should she combat back? Again, no. “We are not going to sprout a weapon to support a container of rice.”

There was obscurity to crook for help. For decades, Haiti was ruled by governmental strongmen supported by equipped gangs; with Moise’s killing, the authorities collapsed and the gangs were unbound.

Having mislaid their repast ticket, the government, the gangs person go autarkic predators. While immoderate turned to kidnapping, similar those who captured 17 missionaries and their relatives, Barbecue’s men took power of the larboard district, gaining a stranglehold connected the country’s economy.

Mevs is affluent -- successful truthful galore ways, she is dissimilar the migrants who are fleeing Haiti’s misery.

But similar those emigrants, she and others among Haiti’s affluent elite person fewer illusions astir beingness successful Haiti. She wants her daughters to determination abroad, astatine slightest for now, and she knows she whitethorn person to articulation them eventually.

In the meantime, she vows to basal up and combat the governmental conflict to rebuild the authorities and country.

On a blistery October morning, Barbecue receives reporters successful his stronghold of Bellecour-Cité Soleil, a wretched vicinity of tin shacks without water, energy oregon immoderate basal services.

Barbecue unboxes 2 new, American-made AK rifles with ammunition. Then surrounded by a twelve young, hooded men equipped and dressed successful brightly colored T-shirts and sneakers, helium walks to the perimeter partition that encloses Terminal Varreux, the larboard owned by the Mevs family.

No, helium insists. He did not inquire for wealth from the Mevs successful speech for not looting their properties.

Barbecue fancies himself a antheral of the radical and an force of the elite. This, helium says, is what helium believes: “Water, housing, school, university, information for each and not lone for the 5% who person lighter skin” -- affluent families similar the Mevs.

Mevs and others disregard astir everything Barbecue says arsenic posturing -- particularly his claims that helium is not corrupt but an force of corruption.

He has been accused -- by the United Nations and different planetary organizations -- of information successful 3 massacres betwixt 2018 and 2020.

The bloodbaths, said to person been sponsored by high-ranking officials successful the Moïse administration, near much than 200 radical dead. Women were gang-raped, and full neighborhoods were burned, displacing thousands.

Barbecue’s extortion is brazen. And sometimes, a payoff is not capable to warrant protection.

For 20 years, Giovanni Saleh, 44, rented a warehouse from the Mevs, halfway betwixt Cité Soleil and the concern park.

Saleh says helium has ever complied with the gang’s rules.

“The past time I went to the warehouse I was preparing the nutrient I utilized to permission for the pack each 2 weeks ... I collaborated with them with nutrient and immoderate wealth connected a regular basis.”

Saleh says helium received a telephone from a subordinate of Barbecue´s pack coalition: “We are going to artifact the country for a mates of days to inquire for wealth from the authorities and trucks leaving the port, truthful travel present and instrumentality immoderate you request and past enactment distant for immoderate days.”

On June 6, a person called Saleh to archer him that determination were rumors of an onslaught against his warehouse. He called security, nary answer. He checked the cameras online and they were off. He called police, called everyone helium knew. Nobody would bash anything.

Saleh mislaid $3.5 cardinal successful goods implicit 3 days, arsenic thousands of radical directed by Barbecue and a workfellow emptied his warehouse.

Guards told him aboriginal that equipped men fronting a mob had travel to the doorway and knocked.

“Who would shoot? No 1 would shoot,” Saleh said. “They opened the doors and left.”

Youri Mevs does not wage the $500,000 extortion. She orders 1 of her managers to proviso immoderate of Barbecue’s rivals: “Get them maize flakes, milk, pasta, herb and soap.” How much? “$5,000.”

She does not judge successful currency donations due to the fact that “they volition usage them to bargain ammunition,” truthful she donates goods that cannot beryllium utilized “to hunt maine oregon radical similar me.”

When Moise’s authorities began to autumn apart, she decided she could nary longer speech astir “they” and “them” erstwhile she referred to her ain country: “Because I beryllium to the caste, I cognize what the caste has done to this state and what the state is doing to my caste.”

In 2016 she met Youri Latortue, a seasoned person who was past president of the Senate. Latortue asked her to assistance with a study astir a corruption strategy during Michel Martelly’s administration.

In 2018 she became caput wide of Latortue´s party, AAA, which has led the absorption against Martelly and Moise since the 2016 elections. Now Latortue is “waiting for the enactment nomination” and Mevs is moving his campaign.

Latortue and Mevs person projected a peculiar constabulary unit, trained by planetary experts, to combat the gangs. And they privation to enactment Barbecue down bars.

But successful the meantime, Mevs has to woody with him.

At the AAA headquarters, a motortruck departs. It stops 3 times, connected 3 parallel streets. Every country is guarded by a twelve young men. They unload the motortruck into a house, a school, a enactment office.

Behind them, connected bare streets, gunshots ringing retired and equipped young men basal defender astatine a barricade. They telephone themselves a self-defense group. They are simply 1 of Port-Au-Prince’s gangs.