#BTColumn – Politician Nortreus reacts to killings in Haiti

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author(s) do not represent the official position of Barbados TODAY.

by Johnny Berkerbeg

In recent times, Haiti is the Caribbean country with the highest number of crimes committed. Gang violence, massacres, kidnappings, and rapes against the population continue to multiply day by day.

The situation in Haiti has caused many Haitians living in Haiti to take the boat to leave the country, but the Coast Guards of other countries have deported them all because they entered their country illegally.

Many areas of the country’s capital are almost uninhabited due to the high number of crimes. Gunmen are responsible for multiple homicides, massacres, kidnappings, and rapes in some neighbourhoods.

Neighbourhoods such as Croix-des-Bouquets, Village-De-Dieu, Martissant, Bel Air, Cité Soleil, and more are the most dangerous areas controlled by the gunmen who are responsible for crimes across the country. Unfortunately, the current situation has angered and frustrated Haitians living in Haiti and in the diaspora.

April 2022’s beginning alone, Haiti’s Civil Protection Agency (DPA) released a report stating that gunmen killed more than 20 residents in an area called La Plaine du Cul-de-Sac. The gunmen who are responsible for the massacre tried to take over and control the area as they did other areas.

The Haitian civil protection agency laid the blame on gang members from the Chen Mechan and 400 Mawozo for the massacres. The 400 Mawozo were responsible for the kidnappings of 18 US missionaries, and they were interviewed by journalists at the New York Times which helped them go viral, and that’s how the 400 Mawozo are known internationally.

According to some residents in La Plaine du Cul-de-Sac, the gunmen broke into most houses and killed residents before they set fire.

Some gunmen raped girls and women before they killed them. At least a dozen homes were burned down and many of those who fled initially took shelter in the yard of a local mayor’s office.

Schools and businesses in the area where the fighting took place remain closed as thousands of families with children are camping in a park near the office of the mayor. The current situation seems to get worse day by day in the country.

Werley Nortreus, a Haitian-born African musical artist, author, entrepreneur, and rising politician, appears to be the first Haitian politician and candidate to come up with the idea of welcoming a Russian embassy to Haiti in order to stop gang violence, massacres, kidnappings, and rapes against the population.

According to him, this is the only way to stop all those crimes because the United States and the foreign communities seem powerless when it comes to finding a solution to the current situation. He said the crimes will stop in the country if Haiti welcomes a Russian embassy because President Vladimir Putin will put those gunmen and corrupt foreign journalists where they belong.

“In Haiti, if former and current elected leaders in power were intelligent, they would welcome a Russian embassy in the country because the United States and foreign communities that work with the Haitian Government seem powerless when it comes to finding a solution to the current situation in Haiti.

To me, this is the only way to stop gang violence, massacres, kidnappings, and rapes against the population,” said Werley Nortreus, after he saw on the news that gunmen killed more than 20 people
in La Plaine du Cul-de-Sac.

“I think if Haiti had a Russian embassy, there is no way those crimes would exist in our society today because I think President Vladimir Putin would have put the gunmen and corrupt foreign journalists in their place a long time ago. I think it’s a plot to destroy Haiti and all Haitians. It is a plot for all Haitians to die without seeing a change
in the country.

The gunmen who are responsible for those killings in the country received no training, and most of them don’t know how to read and write their own names.

It is difficult for me to understand how the trained Haitian police in the country cannot fight these gunmen.

Unfortunately, in this current situation, elections seem to be impossible due to the high level of crimes across the country,” added Werley about the current situation
in Haiti.

Johnny Berkerbeg is a journalist covering news for the Caribbean and the international media.