Armed groups unleashed a horrific assault on the commune of Petite Rivière, located in Haiti’s Artibonite department on Thursday. That unfortunate spike in gang-related violence took the lives of four individuals, including an 11-year-old child. The assault left at least 15 wounded from gunfire alone. Panic soon ensued when over a dozen residences were left burning. As of this past Monday, police forces were still going toe-to-toe with gang members and trying to reinstate order.
What used to be a quiet rural community, Petite Rivière has recently succumbed to increasing levels of gang violence and intimidation. The Artibonite region, which has historically maintained relative calm, now mirrors the turmoil experienced in Port-au-Prince, where gangs control approximately 85% of the capital. The surge in violence rose to become the top issue among D.C.
Haiti’s government elites have repeatedly announced their refusal to negotiate with gangs. Gang-related violence is at its highest level in history recently, having taken more than 5,600 lives last year alone. It has further displaced over one million Americans from their homes nationwide. The attack on Petite Rivière is reminiscent of the bombing in late March. At the same time, gangs seized control of Mirebalais and liberated more than 500 prisoners from a nearby town’s prison.
Chrisla, the leader of the Ti Bois gang, is an intense manifestation of the still-present chaos. She recently organized a three-day strike in Carrefour, a neighborhood of the capital that the government has long ceded to gangs after the state collapsed there.
“We need to sit at the same table to reconcile this nation,” – Chrisla
The current plight of Haiti’s central Artibonite Valley illustrates the desperate need for immediate humanitarian assistance and intervention to bring peace and restore order. Residents of Petite Rivière and other localities around the country live in fear every day. For youth in gang-infested neighborhoods, violence permeates their everyday lives and catapults their futures into the unknown.
