WEBVTT

00:02.400 --> 00:04.533 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80%
JOHN YANG: Haitian immigrants
find themselves at the
center of presidential
politics this fall as

00:04.533 --> 00:09.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
former President Trump and
his supporters repeatedly make
baseless claims about them.

00:09.266 --> 00:14.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
Most of them came here to
escape Haiti's humanitarian
crisis brought on by wide scale

00:14.233 --> 00:19.233 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70%
gang violence. Ali Rogan
tells us how Haitian
leaders are trying to
restore the rule of law.

00:23.433 --> 00:25.933 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
ALI ROGIN (voice-over): Outside
the small town of Pont-Sonde,

00:25.933 --> 00:30.933 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70%
residents try to flee
violence in a country where
it is becoming inescapable.
The Grand Griff gang

00:33.300 --> 00:36.900 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80%
last month used canoes to
mount a surprise attack
against the riverfront
town. At least 115 people,

00:38.700 --> 00:43.666 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
including young mothers, babies
and the elderly, were massacred.

00:46.000 --> 00:48.433 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80%
SILFISE, Displaced Haitian
(through translator):
I lost many relatives,
nieces, cousins, aunts,

00:48.433 --> 00:52.066 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80%
uncles. They're all dead.
They were buried without
a funeral. They dug holes
and put them inside.

00:54.033 --> 00:56.066 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70%
ALI ROGIN (voice-over):
The gang had warned that it
planned to target the town,

00:56.066 --> 01:00.133 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70%
leaving survivors asking
why nothing was done to stop
them. Haiti's interim Prime

01:00.133 --> 01:05.033 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70%
Minister Garry Conille,
visited the wounded and urged
locals to trust the police.

01:06.933 --> 01:09.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
GARRY CONILLE, Interim Prime
Minister, Haiti (through
translator): I don't know

01:09.066 --> 01:11.466 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
how long it is going to take,
one day or one month. The police
cannot do this work alone.

01:13.466 --> 01:17.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
It needs to be done with the
population, and the population
needs to start to play

01:17.500 --> 01:22.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
its part. We will be very
strict with the gangs to
bring them to justice.

01:24.600 --> 01:27.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
ALI ROGIN (voice-over): But
that justice has proven elusive.
Haiti's roughly 12,000 police

01:27.133 --> 01:32.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
officers are outgunned. More
than 150 armed gangs are
sprawled throughout the country,

01:34.100 --> 01:37.200 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70%
many wielding firearms
trafficked from the United
States. The Pont-Sonde attack

01:37.200 --> 01:41.766 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70%
was the island nation's
latest mass slaughter in a
long chapter of violence.

01:41.766 --> 01:46.733 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70%
Since the July 2021
assassination of
President Jovenel Moise
by foreign mercenaries,

01:48.833 --> 01:52.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
bloodshed has escalated as gangs
vie for control of the country.
Then prime minister Ariel Henry,

01:53.900 --> 01:57.466 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70%
who assumed power after
Moise's killing, requested
that international police

01:57.466 --> 02:01.400 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70%
intervene. While he
was traveling abroad in
February to secure them,

02:01.400 --> 02:06.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
rival gangs joined forces.
They launched an assault across
the capital, Port-au-Prince,

02:06.133 --> 02:10.533 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70%
in March, attacking the
airport, police stations
and port facilities.

02:10.533 --> 02:15.533 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70%
They also freed over
4,600 inmates from Haiti's
two largest prisons,

02:17.500 --> 02:20.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
several of them notorious
gang leaders. Diego Da Rin
is a Haiti analyst for the

02:20.633 --> 02:24.966 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
International Crisis Group.
He says, right now, the
gangs have the power.

02:24.966 --> 02:27.700 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80%
DIEGO DA RIN, Haiti Analyst,
International Crisis
Group: It is estimated
that they exert control or

02:27.700 --> 02:32.700 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70%
influence over some 80
percent of the capital.
And their strongholds
are located in the most

02:37.066 --> 02:42.066 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70%
poor neighborhoods of
the capital, in which
the most important
economic activities are

02:44.033 --> 02:46.700 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70%
also concentrated, for
example, the ports and the most
important industrial parks.

02:46.700 --> 02:49.166 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70%
ALI ROGIN (voice-over):
Gang violence has spread
beyond the capital to the

02:49.166 --> 02:53.766 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70%
neighboring Artibonite
region, the site of the
Pont-Sonde massacre. This chaos

02:53.766 --> 02:56.733 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
spurred the international
community to intervene.

02:56.733 --> 03:01.700 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70%
This summer, forces from
several countries began
arriving on Haitian shores.
Today, there are about

03:03.766 --> 03:06.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
430 mostly Kenyan security
personnel on the ground to help
patrol the streets and protect

03:09.100 --> 03:12.500 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70%
key Infrastructure. And
600 more Kenyan police
officers are expected to
deploy later this month.

03:13.900 --> 03:16.100 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
Prominent gang leader
Jimmy Cherizier,

03:16.100 --> 03:21.100 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
widely known as Barbecue,
commanded his men to fight back.

03:23.466 --> 03:25.666 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80%
JIMMY CHERIZIER, Gang Leader
(through translator): Our
names will be remembered
by history as young

03:25.666 --> 03:29.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
people who took up arms to free
their country. Our battle is a
personal fight. We are at war.

03:30.933 --> 03:35.400 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70%
They're not Haitian, and
they're on Haitian soil. I
consider them to be invaders.

03:36.866 --> 03:38.833 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
ALI ROGIN (voice-over): The U.N.
says the mission is underfunded,

03:38.833 --> 03:43.733 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70%
under resourced, and has
only deployed a fraction of
the expected 2,500 troops.

03:45.533 --> 03:49.033 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70%
DEIGO DA RIN: They have
struggled to start launching
offensive operations

03:50.333 --> 03:52.600 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
against the gangs in
their strongholds because

03:52.600 --> 03:57.600 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70%
they don't have enough
personnel and enough
equipment yet to do so.

03:59.133 --> 04:00.966 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
ALI ROGIN (voice-over): Gang
violence and natural disasters

04:00.966 --> 04:04.866 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70%
have only exacerbated a
cascading humanitarian
crisis. Over 700,000

04:06.900 --> 04:10.200 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
Haitians have been driven
from their homes. More than
half are women and children.

04:12.066 --> 04:14.200 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70%
JESULA SAINT JEAN,
Displaced Haitian (through
translator): Today we are on

04:14.200 --> 04:16.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
the street with nothing in
our arms but our babies. We
do not know where to go. I had

04:16.333 --> 04:20.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
to leave other children behind
and I don't know if anyone's
going to look after them.

04:20.933 --> 04:23.800 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70%
ALI ROGIN (voice-over):
Gang control has also
squeezed the flow of food,

04:23.800 --> 04:28.033 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70%
driving up prices and
causing many to starve.
Rita Losandieu looks after

04:28.033 --> 04:32.966 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
her four and six year old
granddaughters while her two
sons send her money to live.

04:32.966 --> 04:34.733 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70%
RITA LOSANDIEU, Grand
Mother (through translator):
Things are very expensive.

04:34.733 --> 04:38.000 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70%
It's a problem to buy
anything to eat. You
must have a lot of money

04:38.000 --> 04:42.966 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70%
in order to just buy
enough for three meals.
It's very difficult.

04:42.966 --> 04:46.700 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70%
ALI ROGIN (voice-over):
Violence has also led to the
closure of over 900 schools,

04:46.700 --> 04:51.100 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70%
affecting more than
200,000 children. Garry
Pierre-Pierre is the founder of

04:51.100 --> 04:56.100 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70%
the English Language
Haitian Times. He says these
conditions have created
a pipeline to the gangs.

04:58.133 --> 05:00.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
GARRY PIERRE-PIERRE, The Haitian
Times: The lack of opportunities
for young people to go to

05:00.833 --> 05:05.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
high school, to go to college
or university is non-existent
in Haiti. You have young

05:07.900 --> 05:12.233 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70%
people attracted to the
gangs because it gives
them a sense of belonging,

05:12.233 --> 05:16.366 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
a sense of purpose, and
so the ranks are growing.

05:16.366 --> 05:20.133 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70%
ALI ROGIN (voice-over):
In the midst of the
crisis, Haiti is trying
to rebuild its government.

05:20.133 --> 05:25.100 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70%
In April, the country
formed an interim government
which appointed a new
prime minister. And last

05:25.100 --> 05:29.633 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70%
month, they established
an electoral council
which is working to
hold elections by 2026.

05:31.666 --> 05:34.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
They would be the first general
elections held in a decade.
But Haitian investigators

05:34.833 --> 05:38.666 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70%
recently accused three
members of the interim
government of bribery.

05:38.666 --> 05:42.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
GARRY PIERRE-PIERRE: It's
holding back the country in
ways that it doesn't hurt other

05:42.700 --> 05:47.700 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70%
places because we need
every dollar. And I think
part of the problem is
that many of these people

05:50.400 --> 05:55.400 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70%
go into politics. It's
a business. It's a way
for them to make money.
It's not about the state.

05:57.366 --> 05:59.633 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70%
ALI ROGIN (voice-over):
Meanwhile, gangs may
be biding their time.

05:59.633 --> 06:04.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
DEIGO DA RIN: There seems
to be a tense calm in many
places that had been attacked

06:07.033 --> 06:12.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
in previous months. The gangs
might exert a very important
influence over the elections,

06:14.000 --> 06:18.533 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
controlling how people will vote
in the areas that they control.

06:18.533 --> 06:20.066 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
ALI ROGIN (voice-over): A
different kind of threat

06:20.066 --> 06:24.033 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
from a familiar foe. For PBS
News Weekend, I'm Ali Rogin.