海角大神

A former businessman fosters dialogue with Haitian gang leaders to curb unrest

Four years ago, Louis-Henri Mars went deep inside the Port-au-Prince stronghold of two of Haiti鈥檚 most-feared gang leaders, known as Barbecue and Iskar.

As he prepared to sit down and speak, Mr. Mars reminded himself of some of the principles he had developed when approaching gang members in the past: See them for their humanity, not only for their violent actions, and be open and truthful about what you are seeking.

Mr. Mars had founded Lakou Lap猫 鈥� 鈥淧eace Yard鈥� in Haitian Creole 鈥� a peace-building nonprofit, in 2012. When he visited the gang leaders in 2021, he had a radical proposal for achieving unity and curbing Haiti鈥檚 unrest. 鈥淚nvite members of the business elite [into your community] for a day or two,鈥� he told Barbecue and Iskar. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 understand you, because they鈥檝e never lived in poverty.鈥�

Restoring trust in Haitian society is essential to breaking the cycle of violence that has dogged the country for generations, says Mr. Mars. His organization, one of the few peace-building groups still operating in Port-au-Prince as local and international organizations have shuttered, aims to unite Haitians from opposite ends of society through workshops, conflict mediation, and youth empowerment programs.

Barbecue (Jimmy Ch茅rizier) and Iskar (Iskar Andrice) had been calling for war against the country鈥檚 elite. Only an armed revolution, the two men argued, could persuade the rich to share with poor people. Yet here they were, listening to Mr. Mars 鈥� a former business executive 鈥� encouraging them to build social bridges.

鈥淚 tell our donors we don鈥檛 just need roads or electricity grids,鈥� Mr. Mars says. 鈥淲e must build relationships. We鈥檝e been looking in the wrong direction for too long.鈥�

Culture shock

As the son of a Haitian diplomat, Mr. Mars grew up between embassies 鈥� from Paris to Washington, Rome to London. The swift pace of changing languages and traditions helped him learn early on how to navigate cultural divides.

Culture shock came later, when he returned to Haiti as a young adult in 1977 and was taken aback by the vast inequalities he encountered. His concerns about Haiti鈥檚 divisions only deepened in 1991, when a military coup halted his electronics and leather business in Port-au-Prince. That coup was the latest in a series of crises after decades of authoritarian rule, paramilitary repression, and political assassinations in the late 1980s.

鈥淲hat was it about this country that made it trapped in this endless cycle of unrest?鈥� Mr. Mars recalls wondering.

A gathering in the mountains

Mr. Mars immersed himself in researching how peace is achieved. He trained with mediators from the Irish-British peace process and studied peace in Northern Ireland.

Before long,聽Mr. Mars started bringing together Haitian business leaders and low-ranked gang members at retreat spaces to share rooms, meals, and their life stories. He formed peace and dialogue committees, in which residents from communities across the capital discuss subjects such as curbing guns or domestic violence. He facilitated discussions among armed groups, sometimes resulting in temporary ceasefires or brief reductions in shootings.

鈥淲hat I admire about [Lakou Lap猫] is their resilience,鈥� says V茅lina 脡lys茅e Charlier, a human rights activist with NouPapD貌mi (鈥淲e Won鈥檛 Sleep鈥�), an anti-corruption organization in Haiti. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 usually like that word. It鈥檚 overused for Haitians, as if we鈥檙e expected to endure anything forever. But for them, I use 鈥榬esilience鈥� as a compliment.鈥�

鈥淭hey stay close to the community, which keeps their work relevant,鈥� she adds.

Mr. Mars recalls one gathering in 2009, high in Haiti鈥檚 mountains, where he and visiting Irish mediators brought together rival gang members. The workshop nearly collapsed when one gang leader discovered that a police officer would participate. 鈥淚t took ... mediation skills to stop him from walking out,鈥� Mr. Mars recalls with a smile.

That man, Jean Claude Joseph, eventually laid down his guns after years of workshops and training sessions. In 2012, Mr. Joseph helped Mr. Mars start Lakou Lap猫.

Healing generations of pain

Drawing on practices developed by a U.S. university after the 2010 earthquake, which flattened or damaged large swaths of Haiti, Mr. Mars made healing circles a cornerstone of his retreats. Participants could 鈥渃ry together, encourage each other, and hold each other accountable,鈥� says Mr. Mars, cognizant of Haiti鈥檚 long fight for independence and its history of slavery, natural disasters, and extreme inequality.

Gangs control about 95% of the capital. The number of Haitians displaced by violence has more than tripled since December 2023, growing to 1.3 million people today.

Barbecue, the gang leader, now heads a powerful alliance, Viv Ansanm, which has repeatedly shut down the country鈥檚 main seaport and airport, carried out massacres, and burned down homes. His professed 鈥渨ar against the elite鈥� has escalated into what seems like a war on the entire population. It鈥檚 troubling, but Mr. Mars does not see this development as a failure of his peace-building model. His work could take decades to reap significant results.

But impunity is not an option. 鈥淭he gangs have murdered, kidnapped, raped, expelled, and burned,鈥� Mr. Mars says. 鈥淚f victims aren鈥檛 compensated and their [experience is] not addressed, the violence will never end.鈥�

Ms. Charlier, from the anti-corruption organization, agrees that dialogue and聽relationship-building alone are not enough. 鈥淧eace can only be achieved when justice is served,鈥� she says.

In Mr. Mars鈥� workshops, business leaders and young people from high-unemployment neighborhoods often meet for the first time. 鈥淢ars is one of those rare people who is accepted in both worlds: the business sector and the communities,鈥� says Geoffrey Handal, a fifth-generation head of his family鈥檚 shipping and logistics conglomerate, who began attending Mars鈥� workshops in 2020.

There, he met Jean Gilles聽Bernard Camille, a young Peace and Dialogue facilitator who spoke of the stigma he faced growing up in Barbecue鈥檚 stronghold. When Mr. Camille later pitched a business idea 鈥� a tilapia farm in above-ground basins 鈥� Mr. Handal decided to invest.

The venture soon became more than a financial project. Mr. Handal describes Mr. Camille as an 鈥渁mbassador,鈥� showing his community they were wrong in their blanket mistrust of the business elite. For Mr. Camille, it has been an opportunity to prove to Mr. Handal and his peers that someone from a 鈥渉ot鈥� neighborhood can deliver on his promise.

鈥淩epaying that trust is what keeps me going,鈥� Mr. Camille told Mr. Handal recently, even as a lack of security forced the project to stall.

That, according to Mr. Mars, is what peace-building looks like: developing mutual respect and a shared vision for the future. But it takes time, is hard to measure, and is sometimes difficult to explain to the international community.

Until recently, Lakou Lap猫 relied mostly on funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development. With the Trump administration鈥檚 freeze on almost all foreign aid, the group has paused its programming while it seeks sources of financing. Mr. Mars also has had to step back from some day-to-day tasks to deal with a health challenge.

Change at the local level

The Transitional Presidential Council, appointed a year ago to steer Haiti toward elections, has been hampered by internal divisions and corruption allegations. The Aug. 7 appointment of businessman Laurent Saint-Cyr as council president reignited threats from Barbecue to overthrow the government. The gangs and marginalized residents doubt that a government historically dominated by wealthy people can deliver real change.

Days after Mr. Saint-Cyr鈥檚 appointment, the government announced a three-month state of emergency in Haiti鈥檚 central region. By September, it had been expanded nationwide.

Mr. Mars鈥� dream is to see a gang-controlled neighborhood reclaimed by civilian leadership. He knows it鈥檚 time to hand over the reins to the new generation of peace-builders he has helped shape.

Four years after Mr. Mars鈥� meeting with Barbecue and Iskar (who was killed by an unidentified shooter in 2023), life in Delmas 2, the neighborhood ruled by Barbecue, is facing unprecedented violence. But in a room tucked within a maze of makeshift homes sits one of Mr. Mars鈥� peace-builders. For four years, Derlineda Louis Jeune has been a member of a peace and dialogue committee facilitated by Mr. Camille.

Ms. Jeune moved here in 2021, after violence displaced her from her home community. She plans to study law and then become a leader for change, working with young people.

From her perspective, 鈥淧eace is possible in Haiti.鈥�