I have not heard of the gun issue in Haiti being tied to cocaine cartels - certainly that was the case under Aristide - but now - with the gangs - it seems more a question of some Big Timers who initially armed sorta private armies to help protect them and the gangs just got out of control. The remnants of the police force there now can barely protect the defacto Prime Minister. The gangs now make their money from kidnapping.
There is still some commerce going on in PauP - still have conferences at Hotel Karibe & Montana - the newspaper', Le Nouvelliste is still printing (although it stopped for a while). Cap Haitian is thriving with LaDeDa events, Jazz Concerts, etc...
But the working class is being "invited" to vacate their homes in various areas in PauP. It is more orderly now with just an envelop of bullets bullets being placed on the door steps. This is an old technique in Haiti called "dechoke" or "pulling up by their roots" - after the owners leave, the houses can be occupied by gang members and their kinfolk.
I am not unsympathetic to BBQ and the gangs...BBQ - Jimmy Cherizier - a former police officer - has publicly said that HIS gang has neither raped nor kidnapped anyone. And he has managed to consolidate at least 9 of the gangs. But "everyone" meaning the internationals and all the Twitterers who can post in many languages are content to call him a "criminal". No one bothers to include him in any sort of negotiations. He is the only Haitian that has been sanctioned by the UN. It does seem to me that if you are trying to establish some sort of order, it is just stupid not to initiate talks with the guy who controls access to the three routes out of the Capital.
