weeknights on pbs.
>> The island nation of Haiti is
moving closer to the brink of
collapse.
Since early January, the country
was left without a single
elected official, leaving
heavily armed gangs in control.
Much of port-au-prince is under
control of gangs who have been
targeting police.
Patients are living -- Haiti
ans are living in fear and
chaos.
Families grieved as coffins were
saluted.
In the last month, gangs have
killed nearly 20 officers.
They lamented the lives lost and
the turmoil that has engulfed
the country.
>> Are police are being slain
again.
We will not accept that bandits
rule and they say the government
is theirs.
>> Elsewhere, rage.
Armed protesters set fires in
the streets, broke through the
Gates to the airport, and
lowered the flags to half staff
to mark the deaths.
>> There has to be a revolution.
There has to be a bloodbath.
All of these policeman have been
killed.
The prime minister has not
reacted.
>> Violent protests have
persisted for months.
Many are angry that the
government cannot keep them
safe.
>> We have been suffering for a
long time.
People are dying of bullets.
My mother, my child, my sister.
We will not be able to continue.
>> The term of the prime
minister, who was appointed to
office, expired February of
2022.
But he has yet to schedule new
elections.
>> No one voted for him.
He was not elected.
He has no legitimacy.
He has no right.
He is not the president.
>> With no president, no
legislative quorum, and a high
court dysfunctional, lawlessness
rains.
-- Reigns.
The U.N. Imposed sanctions on
one of the most powerful gang
leaders, a former police officer
known as barbecue.
He is accused of numerous
atrocities, including massacres
and sexual violence.
But he considers himself the
lesser evil.
>> You and your country, if you
are living in these conditions,
if you saw the conditions,
wouldn't you revolt?
>> Haiti and the U.N. Have
called for international
peacekeepers to bolster the
beleaguered police force.
>> It is our obligation to act
fast.
If we overcome the gangs, we
will restore order and peace.
>> But so far, only Jamaica has
offered to help, leaving 80 two
fall deeper -- Haiti fall deeper
into chaos.
I spoke with the Miami herald's
caribbean correspondent.
I asked her what she saw her
related -- recent trip to the
country.
>> I had two very different
trips.
The first trip I went to the
north part of the country to see
the historic capital.
I went for international jazz
festival.
Fast forward a couple of days
later, this time I am in
port-au-prince.
It is chaos.
Police who are protesting.
They are armed.
They are putting up barricades,
blocking roads.
We were coming off of the latest
killings of police officers.
There have been 14 in the month
of January.
78 since July when the interim
prime minister came into power.
Police officers are enraged.
They were joining these protests
by fire cops and gang members,
according to sources.
All of that tells you about the
volatility of this country.
One minute you could be walking
into the city and enjoying
beautiful jazz and the next
minute the streets are blowing
up because those protests were
also in the north, the very
places where I was just walking
freely a few days earlier.
>> Who is in charge of
port-au-prince?
>> That depends on who you
asked.
The U.N. Will tell you that
today gangs are in control of
over 60% of the capital.
Where the U.S. Embassy is
located.
It is between two gang
strongholds.
They do not have one elected
official.
As your audience may recall, the
president was assassinated in
July of 2021.
In January, the last 10
remaining elected officials of
parliament were fired.
They could not really do
anything.
Symbolically, at least there
were 10 elected people.
Today there is not one.
There has been ongoing debate
and differences in terms of who
should be in charge, who should
take control of this country,
what should it look like?
Should there be a long
transition or a rush to
elections?
>> Wire the police the target?
>> You have a country with a
police force set is one fourth
the size of the NYPD.
9000 police officers who are
active and ready to go at any
moment.
They are not all in
port-au-prince.
They have to try to battle
against.
But it is very difficult to
sustain.
Kidnappings last year went up
104%, according to the U.N.
That was one kidnapping every
six hours.
The homicide rate also climbed
35.2%.
This is the reality Haitians are
living with.
Their number one concern is
safety.
>> We have seen Haitians turmoil
-- try to flee this turmoil.
>> They are actually doing it.
The Biden administration
recently announced a two-year
parole program for poor
countries including Haiti.
As long as someone has a sponsor
in the U.S. And that sponsor is
able to show that they have the
financial ability to the care of
someone and they pass a
background check and they have a
valid passport, they are being
paroled in.
We are seeing long lines of
people, including hundreds of
police officers who have applied
for passports so they can
qualify for this program.
Everybody wants to leave the
country.
They are saying, who will help
us rebuild?
For them this chaos cannot last
forever.
>> What will it take to restore
order?
Is that within sight?
>> The interim government has
asked for the deployment of an
international force to assist
the national police with
combating the gangs.
Everyone I talked to says this
is a police force that is very
well-trained but they do not
have the equipment.
Something as basic as ballistic
vests.
I did a ride along with the
police shortly after a massacre.
They took me out and I saw young
guys just fresh out of the
police academy standing guard
about a mile down from the U.S.
Embassy.
They did not have a vest.
Or a bulletproof plate.
They are underpaid.
They really need help.
It is becoming very political.
The United States supports this
request but it does not want to
give support.
They are asking candidate to
take the lead -- Canada to take
the lead.
Jamaica said they were willing
to participate.
They actually have the
experience.
Their military do antigang raids
and operations alongside police.
That is what everybody is
waiting for.
When you talk about Haiti,
people say, what is it going to
take?
They are also asking that
question.
What is rock-bottom?
How bad do things need to get?
When I tell you right now that
things are bad, they really are.
>> Thank you very much.
>> Thank you.