Summary

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--SUPERS--
0:46 - 0:50
Junot Samedi
Protester

0:56 - 1:01
Port-au-Prince, July 2021

1:05 - 1:18
Port-au-Prince, 29 February 2024
Social media

1:18 - 1:21
TikTok

1:21 - 1:25
Social media

2:53 - 2:58
Caitlin Hu
CNN Senior Editor

3:07 - 3:19
David Culver
CNN Senior National Correspondent

3:44 - 3:52
Port-au-Prince, 2023
Law enforcement source

4:15 - 4:21
Inspector Odric Octina
Brigade for the Security of Protected Areas (B-SAP)

5:33 - 5:38
Jean-Martin Bauer
WFP Haiti Director

--LEAD IN--
HAITI HAS BEEN ENGULFED IN TURMOIL FOR YEARS AND GANGS ARE TIGHTENING THEIR GRIP.
CNN'S DAVID CULVER GOES INSIDE HAITI AND EXPLAINS WHY MANY FEAR THE COUNTRY IS ON THE BRINK OF EXPLODING.

--REPORTER PKG-AS FOLLOWS--
David Culver,CNN Senior National Correspondent: So we’re like a block away?”
IT’S AS CLOSE AS WE CAN GET DRIVING. SO WE LAYER UP AND WALK.
look at people still making their commute as tires are burning in the middle of the street here
NO POLICE BARRICADE… NO FIREFIGHTERS… MOST SEEMINGLY UNFAZED.
THESE FLAMES HAVE BEEN BURNING FOR SEVERAL HOURS. HAITI HAS BEEN ENGULFED IN TURMOIL FOR YEARS.
David Culver,CNN Senior National Correspondent: We don't have homes to live in, we don't have food to eat… that’s what they’re shouting.
MANY HERE NOW FEAR THEIR COUNTRY IS ON THE BRINK OF EXPLODING…
David Culver,CNN Senior National Correspondent: does it feel safe right now?
Protestor: No. No…
David Culver,CNN Senior National Correspondent: it doesn’t?
Protestor: no doesn’t (feel) safe.My country is broken right now.
THESE FOLKS BLAME THE CURRENT GOVERNMENT AND PRIME MINISTER ARIEL HENRY…APPOINTED FOLLOWING THE ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT JOVENEL MOISE IN 2021. THEY WANT HENRY TO GO. BUT, HE SAYS, HE WILL NOT STEP DOWN.
THIS AS PANICKED STREET SHOOTOUTS LIKE THIS ONE HAVE BECOME A NEAR DAILY OCCURRENCE. IT’S OFTEN A CLASH BETWEEN POLICE AND THE GANGS WHICH HAVE ESSENTIALLY TAKEN HAITI HOSTAGE.
THEY FLAUNT THEIR WEAPONS AND WEALTH ON TIKTOK…
THREATENING POLICE AND BASKING IN LAWLESSNESS.
MANY RESIDENTS NOW LIVING BEHIND BARRICADES
David Culver,CNN Senior National Correspondent: This is not the gangs doing this, this is the folks that live in these neighbourhoods who are putting these up to prevent gangs from coming in and kidnapping.
USING WHATEVER MIGHT STOP OR SLOW THE KIDNAPPERS - EFFORTS TO PROTECT FAMILIES AND PRESERVE INNOCENCE.
THAT INNOCENCE SHATTERED FOR OTHERS - THIS 14-YEAR-OLD SAYS HE WAS RECRUITED AT 11…
TELLS ME HE’S OFTEN FORCED TO BURN THE BODIES OF THOSE KILLED BY OTHER GANG MEMBERS.
“I WANT TO CHANGE MY WAY OF LIFE,” HE TELLS WITH A HEAVY LOOK OF SHAME.
AT AN EARLY MORNING FOOD DISTRIBUTION… WE MEET DOZENS OF WOMEN WHO’VE FELT THE WRATH OF GANG VIOLENCE. AT TIMES - WE NOTICE A LOST STARE IN THEIR EYES… SEEMINGLY NUMB TO THE HORRORS THEY’VE ENDURED.
David Culver,CNN Senior National Correspondent: All of them have been victims? So no one here has not been a victim?
THIS WOMAN’S SISTER… SHOT AND KILLED … THIS ONE’S HUSBAND… BURNED ALIVE INSIDE THEIR HOME… THIS WOMAN tells us she was RAPED… SHE SHOWS US THE MARKS LEFT BEHIND… IN RECENTS MONTHS - GANGS HAVE SEIZED MORE AND MORE CONTROL OVER THE COUNTRY… INCLUDING THE ROADS LEADING TO PORT AU PRINCE. OFFICIALS ESTIMATE THAT GANGS NOW CONTROL AS MUCH 80-PERCENT OF THE CAPITAL. EVEN THE U-S EMBASSY AND INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT ARE MOSTLY SURROUNDED BY RIVAL GANG TERRITORIES.
IT’S LED THE HAITIAN NATIONAL POLICE TO CREATE AN UNDERCOVER UNIT…WE GO WITH THEM TO THE FRONT LINES.
Caitlin Hu, CNN Senior Editor: This unit actually goes into gang areas, looks for gang members and fights them.
THE OFFICERS ASK US NOT TO REVEAL OUR EXACT LOCATION. AND THEY TELL US TO WORK QUICKLY…GIVEN WE’RE STANDING EXPOSED ON A WINDY HILLSIDE.
David Culver,CNN Senior National Correspondent: As police have described it to me, basically everything behind me is occupied by the gangs. There are homes all around us - we’re standing on the foundation of one home - that have been abandoned”
THEY OFFER TO DRIVE US CLOSER…
Caitlin Hu, CNN Senior Editor: And you can see they’re getting ready.
David Culver, CNN Senior National Correspondent: Yeah so our driver’s all geared up now ready for potential gunfire to come our way. Stay away from the windows as we come in here. The describe this as the last defensive point and beyond here is what they consider to be their font lines.
FROM HERE YOU CAN SEE THE BATTLEFIELD…NO SIGNS OF ANY SUSPECTED GANG MEMBERS… FOR NOW. POLICE AREN’T THE ONLY ONES TRYING TO GAIN THE UPPERHAND. IN A FRACTURED STATE… ALTERNATIVES TO THE GANGS AND GOVERNMENT SURFACE. WE’RE HEADED TO MEET A COMMANDER OF B-SAP…HAITI'S ARMED ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY THAT HAS SPLINTERED FROM THE HENRI GOVERNMENT....CHALLENGING ITS LEGITIMACY.
WE PULL UP TO A GATED COMPOUND. THE MAN IN THE PURPLE SHIRT LEADS US IN. HE THEN CHANGES INTO HIS B-SAP UNIFORM. IT’S THE COMMANDER, HE’S IN HIDING FORM THE POLICE. HIS MESSAGE ECHOES THE ANTI-GOVERNMENT PROTESTER. HE FLEXES B-SAP’S STRENGTH IN NUMBERS AND ITS POTENTIAL TO HELP BRING STABILITY. BUT WHEN IT COMES TO HIS OWN FAMILY…
David Culver, CNN Senior National Correspondent: You mention you have four kids, what do you think their future is in the country?
HE FEARS THEIR FUTURE IS BEST SERVED LEAVING HAITI. THE DESPERATION IS FELT BEYOND PORT AU PRINCE... IN PLACES LIKE JEREMIE. THE U-N CHOPPER IS THE SAFEST WAY TO GET THERE. IT’S ABOUT AN HOUR RIDE. MEMBERS OF THE WORLD FOOD PROGRAM TAKE US THROUGH THIS RURAL COASTAL COMMUNITY…
DEVASTATED BY RECENT PROTESTS.
Jean-Martin Bauer, WFP Haiti Country Head: Right back there you had five people were killed last week.
David Culver,CNN Senior National Correspondent: Right there?
Jean-Martin Bauer, WFP Haiti Country Head: It was right there yeah.
WE ARRIVE AT THIS AGRICULTURAL CONSORTIUM. THE W-F-P BUYS FOOD FROM THESE LOCAL FARMERS TO THEN HAND OUT… BUT THE PROTESTS HAVE BLOCKED DISTRIBUTION EFFORTS, LEAVING SOME FOOD TO SPOIL… IT’S FRUSTRATING FOR THE W-F-P OFFICIALS - AS THEY KNOW, YOU DON’T HAVE TO LOOK FAR TO FIND HUNGER HERE…
THESE FARMERS POINTING TO THEIR STOMACHS … LIFTING THEIR SHIRTS TO US.
David Culver,CNN Senior National Correspondent: A lot of folks will look at Haiti and they’ll say it’s been messed up for for so long… and the question that no doubt people in the US will ask is well why should we help?
Jean-Martin Bauer, WFP Haiti Country Head: Well there are two reasons you should help: first of all, on humanitarian grounds…Then there’s also our own self interests in the US. The longer you wait to act on Haiti the more migrants there will be on the southern border, it’s that simple.
MANY HERE SEARCH FOR NORMALCY WHERE THEY CAN…EVEN WITH THE THREAT OF VIOLENCE… MISSING MASS FOR SOME IS NOT AN OPTION… THEY WEAR THEIR SUNDAY BEST AND UNITE IN PRAYER… PLACES OF WORSHIP ARE IMMUNE FROM GANG TERROR … BUT THEY AT LEAST OFFER A MOMENT OF TRANQUILITY… AND HOPE FOR NOW.
DAVID CULVER, CNN, PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI.
-----END-----CNN.SCRIPT-----

--KEYWORD TAGS--
PORT-AU-PRINCE GANG VIOLENCE HAITI CARIBBEAN