The notorious Haitian gang leader known as "Barbecue" accused the U.S. of going against the "will of the Haitian people" when it helped a group of regional powers establish a nine-member transitional council last month to bring political stability to the impoverished Caribbean nation, according to a report Monday.
The former police officer, real name Jimmy Chérizier, also blamed Haiti's government for the recent spike in gang violence that left about 2,500 people dead or wounded during the first three months of 2024, National Public Radio reported.
"The transitional council is not the will of the Haitian people. This is what Washington wants," Barbecue told NPR. "And this is what they have imposed."
Barbecue, who leads the G9 federation of gangs in the capital of Port-au-Prince, claimed that Haiti's gangs were fighting against rich Haitians who've exploited the country and its citizens.
But when challenged with reports of gang members extorting poor people, raping women and burning homes, he didn't deny them, NPR said.
"Everything you say right now is true," he said. "But all of the extortion and all of the mistreatment is because the government allowed those things to happen."
Barbecue claimed that Haiti's government and elites had used the chaos to remain in power, and he accused the U.S. of bearing some "responsibility" for the situation, NPR said.
Barbecue told NPR that Haiti's gangs were prepared to keep fighting and spill a lot more blood so that an international peace-keeping force, approved last year by the United Nations and expected to arrive soon, would eventually get tired and give up.
When asked if he expected to survive the predicted carnage, Barbecue said, "My life depends on God and my ancestors."
"If the Haitian revolutionary Jean-Jacques Dessalines worried about his life, Haiti wouldn't be free today," he added.
