Jimmy ‘Barbecue’ Chérizier is seen as a figurehead of Haiti’s spiralling violence (Picture: Reuters)
It takes a particularly dangerous type of gangster to end up on a United Nations blacklist.
Jimmy Chérizier, a Haitian mob boss who earned the nickname ‘Barbecue’ over his alleged taste for burning enemies alive, has been threatening to throw the Caribbean nation into lawless chaos for years.
This weekend saw the most daunting development yet in months of efforts by the overlord to topple Haiti’s government ‘in any way possible’.
A motley alliance of armed gangs united by Barbecue broke around 3,700 inmates out of two major prisons, killing 12 people in the process and threatening to shoot down anyone who stands against them.
Haiti’s government has urged the UN to save it from violent chaos (Picture: Reuters)
Here’s an overview of why their leader is so feared, and how he became so powerful.
Who is Barbecue?
Chérizier, who is 47 or 48, claims he grew up on the outskirts of one of the country’s poorest and most dangerous slums, La Saline, in the capital of Port-au-Prince.
He became a police officer serving in the Departmental Crowd Control Unit, a riot force accused of meting out violent and often deadly punishment to anti-corruption protesters and others who dared to criticise the authorities.
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A police report and two human rights groups named him as a key player in the massacre of more than 70 men, women and children in La Saline in 2019, which also saw 400 homes burned down.
Barbecue denied the allegations, styling himself as a man of the people while insisting: ‘I would never massacre people in the same social class as me.’
‘I was born next door to La Saline. I live in the ghetto. I know what ghetto life is,’ he told Associated Press in a 2019 interview.
He also claimed a more innocent explanation for his nickname, saying childhood friends gave it to him because his mother was a street vendor who sold fried chicken.
Former policeman Barbecue, centre, controls a powerful alliance of gangsters (Picture: Reuters)
Given the lack of charcoal fires involved in the making of fried chicken, some might consider the explanation a little unconvincing.
Reports suggest Barbecue was seen as a protector by some locals for enforcing a night-time curfew and fighting off rival gangs.
Even if this is true, local activists say it only served to secure control of markets and other businesses which he could shake down for ‘protection’ fees.
Either way, he was kicked out of the police force for being away without leave a week after the massacre.
Why is Barbecue now such a big threat to Haiti?
Chérizier spent the following years forming a so-called ‘federation’ of gangs called the Revolutionary Forces of the G9 Family and Allies – or G9 for short.
The G9 has been accused of several horrific massacres of civilians in Haiti which claimed the lives of up to 181 people in 2020 and 2021.
A leading Haitian human rights group say the gangsters formed a secret alliance with the country’s then president, Jovenel Moïse, which let them off the hook for the killings as long as they enforced peace in the streets.
Barbecue wants to overthrow Haitian PM Ariel Henry, who is in Kenya (Picture: AFP)
Some activists said Chérizier effectively ended up an attack dog for Moïse, who was accused of ordering the massacres to silence critics.
The assassination of Moïse in 2021, followed by an earthquake which killed 2,200 people, plunged Haiti into turmoil which has been ratcheting up ever since.
Last year, armed gangs gained control of around 90% of Haiti’s capital, and the death toll from their activities spiralled to 8,400 people.
Port-au-Prince has since become a mosaic of no-go zones where kidnappings, killings and rape is rife, worsened by episodes of national famine, cholera and fuel shortages.
Haitian authorities are facing off the gangsters in deadly street shoot-outs (Picture: Reuters)
In September last year, Barbecue used the chaos to declare a coup against prime minister Ariel Henry, who has been leading the government since Moïse’s death.
‘We are launching the fight to overturn Ariel Henry’s government in any way,’ the gangster told Reuters. ‘Our fight will be with weapons.’
The following month, the UN used its first sanctions on Haiti in half a decade to issue a travel ban asset freeze and arms embargo on Barbecue and his allies.
But they failed to stop him from consolidating his power so that G9 now effectively controls an estimated 80% of Port-au-Prince.
Civilians in parts of the capital have been forced to flee sporadic gunfights (Picture: EPA)
Henry was due to stand down by February so elections could be held, but none have been held and he is currently in Kenya for talks with the UN to send a security mission to the country.
Supporters say Henry is simply trying to secure peace so a vote can take place, while opponents accuse him of clinging to power.
Either way, mainstream politicians agree Barbecue is bad news.
Opposition leader Claude Joseph told BBC News: ‘[Henry] agreed to step down on 7 February.
‘Now he decides to stay, despite the fact that there are huge protests throughout the country asking him to step down – but it’s unfortunate that now those criminals are using violent means to force him to step down.’
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