Dear Reader,

It is with the upmost pain and the greatest dismay that I report the possibility that the American administration could be pulling one over us, no cap. Because, how else is one to explain this CNN interview with a notorious gang member who has been on the FBI’s most wanted list for over two years, with a $2 million bounty on his head, while living it up at a stolen home a few minutes away from the US Embassy? At least, the CNN reporters seem just as frazzled about the oddity of a man with about 100 undisciplined, barely trained gunmen in his employ being able to maintain control of a US Embassy in his territory or, as they put it, « an American island in gangland ».

This uneasy geography also means Innocent stands between the rest of Haiti’s gangs and Washington, whose capacity and appetite for military intervention in the country’s blood-soaked chaos are the subject of constant speculation in the country.

Caitlin Stephen Hu, David Culver and Evelio Contreras, Gangs forced out Haiti’s government. This FBI ‘Most Wanted’ gang leader claims they’re liberating the country, April 29th 2024

And isn’t this the most disturbing thought of all? But wait, there’s more. Of the $300 million the US promised to contribute to the forthcoming Kenyan-led multinational security support mission, only $6 million has been provided to the UN-managed Trust Fund for the mission. You read that right. Six million dollars. Almost 3 years after the magnicide. The rest of Hait’s friends have not been very forthcoming either. Canada’s pledged $100 million has resulted in only $8.7 million, and France has contributed just $3.2 million. In total, the MMSS currently has $18 million, while Ruto’s Kenya is expecting $600 million. At this rate, it will take a full century to reach that amount. We may as well give up on it ever happening.

The gang members seemed to have done the same calculations. Nowadays, they’re brushing up on their PR, hosting international influencers and journalists, showcasing their ill-gotten gains, and demanding a seat at the negotiation table. After all, when you reside in a lavish rococo home less than a mile from the US Embassy and the FBI can’t reach you, what is there to fear?

Because it is Haiti and this is CNN, the journalist brought up voodoo. Rumor, apparently, has it that voodoo protects gang leaders, a notion that these leaders—who have famously held large Christian revivals—are quick to confirm, likely to humor the Blan‘s notorious fascination with exotic (evil) religious practices. And gang voodoo appears to be very powerful indeed, as it seems to offer protection against the might of the world’s only superpower whose embassy the interviewed gang member is quite proud to have in his vicinity and takes as a sign that « it wants to collaborate with us”.

CNN notes how smoothly the emergency evacuation operation for US citizens proceeded. Dozens of helicopters « landed and lifted off next to the embassy building » without incident, despite being in gang territory; likely a gesture of goodwill of their local gangleader who now envisions a future for his employees that includes amnesty and, I’m guessing, keeping all the money. While « it would only take a few hundred Marines » to stop this, the Biden administration seems to have other plans. What are they? They’re not saying. Per CNN, neither the State Department nor the new American Ambassador Dennis Hankins were available for comment. But, at least, he’ll soon get to present his lettres de créance.