Chaos and violence once again stained Haiti with blood. The Haitian Government confirmed yesterday a devastating massacre in Warf Jérémie, located in the conflictive area of Cité Soleil, in the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince.
In just three days, between Thursday and Saturday, an armed gang led by Micanor Altes, known as “Wa Mikano” or “King Mikano,” unleashed a bloodbath that left around 180 dead.
The reason for this brutal massacre is as disturbing as the number of victims.
According to the Government, the leader of the gang blamed the residents of the area for practicing witchcraft that would have caused his son to become seriously ill.
This accusation unleashed excessive violence that lasted for several days, leaving a trail of death and despair.
The Haitian Government has harshly condemned these events, describing them as a clear “red line” that has been crossed. However, this tragedy is not an isolated event, but a reflection of the lack of control and power that criminal gangs have consolidated in a country mired in misgovernance and insecurity.
The situation in Haiti has escalated to alarming levels, with gangs exercising almost absolute control over large areas of the territory, challenging state authority and sowing terror among the population.
Citizens, caught between gang violence and government inaction, see their fundamental rights crumbling day by day.
The Cité Soleil massacre not only highlights the ferocity of these criminal organizations, but also the urgent need for a coordinated international response to restore order in a country on the brink of collapse.
UN condemns violence
UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned continued gang violence and the deaths of at least 184 people, including 127 elderly people.
He expressed his condolences to the families of the victims and called on the Haitian authorities to carry out a thorough investigation and bring the perpetrators to justice.
Call for support
Guterres once again called on member countries to provide security support, as well as financial and logistical support to the Haitian Police, and urged stakeholders to accelerate progress in the political transition.
Guterres’ call to the international community remains unheeded.
Terror
—1— Absolute control
Micanor Altes is a powerful gang leader who has controlled part of Haiti’s largest shanty town, Cite-Soleil, in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area for many years.
—2— Extreme poverty
In that place people live in inhuman conditions, without basic social services and the gang has control of the territory.
Supposed evil eye was the cause of the massacre
Voodoo. According to the human rights organization CDP-Haiti, the victims, murdered with knives and machetes by the gang, were over 60 years old.
According to this NGO, Wa Mikano went to a voodoo priest about the illness of his son, who finally died on Sunday, and he told him that the elders had given him the ‘evil eye’, which caused the massacre.
In a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office, the cabinet condemns with “absolute indignation” the atrocity perpetrated at Wharf Jérémie by a gang leader.
