Haiti's crisis stems from entrenched corruption, impunity and the unchecked flow of firearms, which have enabled gangs to seize control of vast portions of the country, said Haitian journalist Widlore Mérancourt.

by Victoria Salcedo

UCLA International Institute, March 4, 2025 — “Impunity is one of the biggest problems of Haiti today — impunity, blanket impunity of those who abuse the public, of those who stole public funds, of those who engage in high-level criminality,” said Widlore Mérancourt at an event in early February 2025, cosponsored by UCLA’s Latin American Institute, Program on Caribbean Studies, Global Studies, department of African Studies and department of history; together with the Latin American Studies program at the College of William & Mary. 
 
Mérancourt, editor-in-chief of Ayibopost and a Haitian journalist known for his extensive reporting on gang violence and systemic corruption, discussed the deep- rooted crisis in the country and the systemic failures that enable corruption and violence there. He was joined by Laurent Dubois, professor of history at the University of Virginia, and Richard Turits, professor of Africana studies, history and Latin American studies at William & Mary, who also helped organize the event. Robin Derby, a professor of history at UCLA, led the in-person event, while Jorge Marturano, the director of the Program on Caribbean Studies, managed the webinar with the support of the Latin American Institute staff.

Their discussion and audience questions highlighted Haiti’s internal struggles, but did not directly address the long history of foreign military interventions, development interventions by multilateral institutions and bilateral economic policies in shaping the current crisis.
 
President Jovenel Moïse took power in Haiti during an already unstable political environment in 2017. Two years later, the PetroCaribe scandal, in which billions of dollars intended for public projects were misused by Haitian government officials, escalated political tensions and led to mass protests against corruption. By 2020, Moïse was ruling by decree after having dissolved parliament, which intensified instability and paved the way for his assassination in July 2021.
 
The Haitian president’s death created a power vacuum, allowing armed gangs to expand their control over major roads, businesses and neighborhoods, and severely restricted movement and access to resources on the island — including the road to Haiti's international airport. Mérancourt recounted his harrowing three-day journey to leave the country and attend the UCLA event, navigating dangerous roads under gang control before finally boarding a flight from Cap-Haïtien, the only functional international airport in Haiti.
 
“Today, up to 85% of the Haitian capital, which is the center for the economy and also the most important political place in Haiti, is controlled by gangs,” said the journalist. The brutal violence has devastated communities, displaced families, worsened food insecurity and driven waves of citizens to migrate. Gang activity has also fueled a sharp increase in arbitrary killings. “We are talking about 2,600 people killed by gangs [in the] last year,” noted Mérancourt.

Widlore Mérancourt. (Photo: Victoria Salcedo/ UCLA.)

Corruption and the Haitian State
 
Dubois framed Haiti’s crisis within a broader historical context. He described long-standing struggles between the Haitian state and its people, saying, “There is obviously a very long-standing set of conflicts within Haiti, one that former president Michel Martelly, years ago described as a kind of state against nation: a set of conflicts about the relationship of this state to the population and the state to external actors. And we’re seeing a kind of very, very intense version of that crisis today.”
 
Since the fall of President Jean-Claude Duvalier in 1986, Haiti has experienced overlapping political crises and an ongoing struggle to establish a stable democracy, he observed. (A total of 16 different individuals have served as Haitian president since that time, often amidst significant turmoil.)
 
Mérancourt linked the country’s problems to entrenched corruption, with Haitian officials and business leaders seeking to control key economic resources, particularly customs and imports. Concurring with Dubois, he described the Haitian government as a “state that is built against the nation, a state that is not advancing the interest of the nation, a state that does not have the public interest in mind.” Rather, he continued, Haiti’s political system prioritizes self-enrichment over governance.
 
Investigations into the 2021 assassination of President Moïse revealed that the attack involved Colombian mercenaries, some with ties to a Miami-based security firm, raising concerns about foreign involvement. Haitian authorities arrested dozens of suspects, including members of Moïse’s own security team; separate investigations by the Haitian government and U.S. agencies are still ongoing.
 
Everyday Haitians are deeply frustrated both by the lack of progress in the investigations and their lack of transparency, said Métancourt. Notably, three of the individuals who were indicted by a Haitian judge — Martine Moïse (the widow of President Moïse), Claude Joseph (former prime minister) and Léon Charles (former police chief) — are members of the National Commission for Disarmament, Dismantlement and Reintegration, the very body is responsible for overseeing the disarmament of armed groups and reintegration of their members into society.
 
 “Observers and people who are taking an interest in this,” he recounted “... quickly understand that this investigation’s main goal seems to be to identify the folks who were in the U.S. and broke U.S. laws. [I]t’s not, you know, an investigation... to try to determine who killed the Haitian president, who ordered the killing, and why he was killed.”
 
Because the government has failed to maintain order, gangs continue to consolidate
power. Mérancourt estimated that Haiti has approximately 500 armed groups, each with different objectives. Some, like the G9 coalition, led by Jimmy “Barbecue” Chérizier, claim to fight corruption but primarily rely on extortion, kidnapping and violence. That gang has also used social media to spread misinformation, branding themselves as revolutionaries fighting for the Haitian people.
 
Mérancourt refuted these claims, saying, “[I]f you look at the more than a million [Haitians] displaced by the violence in the past three to four years, these are impoverished people from the very slums, from the very neighborhoods that they [the gangs] ... claim [to be] trying to help.” Many gangs are also suspected of having ties to drug trafficking networks in Latin America and the Caribbean.
 
The illegal arms trade drives gang violence in Haiti, said Mérancourt. Haiti’s high levels of organized crime would not be possible without the unchecked flow of high-intensity weapons, such as AK-47s and machine guns, into the country, he argued.
 
“We have up to 500,000 guns in Haiti, most of them came to the country illegally.”
This marks a significant shift, as criminal groups previously relied on handguns and small arms, but now wield high-powered automatic weapons, often surpassing the firepower available to the Haitian police. Pointing to the significant impact of lax U.S. gun laws, he said, “[T]he vast majority of guns... fueling gang violence in Haiti today comes from the U.S.” Americans remain unaware of how their domestic policies and decisions on gun control in the U.S. impact nations in Latin America and the Caribbean, he added.
 
Gang violence has fueled both internal displacement and external migration. Many families have been forcibly displaced, while others attempt dangerous journeys to seek refuge abroad. Waves of asylum seekers have found their way to the U.S., the Dominican Republic and South America, often facing perilous conditions along the way.
 
Looking Ahead

Despite Haiti’s instability, Mérancourt underscored the resilience and creativity of the Haitian people. He encouraged audiences to see beyond the narrative of violence, emphasizing Haiti’s scientific and artistic contributions. “People will go to university cities, for instance, and see scientists raising and creating crops that are climate-change resistant and [provide] for the needs of people and farmers all over the country.”
 
Haiti’s influence extends beyond the island’s borders, he insisted, and urged people to, “Google Haitian artists, painters... you will see them in France and in the U.S. and all over the world... they have something to say about the state of the world.
 
“As Haiti is going through another cycle of high-level violence, [it is] primarily Haitians [who are] helping Haitians,” pointed out the journalist. “It’s Haitian doctors. It’s Haitian teachers.”
 
Among his many thoughts on Haitian politics, Mérancourt believed the country must strengthen its institutions and create mechanisms for accountability. “We haven’t built in Haiti... a state with one goal, which is to serve the people and serve the public.” He called for international regulation of arms trafficking, saying, “Stop the flow of guns and many things will change.” And he insisted that only the Haitian police, not outside armed forces or outside police forces, could resolve the country’s security crisis in a way acceptable to Haitian society.
 
“The story we’ve been told about Haiti is one of corruption, gun violence, chaos and catastrophe, but I do think it dismisses the full humanity of Haitians,” he reflected in closing.

Published: Tuesday, March 4, 2025