At least 110 people lost their lives in a shocking massacre over the weekend in Haiti’s Cite Soleil, a crowded slum near the capital, Port-au-Prince. The killings were ordered by a gang leader named Monel “Mikano” Felix, who believed elderly residents in the area had cursed his child with an illness, according to a human rights group called the National Human Rights Defense Network (RNDDH).
All the victims were over 60 years old, RNDDH said. The tragedy unfolded after Felix reportedly consulted a Voodoo priest, who blamed elderly people in the neighborhood for his child’s sickness. Acting on this, Felix ordered his gang members to kill these individuals. Armed with machetes and knives, the gang carried out the brutal attacks—killing at least 60 people on Friday and another 50 on Saturday.
Cite Soleil, one of Haiti’s poorest and most dangerous areas, has long been under the control of violent gangs. Many residents struggle to communicate or share news due to restrictions imposed by the gangs, including limits on mobile phone use. This has made it hard to get a full picture of the events as they happened.
Felix, who leads the Wharf Jeremie gang, has a history of violence. His gang operates in Cite Soleil and other areas like Fort Dimanche and La Saline. His own child, whose illness sparked this massacre, tragically died on Saturday afternoon, RNDDH reported.
This isn’t the first time gang violence has devastated Haiti. In 2018, La Saline saw a massacre where at least 71 civilians were killed, and many homes were burned. That attack was linked to Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier, a former police officer who now leads a powerful gang alliance called Viv Ansanm. The United Nations has accused Cherizier of organizing the La Saline massacre, among other crimes.
Gang violence has escalated across Haiti in recent years. In October, another massacre in Pont-Sonde, a town in the Artibonite region, left at least 115 people dead. The Gran Grif gang claimed responsibility for that attack, saying it was revenge against locals who worked with a self-defense group.
Haiti’s government has struggled to rein in these gangs, and political instability has only made things worse. In 2022, Haitian authorities asked for international help to support their police forces. While the United Nations approved a mission in 2023, it has only partially deployed and is severely underfunded. Haitian leaders are now pushing for this mission to become a fully equipped U.N. peacekeeping force, but the plan has hit roadblocks, with China and Russia opposing it in the U.N. Security Council.
For now, the people of Haiti are left to endure the unchecked violence of powerful gangs, with little relief in sight.
