ORLANDO, Fla. — The gang leader known as “Barbecue,” – allegedly for how he handles people who stand in his way – openly walked down a debris-filled street in Port-au-Prince Monday, trailed by a crew of journalists documenting his quest to control Haiti’s capital city.
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Military-grade weapons swung by the sides of Barbecue and his followers. Telling his followers to stop shooting so much while they were being watched, he turned to issue a public message.
“I want to tell the international community to give Haiti a chance,” he said. “What’s happening in the country now is us Haitians decide who will be the head of the country.”
Gangs like Barbecue’s have terrorized Haiti’s civilians ever since the assassination of the country’s president in 2021. They fight for land and resources that can give them control of the country, kill police officers who try to maintain any resemblance of order and gradually push the nation to the brink.
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Tuesday morning, the country’s prime minister announced his resignation. Hours later, the World Food Program said it had two weeks of resources left to feed 1.5 million people.
Outside the Haitian consulate in Orlando Tuesday, a young ex-police officer named Djeoff said he just tried asking the staff for advice on how to send his sister money.
Djeoff said he fled the island one month ago, via Mexico, because he was afraid he would be killed by the gangs.
The consulate, representing a government without any real authority, could only offer suggestions.
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“It’s tough to say the least,” Jean Perpillant summarized. “We’re trying to be the light for [people], to be a source of information, to be a source of that stability.”
Perpillant was elected president of the Greater Haitian American Chamber of Commerce in February when community members are urgently trying to support one another, find a solution for their loved ones and gain greater acceptance in Central Florida.
In addition to finding ways to get resources sent home, Haitian community members also must support people arriving from the island, some of whom sold all their possessions to pay a gang to get them out of the country.
“We don’t want it to happen because we don’t want our people to seem as though we’re a burden on the community, but that’s happening,” Perpillant said. “A lot of us still feel like we have something to prove because society has a negative connotation when it comes to our culture.”
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Society, he said, also hasn’t caught up to the fact that more than 40,000 Haitians now call the metro home. Communication is the biggest hurdle. Documents aren’t available in Creole, and speakers don’t staff many call centers – including emergency lines.
Governments like Orlando, Orange County and OCPS have taken steps to increase access and offer language courses in places like schools and work centers. Perpillant wants to see those programs expanded to community centers in Pine Hills and Parramore.
He also wants more of a focus on translating those documents to Creole, so community members can more easily stand on their own two feet and contribute to the region’s economy.
“There’s a plethora of opportunities that they would love to be able to participate in, and they’re ready and willing to do so,” he said.
He also wants the crisis on the island to remain a part of the daily conversation so the pressure will build for other nations to put an end to the violence.
Members of the Haitian community will gather for a town hall on Friday, March 15, at 8 p.m. at 7200 Lake Ellenor Drive near Pine Castle for a discussion about the situation on the island and the availability of resources locally.
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