Haiti gang leader 'Barbecue' would take part in peace talks but resist foreign peacekeepers
NBCMar 22
Haiti: Gang Leader Demands Role in Peace Talks
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The Facts
Jimmy "Barbecue" Chérizier, the head of both the G9 federation of gangs and the newly-formed Viv Ansanm revolutionary gang alliance, has stated that the inclusion of him and his allies in talks about Haiti's future is an indispensable precondition for a cease-fire.
In an interview with Sky News published during the Easter holidays, the gang leader also stressed, amid plans for a Kenya-led peacekeeping mission in Haiti, that foreign forces will be considered aggressors and invaders.
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
More than just powerful gangsters, Chérizier and his allies are armed insurgents that have threatened civil war and genocide unless their political goals are met. Given that Haiti is a failed state and its government has lost authority, only an international military intervention to neutralize enemy combatants can restore order in the volatile Caribbean nation.
Establishment-critical narrative
Though Chérizier represents the very armed gangs that are to blame for the chaos in Haiti, his words against foreign troops in the country reflect the view of ordinary Haitians. The country has a long and ugly history of international intervention that ended in failure and made life even worse.