Haiti on the Brink: How Armed Gangs Seized Control of a Nation in Crisis.

The streets of Port-au-Prince tell a story that Haiti’s embattled government can no longer deny: entire neighborhoods are now ruled not by police or state authorities, but by heavily armed gangs. Roadblocks choke major arteries, extortion checkpoints have replaced traffic lights, and the crackle of gunfire punctuates daily life. What began as fragmented turf wars has escalated into a de facto occupation of the capital, leaving ordinary Haitians caught between hunger, fear, and lawlessness.

The roots of this collapse run deep. Haiti, still scarred by the 2010 earthquake and years of political instability, watched its fragile institutions disintegrate after the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021. With no functioning parliament, delayed elections, and a caretaker government seen as illegitimate, power drifted from the hands of politicians into the grip of criminal networks. Gangs such as G9 and 400 Mawozo now control ports, fuel depots, and food distribution routes, dictating who can move and who must pay.

These gangs are not just thugs with rifles; they are political actors exploiting a leadership vacuum. Some are aligned with business elites or political factions, others fund themselves through kidnappings and smuggling. The Haitian National Police, underpaid and outgunned, is retreating from entire districts, while foreign governments debate whether—and how—to intervene.

For ordinary Haitians, the crisis is suffocating. Markets are empty, schools are closed, and thousands are fleeing to rural areas or attempting perilous sea journeys to escape the violence. Humanitarian aid is sporadic at best, blocked by roadblocks or stolen outright. Meanwhile, whispers of a possible multinational security mission—backed by the UN but fraught with logistical and political challenges—offer only faint hope.

What’s unfolding in Haiti is more than a crime wave; it’s the unraveling of a state. Without swift, coordinated action, the Caribbean’s first independent Black republic risks becoming an open-air prison where the rule of law is nothing more than a memory.