Haiti Gang Leader Cherizier after Revolution

Regional leaders of the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) held an emergency summit last week to discuss a framework for a political transition, which the United States had urged to be “expedited” as gangs wrought chaos in the capital, Port-au-Prince, amid repeatedly postponed elections.

“We’re not going to recognize the decisions that CARICOM takes,” Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier, a former police officer whose gang rules vast swaths of Port-au-Prince, told Al Jazeera. Rights groups have accused his gang alliance of committing atrocities, including killings and rape.

“I’m going to say to the traditional politicians that are sitting down with CARICOM, since they went with their families abroad, we who stayed in Haiti have to take the decisions,” Cherizier said, flanked by gang members wearing face masks, adding that he rejected plans for a transitional council made up of the country’s political parties.

“It’s not just people with guns who’ve damaged the country but the politicians too,” he added.

The United States and Caribbean nations have been pushing for the proposed council to appoint a new interim prime minister and lay a road map for elections.

Cherizier and his G9 Family and Allies gang alliance have been major contributors to years of escalating violence and political instability in Port-au-Prince.

They have blockaded fuel terminals, clashed with rival gangs and used violence to cement their grip on areas under their control, forcing thousands of Haitians to flee their homes.