Connect with us

Published

on

Arriving in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, the sheer scale of the poverty takes your breath away.

The streets are teeming with people but everywhere is shrouded in acrid smoke from piles of burning rubbish.

From the hills above Port-au-Prince, the city at times disappears in a fog of polluted air.

Wherever you walk people ask for money. Beggars trudge amid the crowds, unemployment is high and kidnapping of anyone – not just the rich – is a constant fear.

Gangs control 60% of the entire capital.

Much of the city is a no-go area, it’s simply too dangerous to venture inside the territory of the hundred-or-so gangs who operate here.

The police seem powerless to break the gangs down. They patrol in masks, carrying machine guns, but they do little to stop the crime rates that have rocketed in recent years.

More on Haiti

Civil society has been crushed by political failure.

There are no elected officials in office; the country is run by politicians with no mandate and virtually no popular support.

A cholera outbreak is ripping through the slums of Port-au-Prince and millions are starving.

 G9 is one of about 95 gangs that battle for supremacy in Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Image:
G9 is a coalition of gangs battling for supremacy in Port-au-Prince
Haiti is facing almost unprecedented levels of  gang violence. Pic Dominique Van Heerden
Image:
A ‘no guns’ sign painted on the wall outside the health clinic in G9 territory

Haiti hasn’t really recovered from a devastating earthquake in 2010. I was there then and have returned in the intervening years.

Each time, I’m shocked that rather than getting better, it’s getting worse.

This country is falling apart and there is no safety net. The perverse reality is that the gangs have stepped in to fill the gap.

They offer work, protection, and security to those who welcome them.

I went to meet one of the leaders – he’s arguably the most famous, and he’s certainly the most vociferous.

Through a myriad of alleyways I was taken to his stronghold, surrounded by hooded armed men not wanting to show their faces on camera, I was introduced to the man known as ‘Barbecue’.

Barbecue is actually Jimmy Cherizier, a former policeman, now gang boss who is the acknowledged mouthpiece for a coalition of gangs called the G9.

Image:
Jimmy ‘Barbecue’ Cherizier has survived four assassination attempts

Folklore says his sobriquet comes from the way he treated his victims; his friends say it’s because his mum ran a fried chicken stall and he’s had the nickname since he was a child.

Either way, as he took large diamond earrings out and passed his revolver to a gunman before we could film, I decided I didn’t want to find out which story was nearer the truth.

Barbecue requested we first sat down for an interview before he walked me around his territory, pretty much in the centre of Port-au-Prince.

He describes G9 as a group of armed young men and women with an ideology to change the lives of those who live in Haiti’s notorious slums.

The Caribbean country has been bad for years and there is now no elected controlling authority at all.

Police patrols in the Haitian capital Port au Prince. Pic Dominque Van Heerden
Image:
Police patrol but seem unable to break the gangs’ grip

Some countries are actively considering sending in foreign soldiers to impose order, but Barbecue warns it will only end in disaster.

“If we have an intervention, the international community is understanding enough to sit down and have a decent conversation with everyone,” he told me.

“But if they try to resolve it with guns, I think, many people in the slums could die and they will kill mostly innocent people, more than the guilty ones.”

Barbecue is a natural politician.

Many here question why at obvious moments of political vacuum he hasn’t ascended the steps of the presidential palace and taken control.

There were two separate opportunities, I am told, by well-connected commentators who believe he could’ve grasped power – but he didn’t.

Image:
‘Barbecue’ says G9 wants to improve the conditions of people in the slums
Image:
The leader of G9 is constantly escorted by armed guards

He is sanctioned by the UK and its allies for “engaging in acts threatening the peace, security and stability of Haiti”.

“I would like for one person to prove what they are accusing me of,” Barbecue told me. “I am a victim of a bunch of lies.”

Amongst the Haitian elite there is a view that Barbecue is in fact the pawn of a higher power.

He denies this and says he’s a man of the people, and that G9 territory is home to 12 million people. “We took up guns to change the living conditions of those less fortunate in the slums, we said it’s to change their lives, we don’t use guns to kidnap people,” he insisted.

Barbecue’s G9 is not known to be part of the overwhelming number of kidnappings taking place in Haiti today.

“We don’t kidnap, and we don’t rape. We are all fathers, we have sisters, aunts, we have kids. I have a daughter myself – I could never allow rape to happen around me.

“We don’t kill for money, but we do have guns to defend ourselves, because we can’t let others kill us.”

Read more from Sky News:
The ‘tear-gassed’ Palestinians trying to stop Israeli settlers occupying their land

Midway through our chat, his guards a few metres up the road started messing about and laughing loudly, he was out of his seat in seconds.

His anger was clear as he told them to shut up in no uncertain terms. He returned to his seat and apologised.

For the hours we were with Barbecue he was constantly escorted by these machine-gun-toting guards.

He has survived four assassination attempts.

A man lights candles at an altar set up for police officers who were killed by armed gangs, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti January 30, 2023. REUTERS/Ralph Tedy Erol
Image:
A man lights candles for police officers killed by armed gangs. Pic: Reuters

As we walked through his neighbourhood, people came out to greet him – some fist-pumping, others shaking his hand, many just staring.

He dispenses money and largesse. It’s hard to explain but this place is like a castle and inside Barbecue is the king.

He sees himself as a revolutionary fighting against the dark corruption of government and oligarch businessmen, but he is a gang leader. And his land – like all other gangs – is always under attack.

In some parts of his territory, his enemies are only one wall away.

We watched as he inspected his fighters manning the frontline barricades. Some are just breeze block walls with gaps for them to fire through.

In other streets, sheets and blankets are strung up across the roadway to obscure the view of enemy snipers. The last time I saw that was in Aleppo, Syria.

Make no mistake, Port-au-Prince is a war zone.

But the irony is, when we were filming, we were safer in the G9 gang’s territory than on most of the capital’s streets, where kidnapping, murder and rape are endemic. And that is something every single person lives with here every single day.

Pics: Dominique Van Heerden/Toby Nash/Reuters

Continue Reading

World

‘People were crying, they were trapped’: Spain reels from deadly flash floods

Published

on

By

'People were crying, they were trapped': Spain reels from deadly flash floods

Emergency responders are searching for bodies inside stranded cars and buildings following deadly flash floods in Spain that have killed at least 158 people.

Scenes of destruction have been left in the wake of the powerful floodwaters which hit the east of the country late on Tuesday and early Wednesday, marking Spain‘s worst natural disaster this century.

Cars have been piled high on top of each other, homes and businesses have been swept away, trees have been uprooted, and roads and bridges have been left unrecognisable.

Spain flooding latest: Looting breaks out as flood deaths rise

Damaged cars are seen along a road affected by torrential rains that caused flooding, on the outskirts of Valencia, Spain.
Pic: Reuters
Image:
Damaged cars along a road on the outskirts of Valencia. Pic: Reuters

People work to clear a mud-covered street with piled up cars in the aftermath of torrential rains that caused flooding, in Paiporta, Spain, October 31, 2024. REUTERS/Eva Manez
Image:
People work to clear a mud-covered street in Paiporta. Pic: Reuters

At least 92 people have died in the worst-hit region of Valencia, while deaths were also reported in Castilla La Mancha and southern Andalusia.

An unknown number of people remain missing.

“Unfortunately, there are dead people inside some vehicles,” Spain’s transport minister Oscar Puente said.

In the Valencian district of La Torre, nine dead bodies were discovered inside a garage – with a local police officer among the victims.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Man pulled from deadly floods

Luis Sanchez, a welder, said he saved several people from floodwaters rushing through the V-31 motorway south of Valencia city.

“I saw bodies floating past. I called out but nothing,” Mr Sanchez said.

“The firefighters took the elderly first, when they could get in. I am from nearby so I tried to help and rescue people. People were crying all over, they were trapped.”

Read more on this story:
Lives have been ripped apart in Spain
Floods hit ‘like a tsunami’ – eyewitness

Satellite images from NASA show how severe flooding has impacted Valencia and its surrounding towns.

The images, captured on 30 October, show large areas to the south of the city covered in floodwater.

The Turia river, which runs through the city, can be seen at a much higher level.

The Pobles del Sud, a large lake nearby, overflowed. Much of the area surrounding the lake was covered in floodwater.

The worst of the destruction was concentrated in Paiporta, a municipality next to Valencia city, where 62 people have been reported dead.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Spanish town ‘worst-hit’ by floods

Mayor Maribel Albalat told national broadcaster RTVE: “We found a lot of elderly people in the town centre. There were also a lot of people who came to get their cars out of their garages… it was a real trap.”

What has caused the devastation?

The flooding events in Spain have been hard to witness. But the rainfall there could never have been anything but devastating.

Chiva, located just to the west of Valencia, received 491mm of rain in an eight-hour window.

Some 100-200mm fell in surrounding areas with the accumulation of running water producing apocalyptic scenes.

In addition there have been over 20,000 lightning strikes.

Whilst the rainfall totals are astounding in themselves, this part of the world is simply not accustomed to huge quantities of water falling from the sky.

In an average year, Spain would expect somewhere between 50 and 100 mm of rain throughout the entire month of October but Valencia and Andalusia would expect far less – just 60–70mm. 

So how did this happen? It’s attributable to a DANA, a “depresion aislada en niveles altos” or a “cut-off low”. 

This is a low pressure system which becomes slow moving or stationary, blocked by high pressure elsewhere, which can only keep shedding its rain over the same area for long periods of time.

These systems are not that unusual. They occur when cool air from the north is drawn across the Mediterranean in late summer and autumn when the waters are war. The temperature differential enhances storms and rainfall totals.

But whilst not uncommon, this one was certainly extreme. 

And it hasn’t gone yet. This same system has continued to bring further heavy rain and thunderstorms today, but it has now moved a little further north and east, heading toward the French border and currently remaining to the west of Barcelona. 

The rain and thunderstorms are likely to continue for a few days yet with the Tarragona and Castellon regions still under an amber warning while a yellow warning remains in force for both eastern and western Spain.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Thursday morning that Valencia had been declared a disaster zone and that the priority was to find victims and missing people.

He also urged those affected to stay at home as more torrential rain was forecast.

Follow Sky News on WhatsApp
Follow Sky News on WhatsApp

Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News

Tap here

“The most important thing is that I know Spanish people are aware that this phenomenon has not finished,” he said.

Sky News’ Europe correspondent Adam Parsons, reporting from Valencia, said the devastation suffered in the region is “enormous”.

“What we’re witnessing now are the locals here who are waking up and seeing what’s happened to their town and what has happened is something almost apocalyptic,” he said.

A nearby shop was left “absolutely wrecked” and looked like a “bomb has gone off in there”, he added.

Three days of mourning has been declared in Spain, beginning on Thursday.

Spain’s Mediterranean coast is used to autumn storms that can cause flooding, but this was the most powerful flash flood event in recent memory, and scientists have linked its strength to climate change.

Continue Reading

World

‘No one came to rescue us’: In this destroyed Spanish town, people are angry

Published

on

By

'No one came to rescue us': In this destroyed Spanish town, people are angry

In the Spanish town of Algemesi, people are angry.

The suburb of Raval was one of the worst hit by flash flooding but residents feel abandoned.

At least 158 people have been killed in the disaster in eastern Spain – with the worst of the flooding concentrated around the Valencia region.

Spain floods latest: Looting breaks out as flood deaths surpass 150

“When the alert came the water was already two metres high,” Carolina shouts from her balcony. “There were no police, firefighters or the mayor. No one came to rescue us.”

The distress is echoed street after street.

Carmen puts her head in her hands and weeps.

“They have lost everything,” she says, pointing at her neighbours’ houses.

Read more:
‘People were crying, they were trapped’
Utterly random damage in town where 40 died

Every home is in ruins and their owners are heartbroken.

Dolores shows us inside her house. She says the flood was up to the ceiling but because no help came, they have had to hammer holes in the walls to clear the water.

“I feel awful. I’m terrified and very afraid. My husband is sick – we need more help,” she says.

Carmen says her neighbours have lost everything
Image:
Dolores says her family had to hammer holes into the walls of their home

The level of destruction is immense.

On the street, we meet Noel with his children. The youngest toddler barefoot in the mud.

Yesterday, Noel and his wife had nothing to eat. He feels helpless.

Noel says he doesn't have access to water, light or food
Image:
Noel says he doesn’t have access to water, light or food

“Right now, there are people who are trapped. The mud is up to their waists, so they can’t open their doors,” he says.

“I live on a high floor so I didn’t have problems with the flooding in my home, but I don’t have water, light, or food.”

There’s a growing feeling of desperation in this suburb.

At one point, someone shouts “food!” and people rush to grab what they can from a nearby shop.

It’s not clear if they have been let in by the owner or are looting.

The devastation is so great and at a time when people are at their most in need, they feel frustrated and alone.

In a nearby shelter we meet people from Algemesi who have been made homeless by the flood.

Carol says she has never felt so hopeless.

Carol says there is 'nothing left'
Image:
Carol says there is ‘nothing left’

“There was a tree trunk that came into the front of my house. There are no walls, no ceiling. I don’t have anything. There’s nothing left,” she explains, beginning to cry.

For many, the initial trauma of this natural disaster has been compounded in the aftermath by a feeling of loss and loneliness.

Continue Reading

World

Ukraine war: Thousands of North Korean troops near Ukraine border will enter battle ‘within days’, says Blinken

Published

on

By

Ukraine war: Thousands of North Korean troops near Ukraine border will enter battle 'within days', says Blinken

Thousands of North Korean soldiers are now positioned near Ukraine’s border and likely to enter combat in the coming days, the US says.

Russian troops have been training them in artillery, drones and “basic infantry operations, including trench clearing”, said US secretary of state Antony Blinken.

He said it strongly indicated they would be used on the front line and would therefore become legitimate targets for Ukraine.

Some 10,000 North Korean troops are in Russia, including up to 8,000 in the Kursk border region, Mr Blinken said.

The troops are wearing Russian uniforms and carrying Russian gear, according to US defence secretary Lloyd Austin.

Read more: Where have North Korea troops been seen in Russia?

“We’ve not yet seen these troops deploy into combat against Ukrainian forces, but we would expect that to happen in the
coming days,” Mr Blinken said on Thursday.

More on Antony Blinken

America’s top diplomat said the recruitment of troops from North Korea to Russia’s “meat grinder” was a “clear sign of weakness”.

South Korea and the US discussed the issue in Washington on Thursday. Pic: Reuters
Image:
A South Korean and US delegation met in Washington DC. Pic: Reuters

Mr Blinken made the assessment after he and Mr Austin met their South Korean counterparts in Washington DC.

Foreign minister Cho Tae-yul called for the immediate withdrawal of North Korean soldiers from Russia and condemned it “in the strongest possible terms”.

They also all agreed China should do more to rein in North Korea, Mr Blinken said, adding that he’d had a “robust conversation” with Beijing this week.

Image:
The Kursk region borders eastern Ukraine

Mr Austin also announced that – with the US election just days away – America would soon be announcing new security assistance for Ukraine.

The deployment of troops to Russia is down to the close relationship between President Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.

The leaders last met in June when Mr Putin travelled to North Korea for the first time in 24 years.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un together in Pyongyang in June. Pic: Reuters
Image:
President Putin and Kim Jong Un went for a drive together in Pyongyang in June. Pic: Reuters

A mutual defence pact was agreed during their summit, meaning the countries will help each other if they are attacked.

The US says North Korea has also given munitions to Russia as it continues its grinding effort to take more territory in Ukraine’s east.

The White House published images earlier this month which it said showed 1,000 containers of equipment being sent to Russia by rail.

There are concerns about what military aid Russia will now provide in exchange.

North Korea test-fired an an intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time in almost a year on Thursday and there is speculation Russia may have provided technological help.

South Korean TV showed pictures of Thursday's launch by the North. Pic: AP
Image:
South Korean TV showed pictures of Thursday’s launch by the North. Pic: AP

In a statement, the US, Japan and South Korea condemned the launch as a “flagrant violation” of UN resolutions.

“We strongly urge (North Korea) to immediately cease its series of provocative and destabilising actions that threaten peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and beyond,” they said.

Continue Reading

Trending