Powerful Haitian gang leader tells AP he wrote UN seeking dialogue as clashes intensify

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — One of Haiti’s most powerful gang leaders confirmed to The Associated Press on Monday that he wrote the U.N. Secretary General and requested that the organization deploy a delegation to Haiti for dialogue and mediation amid fears that Salvadoran troops deployed after the disappearance of four aviation technicians from that country could escalate violence.

Wilson Joseph, best known as Lanmò Sanjou and leader of the 400 Mawozo gang, told the AP in his first interview with a major international media company that the technicians are dead and that the Oct. 18 attack occurred while they were in the territory of Chen Mechan, another gang. He did not provide evidence; Haiti's government has said the four Salvadorans were abducted and the Salvadoran government believes they are alive.

Joseph said he is upset that drone attacks are killing civilians in the area, with clashes intensifying ever since a U.N.-backed gang-suppression force working alongside Haitian police and soldiers, as well as Vectus Global — the private security firm founded by former U.S. Navy SEAL and Blackwater founder Erik Prince — began fighting armed men in Plaine du Cul-de-Sac near Port-au-Prince following the attack on the Salvadorans.

Joseph said that the same Haitian politicians who armed gangs in Haiti are bringing foreign troops “to destroy us.”

He said he had a message for El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, who recently deployed 2,000 troops to Haiti: “The Haitian politicians are the father of the gangs and the rebels. ... The politicians don’t want this to stop.”

In his letter, Joseph wrote: “Given Mr. Nayib Bukele’s vengeful remarks, expectations, and threats, I fear this situation will lead to an escalation of violence and a logic of reprisals, of which the Haitian people would be the first victims.”

Joseph alleged in his interview with the AP that politicians are warning him about any security operations headed his way.

He added that he doesn’t have a problem with forces arresting gang members, but he accused forces of dropping drones and killing children and the elderly.

Joseph said he’s ready to have a dialogue and lay down guns, although when asked what he wanted in exchange, he declined to say, adding he would talk about that when he sits down with a peace commission. He also rejected accusations that 400 Mawozo has killed innocent Haitians.

Joseph asserted in his letter that recent events in Plaine du Cul-de-Sac, especially where another gang, Chen Mechan, operates, “are causing serious concern.”

Joseph wrote that he was “officially available” to receive the delegation that he “respectfully” requested and would “participate in any meeting aimed at finding a peaceful solution, a dialogue agreement and a sustainable stabilization process.”

“I remain convinced that dialogue must prevail over force,” he said. “The protection of civilians, particularly children and vulnerable families, must be at the heart of any international initiative,” Joseph wrote.

More than 5,700 people have been killed or injured across Haiti from January to mid-September, according to the U.N.

In the two-page letter sent Nov. 1, Joseph said he has “officially raised the white flag” since Aug. 20 and seeks a “peaceful solution to the national crisis, in particular through the opening of a dialogue between the international forces present in Haiti and the 400 Mawozo group.”

The group, which roughly translates to “400 Simpletons,” operates largely in Croix-des-Bouquets, a community near Port-au-Prince. It is known for carrying out thousands of kidnappings, including those in October 2021 of 17 missionaries, 16 of them from the U.S. and one from Canada. There were five children in that group, and all were eventually released.

The U.S. government has issued a $1 million reward for Joseph, who was indicted in the U.S. in 2022 on charges of conspiracy to commit hostage taking and hostage taking.