As Haiti's unelected Prime Minister Ariel Henry travels to Nairobi in an attempt to gain assistance in striking down gangs, within the country a powerful gang leader is currently attempting to overthrow the government - using violence and force to seize control.
Jimmy Chérizier - known by his nickname "Barbeque" possibly due to his alleged role in burning down 400 homes in a Haitian slum - has likened himself to revolutionaries like Che Guevara and Malcolm X.
"I like Martin Luther King, too," he told the New Yorker last year. "But he didn't like fighting with guns, and I fight with guns."
Chérizier often claims that he is fighting the Haitian government on behalf of the country's impoverished and underserved people - describing his gang as "a sociopolitical structure and force that is fighting on behalf of the vulnerable," in an interview with Vice.
But for many within the country, he is a terrifying individual involved in violent crime. Prior to becoming a notorious gang leader, Chérizier was part of a riot squad within the Haitian national police. It was during this time, that he allegedly burned down the slum - in the aftermath of this incident dozens of people were dead and seven women said they had been raped.
"He gives women presents on Mother's Day. He gives money to families that don't have the means to send their kids to school," said Haiti expert Diego Da Rin, according to the Guardian.
"But people are aware that he is [also] one of the main people responsible for the nightmare they are living."
While Chérizier is subject to international sanctions, it does not seem like he will lose his grip on power any time soon.
"Unfortunately, Barbecue is now the most powerful man in Haiti," Port-au-Prince-based consultant Judes Jonathas told the Guardian.
Gang violence dominates Haitian life, with the government largely unable to control the criminal organizations that the United Nations says were responsible for nearly 5,000 deaths in 2023.
"I am appalled by the staggering and worsening level of gang violence," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a report published in January.
"Gang killings, kidnappings and sexual violence, notably against women and young girls, among other abuses, continue with widespread impunity."
When Henry left the country for Nairobi, he was supposed to return with a UN-backed deal that would fight gang violence. As fighting reaches new heights, he has still not released a plan or made a statement on the situation in Port-au-Prince, Reuters reported.
