"If Ariel Henry doesn't resign, if the international community continues to support him, we'll be heading straight for a civil war that will lead to genocide," threatened Haitian gang leader Jimmy Chérizier, nicknamed "Barbecue," in a statement to reporters on Tuesday, March 5, surrounded by hooded gunmen. "Either Haiti becomes a paradise, or a hell for all of us," continued this 46-year-old former policeman, who is under UN sanctions and considered to be one of Haiti's most influential gang leaders.

Haiti's criminal gangs, which control most of the capital, Port-au-Prince, as well as the roads leading to the rest of the country, have been attacking strategic locations in recent days: The police academy, the airport and several prisons, from which thousands of inmates have escaped.

The armed groups have declared their intention to overthrow the Prime Minister, who has been in power since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021, and who should have stepped down at the beginning of February.

In October, after months of prevarication, the UN Security Council finally gave the go-ahead to dispatching a multinational mission to Haiti, to be led by Kenya, which has planned to send 1,000 police officers. However, its deployment is still on hold, due in part to a Kenyan court ruling.

Against a backdrop of kidnappings, snipers firing from rooftops, and sexual violence being used to instill fear on the island, in early January, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was "appalled" by the "staggering and worsening level" of gang violence ravaging the country – noting that the number of homicides had more than doubled in 2023, with almost 5,000 people killed, including 2,700 civilians.