Gang warfare and violence have plagued Haiti since the US-approved exile of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and the new interim government seems to be powerless to stop it. Aristide was ousted in February 2004 due to a Haitian rebellion and pressure from the United States. The temporary government under President Boniface Alexandre and Prime Minister Gerard Latortue was instituted that March in an effort to bring peace to the country. However, the ongoing political rivalry between Aristide’s Lavalas Family Party and the civil society group composed of elite, rich members known as Group 184 has spilled over into a violent conflict currently played out on the streets of the capital of Port-au-Prince.

The bloodshed has escalated since the end of October 2004, when gang leaders launched a campaign of violence that they have named “Operation Without-Drawing-Breath.” The gangs, according to some estimates, may consist of only about 200 to 300 armed fighters, but they are supported by the poor and are effective enough to pose a serious threat. They can disrupt the everyday life of Port-au-Prince residents with a single gunshot. As Jean Claude Bajeaux, a leading human rights activist, declares, “It’s a carefully calculated plan to create panic and disrupt commerce and schools.” The gangs have also created burning barricades around their strongholds in the slums to prevent the police from entry, and it is estimated that they have killed over 100 people in the last year of fighting. Their brutality has also been documented by several reports of decapitated police bodies found on the streets around Port-au-Prince.

All of this violence has provoked several different responses. The residents of the slums believe that the rich and their organization Group 184 have hired a gang of former Aristide loyalists and supplied them with weapons to murder his supporters. Those who remain opposed to Aristide, a former priest who became the first democratically-elected president of Haiti ever in 1990, and the Lavalas Family Party have theorized that he, though in exile in South Africa, is the instigator. Prime Minister Latortue has accused Aristide of sending money and guns to the gangs in an effort to throw the country into chaos and undermine the power of the government. Indeed, supporters of Aristide have also begun protesting more to demand his return to power. Adding to all of the tension is the situation of the remains of the army. These armed forces ousted Aristide first in 1991 and instituted a military regime that lasted until 1994, when Aristide reclaimed power and disbanded the army. Now, the former soldiers are leading a rebellion against the interim government and calling for their reinstatement, despite that their leader was killed by Haitian police in a shootout.

Still, little has been done to help end the conflict. The United Nations has authorized over 8,300 soldiers from several different nations to be sent to Haiti, as well as an international civil police unit, but these forces and the Haitian police have only been able to enter brief fights with the warring gangs. Nevertheless, this mission, known as Minustah, has had increasing effectiveness. Augusto Heleno Ribeiro, the Brazilian general who leads the UN peacekeepers, has asserted that he is reluctant to use open violence, saying that he is leading a “peacekeeping force, not an occupation force.” Port-au-Prince has basically been blocked off, and it is too difficult and dangerous for much humanitarian aid, whether from the UN or nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), to get in to help the tens of thousands of citizens trapped in the cross-fire. The inability of the government to restore law and order has left the people disillusioned and desperate. Outside leaders and organizations are attempting to propose solutions: UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and Amnesty International have criticized the government for arbitrarily arresting suspected Aristide supporters, and former US Secretary of State Colin Powell has declared, “We have to get all weapons out of the hands of those except the government.”

Haiti is a country of 8.4 million people, and it is estimated that around 75 percent of its population lives below the UN poverty line of US$2 per day. These people are in desperate need of a stable government and humanitarian aid according to both UN and NGO monitoring organizations, but the gang warfare and political turmoil is currently preventing the interim government from providing strong leadership. Alexandre and Latortue promise that elections will be held in late 2005, a promise that the United Nations confirms, and perhaps the new government will be able to unite the country again. Or perhaps these elections will cause even more violence and distrust among the people. It remains to be seen whether the promise of elections, the intervention of UN forces, and pressure from outside leaders and organizations will lead to peace and the end of the disastrous tumult that now grips the island nation.