Port-au-Prince, 29 September 2025.- In Haiti, gang violence not only causes a humanitarian crisis: it also re-designs the country's economic geography. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), 1.3 million internally displaced persons were registered in June 2025, revealing the emergence of a genuine « displacement economy », where forced exodus becomes an instrument for capturing wealth. After an article by Réginald Surin, published in Le Nouvelliste, September 26, 2025.
A structured criminal model
The analysis of Réginald Surin shows that gangs, grouped within the Viv Ansanm coalition, control nearly 80-85% of the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince. They apply a differentiated strategy:
Economic rent zones (Cité Soleil, Croix-des-Bouquets, Tabarre), where the population is maintained under taxation and extortion;
Strategic buffer zones (Delmas, Nazon, Solino), emptied of their inhabitants to create protective glacis around their bastions.
From terror to economic capture
Between November 2024 and August 2025, gangs conducted a three-phase strategy:
1. Selective terror (massacres, fires, targeted destruction) to cause exodus;
2. Economic extraction ( methodical drilling, resale of materials, logistical use of empty areas);
3. Tactical replica and beginning of political legitimization, with Chief Jimmy « Barbecue » Cherizier presenting himself as « revolutionary ».
Geopolitical change
This unprecedented model places Haiti in the face of a change: the formation of « proto-criminal states », where military coercion overlaps with relative economic efficiency. The stakes, according to Surin, go beyond security: only a credible and inclusive economic alternative can compete with the current criminal offer.
W.A.
