Encountering Haiti's Infamous Gang Leader and Those Affected by the Conflict

Share this @internewscast.com

Tune in to Dateline’s latest episode from Haiti airing on 13 May at 9.30pm AEST on SBS and SBS On Demand.

Content warning: This story includes references to sexual abuse.

Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier seems to have gained some weight since our last encounter. His influence has certainly grown, as has the criticism against him.

Cherizier leads the Haitian gang alliance Viv Ansanm, which was labeled a terrorist group by the United States on 2 May.

I’m visiting Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, to speak with him and those who are directly affected by the ongoing crisis. The United Nations reports that these gangs control at least 85 percent of the city.

And their aim is complete domination.

Francoise, 38, blames Viv Ansanm — which translates from Haitian Creole as ‘Live Together’ — for uprooting her family’s world.

The mum of two young girls squats on the dirt in one of the many camps for the displaced in Haiti’s besieged capital.

She escaped here with her husband Ronald, their daughters, and her 79-year-old grandmother last October when heavily armed attackers overran Solino, their neighborhood. Their well-built home with security measures was no match for the onslaught of Kalashnikov rifles and Molotov cocktails, recounts Ronald, a carpenter.

Two girls, one of them a teenager holding a school book, and an elderly woman sit inside a makeshift tent.

Over a million Haitians have been uprooted by gang violence, seeking refuge in temporary shelters. This includes Francoise and Ronald’s family, who fled with their daughters and grandmother. Source: SBS

The home and Ronald’s tools destroyed, the family has set up shelter in the makeshift camp. The girls’ private school uniforms hang from a rope — neat and impeccably clean. But each day I visit, school has been cancelled due to danger.

Thousands killed, over a million displaced

This camp is now home to 1,600 people. There is just one shower cubicle for all the women and three toilets, only two of which are functioning.

The visiting doctor estimates half the people who live here have a urinary tract infection.

The numbers are staggering and getting worse. More than a million Haitians have been displaced by gang violence, which killed more than 5,000 people last year. Another 1,600 died in this year’s first quarter, says the United Nations.

A scene of chaos and destruction in a city: a damaged building on the left and a truck next to a large pile of rubbish on the right. A woman with a green backpack is seen from behind, sitting on a motorbike behind a man.

Gangs control 85 per cent of Port-au-Prince, and many neighbourhoods have turned into war zones, forcing ordinary citizens to flee for their safety. Source: SBS

The international airport in Port-au-Prince has been closed to commercial flights for months, after the gangs shot at passenger jets, while the roads into the city are controlled by the gangs.

Helicopter is our only option in.

We hitch a ride with the World Food Programme chopper. But even then, we’re told to step off quickly so it can take off again.

In 2024, this helicopter was twice shot at by gangs.

‘I want to resolve the problem’

I meet Cherizier in Delmas 6, a poor neighbourhood a few minutes by motorbike from downtown Port-au-Prince.

The former police officer, gun tucked into his trousers, casts himself as a revolutionary acting on behalf of the poor. And to my great surprise, he trots out US President Donald Trump’s signature campaign slogan: he tells me he wants to “drain the swamp”.

“Donald Trump is a patriot; he loves his country,” he says. “We must show that we are patriots and nationalists and do what’s right for our country. I think we have something in common.”

A group of men in black clothing. All but one are armed, wearing hats or baseball caps, and with their faces covered by bandanas

Cherizier, a former police officer himself, has been sanctioned by the UN for serious human rights abuses. He blames Haitian police and politicians for the crisis. Source: SBS

Cherizier — who has been sanctioned by the UN for serious human rights abuses — contends that it is corrupt police, corrupt politicians and the wealthy who are to blame for Haiti’s crisis.

“Me, I want to resolve the problem. I want to resolve the problem in a serious way but the people who are in power don’t want to resolve the problem. Me, all I want is for peace.”

Pierre Esperance is a human rights defender who runs Haiti’s National Human Rights Defense Network, a non-governmental organisation that supports victims of violence. His life has been threatened by the gangs.

“[Cherizier] killed people and burned houses, hospitals and churches … they are terrorists,” he tells me.

A man in a black T-shirt and pants stands opposite a woman with blonde hair, who's wearing a white shirt and khaki pants. She is gesticulating as she speaks. Rundown buildings, a burnt car, and people are visible in the background.

Prue Lewarne interviews Cherizier in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince. Source: SBS

At his offices, I’m introduced to a woman who tells me how her husband was killed by the gangs.

Pregnant, she fled with her nine-year-old daughter to a camp where they worry for their safety — she speaks to me anonymously.

She tells me her daughter was raped by gang members and now lives in daily pain.

An almost-impossible fight

Haiti was already stricken by violence when its last elected president .

Following his death, gang violence proliferated and any order collapsed.

Cherizier once led a group of gangs called G-9, which were at war with another gang, G-Pep. Last year, the two groups buried their differences and joined forces, creating Viv Ansanm, which now torments the capital. (In addition, other gangs operate outside the capital).

There has been some support for Haiti from overseas. In 2024, a UN-backed Multinational Security Support Mission led by Kenya sent its first police officers to Port-au-Prince to help the Haitian government restore law and order.

A close-up shot of a Black man’s face, wearing a black t-shirt and headphones hanging around his neck

Cherizier likens himself to US President Donald Trump, saying he, too, wants to “drain the swamp”. The US has recently designated Cherizier’s gang alliance Viv Ansanm as a terrorist organisation. Source: SBS

The original target was 2,500 officers, but there are only 1,000 of them.

Cherizier says he aims to see off the Kenyans.

But when I ask him how many weapons are in Viv Ansanm’s arsenal, he’s evasive.

“For strategic reasons, I can’t answer that question,” he says with a laugh.

In March, Haitian police conducted an operation against Cherizier in Lower Delmas, but the strongman survived the attack.

As rumours swirled of his demise, Cherizier promptly issued a proof-of-life video.

Viv Ansanm retaliated with further attacks.

Longing for normal life

Francoise has no idea when her family’s life might return to normal but she gets the kids ready for school every day regardless.

Her husband Ronald is angry.

“The gangsters? They are assassins, criminals — there is no dialogue with them,” he says.

Across Port-au-Prince and Haiti, despair grows. There’s a palpable feeling that the end is close — that at any moment, Vive Ansanm could claim the rest of the city.

More than half of all Haitians are facing acute food insecurity, with over two million people projected to face emergency level hunger by June 2025, according to the World Food Programme.

A woman with a white headscarf is holding a baby with her right hand while covering her face with her left hand.

More than half of all Haitians are facing hunger, according to UN’s World Food Programme. Source: SBS

And no one I met in Haiti had any confidence that the Kenyan-led mission would help.

In the meantime, Cherizier tells me that every Sunday he likes to go to the beach.

He said the same thing when we first met in 2023.

In ordinary circumstances, this would be unremarkable. After all, Port-au-Prince sits beside the tantalising waters of the Caribbean.

I can imagine Francoise and her family enjoying a day by the sea too.

The problem is ordinary citizens can no longer get to the beach. To do so, they’d need to negotiate their way through gang territory.

If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault or domestic violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732, text 0458 737 732, or visit . In an emergency, call 000.