This is what it's like to live under gang control in Haiti 6:17

(CNN Spanish) -- 

The capital of Haiti, Port-au-Prince, is suffering a wave of violence marked by highly coordinated attacks by gangs against law enforcement and state institutions.

In recent days, armed groups have burned police stations and freed thousands of inmates from two prisons in what one gang leader described as an attempt to overthrow Prime Minister Ariel Henry's government.

According to UN figures, gangs currently control 80% of Port-au-Prince.

The wave of violence erupted while Henry was in Kenya, where he signed an agreement supporting a Kenya-led mission to deploy 1,000 police officers to Haiti to restore security on the island.

Gang members control 80% of Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince.

However, violence is not new for that side of the small island that shares territory with the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean Sea.

Since the assassination of former president Jovenel Moïse in 2021, Haiti has been hit by waves of crime and unrest.

Henry has made efforts to contain the violence, which is also a major impediment to holding the crucial long-delayed elections, but without success.

A UN report published in January established that in 2023 the number of homicides reported in the country increased by 119.4% compared to the previous year.

That year there were 4,789 homicide victims, including 465 women, 93 boys and 48 girls.

In 2023 alone, 8,081 people were victims of gang violence, including deaths, injuries or kidnappings, UN data shows.

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• Face to face with Haiti's most notorious gang leader

What happened in the last few days in Haiti?

March 3, 2024

Tensions had begun a few days earlier, when the leader of one of the gangs, Jimmy Cherizier, also known as "Barbecue", called for the overthrow of Ariel Henry.

"We ask the Haitian National Police and the army to assume their responsibility and arrest Ariel Henry. Once again, the population is not our enemy; armed groups are not our enemy. Arrest Ariel Henry for the liberation of the country" Cherizier said, adding: "With these weapons, we will liberate the country and these weapons will change the country."

In response and in an attempt to try to restore order, Henry has called for military help.

Public frustration, which had been building against Henry over his inability to stop the unrest, boiled over after he announced he would not resign last month, citing escalating violence.

Under an earlier agreement, Henry had committed to holding elections and transferring power by February 7.

On Sunday the 3rd, a series of episodes among which two prison escapes were reported, one in Port-au-Prince and Croix des Bouquets, - of more than 3,000 inmates including "dangerous prisoners" -, kidnappings and murders, marked the beginning of this new cycle of violence in Haiti.

Consequently, the government declared a state of emergency and a curfew.

A statement from Finance Minister Patrick Boivert, who is serving as acting prime minister, cited "deteriorating security," particularly in the capital, Port-au-Prince, and "increasingly violent criminal acts perpetrated by armed gangs." , including kidnappings and murders of citizens, violence against women and children and looting.

Gang leader Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier poses for a photo with gang members in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

(Credit: Giles Clarke)

March 4, 2024

On Monday, the US embassy urged citizens to leave the country due to escalating violence, adding that the embassy would operate on a limited basis and that "operations could be further affected during the week due to violence." related to gangs and their effects on transportation and infrastructure.

For its part, the French Embassy in Haiti suspended its administrative and visa services on Monday: "As a precautionary measure, the visa and French administration services at the French Embassy in Port-au-Prince will be closed to the public tomorrow, Monday, the 4th. March 2024," the embassy published in X.

In addition, the president of the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader, reported that an extreme level of security prevails on the border with Haiti.

Although the head of state did not reveal what the increase in border security consists of, he warned that any escaped Haitian prisoner who enters the country will have "a drastic response."

The soldiers deployed on the border "are prepared to prevent or deter any incident" that jeopardizes the tranquility of the area, as reported this Tuesday by the Minister of Defense, Lieutenant General Carlos Luciano Díaz Morfa.

March 5, 2024

Ariel Henry landed in Puerto Rico, Sheila Angleró Mojica confirmed to CNN, ending days of speculation about his whereabouts.

The wave of violence broke out while Henry was in Kenya, and the prime minister's last public appearance had been on Friday, March 1, from that country, before arriving in Puerto Rico on Tuesday.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said he is "deeply concerned" about the rapidly deteriorating security situation and its impact on the civilian population, said UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric.

Additionally, gang leader Jimmy Cherizier, alias "Barbecue," sent a harsh warning Tuesday saying that if Haiti's prime minister remains in power "the country will suffer genocide."

Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry at the United States International University in Africa in Nairobi on March 1, 2024.

(Simon Maina/AFP/Getty Images)

"If Ariel Henry does not resign, if the international community continues to support Ariel Henry, they will lead us directly into a civil war that will end in genocide," Cherizier told Reuters on Tuesday in Port-au-Prince.

"The international community, especially the United States, Canada, France and the Core Group will be responsible for all those who die in Haiti."

Cherizier, a former police officer, said the gangs are fighting to remove Henry "as quickly as possible."

"Then, we will begin the fight against the current system, to have the country we want, a Haiti with jobs for all, a Haiti with security, a Haiti with free education, a Haiti without social discrimination, where all people can achieve the position what they want," he added.

Finally, the United States has asked Henry to "advance a political process leading to the establishment of a transitional presidential council leading to elections," US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Wednesday.

"We believe it is urgent to move in that direction and begin the process to return normality to Haiti," she added.

Violence