Glimmers of life appear after Haiti retakes control of a key area from powerful gangs

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — As the sun rose, a handful of women opened tattered beach umbrellas in the heart of Port-au-Prince and scanned the horizon before opening their fruit and vegetable stands.

It was unusually quiet in Carrefour Aéroport, a famed intersection in Haiti’s capital that once bustled with traffic and commerce until hundreds of gang members stormed the area in early March 2024 in an unprecedented wave of violence.

They smashed businesses, killed civilians and set fire to a police substation as officers fled.

For nearly two years after the attack, gangs drained the life out of Carrefour Aéroport.

Then in December, Haitian police officers launched a sustained attack against powerful gangs to drive them out of the area with the help of a private security firm and Kenyan police officers leading a U.N.-backed mission that is winding down.

The retaking of Carrefour Aéroport is “probably one of the very first tangible messages sent by the authorities that, ‘yes, we can take back the territory of ... no man’s land,’” said Romain Le Cour, head of the Haiti Observatory at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime.

It’s a hint of what could happen elsewhere in Port-au-Prince after a powerful gang federation known as Viv Ansanm began raiding neighborhoods and targeting key government infrastructure in February 2024 in a series of attacks that forced the closure of the country’s main international airport and eventually led to the resignation of former Prime Minister Ariel Henry.

“It is a sign of hope,” Le Cour said. “It sends the message that this is doable.”

A glimmer of life

On Feb. 7, Haitian authorities reopened a renovated police substation in Carrefour Aéroport to much fanfare in a capital that is 90% controlled by gangs.

Curious onlookers watched and one of them clapped as heavily guarded police officers entered their restored building nearly two years after gangs had torched it.

“Life is timidly returning to normal,” Jacques Ader, a police commissioner, told reporters.

Since the reopening, street vendors and the drivers of colorful buses, known as tap taps, have reinserted themselves in the area.

“Small businesses are recovering,” said Jean-Remy Laveau, a 35-year-old motorcycle taxi driver who used to work in the area before gangs seized control.

“It will be good for me, more activities, more money more work. I’ll be able to better feed my two kids and my wife,” he said.

Also eager for work was Mario Volcy, a 44-year-old tap tap driver who on a recent morning pointed out the vans and big buses circulating in the area for the first time since early 2024.

He called on the government to prosecute those who unleashed the violence and help those affected by it.

“All victims should receive support from the state,” he said as he cut the interview short, noting with a smile that his tap tap was full. “I have to go now!”

And off he went, with a Bible on his dashboard and his tap tap emblazoned with “God is my guide” on its side.

Frustrations simmer

Not all are celebrating the revival of Carrefour Aéroport.

Gaspar Caseus, 49, said he remains frustrated because gangs still control the main highway leading to southern Haiti. He called on authorities to retake control of other major intersections.

“I need to be able to move south,” he said. “That is where I pick up coal to bring back to the city for sale.”

“Things changed after the attack,” he added. “It destroyed my life. It forced my family to move. I look like a beggar. I was able to eat whenever I felt like it. Now, I eat only if something comes around or a good friend remembers me.”

Caseus said he heard on the radio that more help was arriving in April. That’s when a so-called gang-suppression force is expected to take the reins of the current U.N.-backed mission that is winding down after a lack of funds and personnel.

“As long as I am alive,” he said, “someday, things will change for the better.”

‘What’s the plan?’

On a recent morning, 32-year-old Antoinette Desulmon donned a big hat to block out the sun and laid out mangoes, oranges, tomatoes and peppers in the hope that someone at Carrefour Aéroport would buy from her that day.

She noted police were on patrol in an armored vehicle and the substation had reopened, but she was afraid the peace was fleeting.

“Fear is with me every second,” she said. “I am here selling, but my head is somewhere else.”

Desulmon’s partner went missing two years ago; she believes he was a victim of gang violence.

“I miss him a lot,” she said, adding that she is also concerned about her two children who are living in a makeshift shelter with a cousin, among the 1.4 million Haitians displaced by gang violence.

Desulmon said she had no other choice but to resume selling vegetables and fruit to feed her two children and cousin.

“My heart is broken,” she said. “The depression is real.”

Around her, nothing has been rebuilt except for the police station. Dozens of charred homes remain in ruins while businesses and schools are still shuttered.

Le Cour, the Haiti expert, said it will likely take time before Carrefour Aéroport is restored to its bustling glory of street vendors, stores selling car parts and restaurants offering coffee to morning commuters and a local soup known as bouillon for lunch.

He said he was hopeful that the incoming gang-suppression force would retake control of even more territory.

But even if it does, big concerns remain.

“We’re missing the other side of the equation, which is, what do you do with gang members? What’s the plan for the day after you retake the territory?” Le Cour questioned. “Are you able to rebuild the territory? Are you able to bring people back in?”