‘We live in misery.’ Haitians struggle to survive as country spirals in chaos

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• John Yang:

  Tonight there's violence and unrest across the globe from the Middle East to Western Africa to the Caribbean, which is where we begin. In Haiti, the situation seems to be getting progressively worse. Gangs control half the country's territory and most of the capital Port-au-Prince.

  Just this past week, an American nurse working for a Christian humanitarian group and her daughter were reported kidnapped, and the State Department has ordered non0emergency workers and the families of all U.S. government employees to leave as soon as possible because they say it's just not safe. But for many Haitians leaving is not an option.

  They had sought refuge in the courtyard of the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince. Dozens of families fleeing the gangs that have overrun their neighborhoods.

• Woman (through translator):

  We don't have anywhere to stay. The bandits kicked us out of our home. They rape us even if we are old. Even the little ones, they rape them also. I had to run to come here last night. I had a fever. I was trembling. I never experienced anything like this. We are in misery.

• Woman (through translator):

  I don't know the reason for the violence. The gangs just shoot and they asked for control of the area. They took our house and we're in the street. We want help to go back home.

• John Yang:

  On Wednesday, they fled again, this time from the police who use tear gas to force them to leave. More than 160,000 Haitians have been displaced by violence. Many are now living with family members are crowding into makeshift shelters.

• Joseoh Wilfred, Shelter Manager (through translator):

  This is an extremely catastrophic situation. It is misery. Nobody comes to check on us. We live in misery. We can't find food. There's no drinking water. We don't live like humans. We are humiliated.

• John Yang:

  Haitian police and security forces are outnumbered and outgunned. They've struggled to contain the gang since President Jovenel Moise was assassinated two years ago, plunging the country deeper into chaos.

  The current Prime Minister Ariel Henry has repeatedly postponed elections. There is not a single elected official in the government, in Por-au-Prince protests often turned violent.

  The international community is scrambling for a solution. Earlier this month, U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres renewed a call for a multinational force to curb the gang violence. That's something Haitian Prime Minister Henry has been asking for since October.

• Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary General:

  We cannot forget the Haitian people and the world must step up.

• John Yang:

  The U.N. Security Council has given Guterres until mid-August to come up with options for combating Haiti's gangs.

  Garry Pierre-Pierre is the founder and publisher of the Haitian times and English language weekly newspaper. Garry, we've gone from crisis to crisis, cascading crises in Haiti for a while. Does this time feel different have we entered into a new phase do you think?

• Garry Pierre-Pierre, The Haitian Times:

  Well, absolutely, John, and thanks for having me. I mean, the situation has gone from bad to worse. Now, the clip that you played, people are desperate, they go into the U.S. embassies, courtyard and front doors, thinking that they will be safe there. So this is where we are and while the U.N. Security Council decided what to do.

• John Yang:

  How long can he endure this? Well, I couldn't endure this?

• Garry Pierre-Pierre:

  Well, I think endured — it hasn't been able to endure it for the last three years. Yet it continues to endure it because the situation is complex, because since 1994, we've had two interventions in Haiti and one by the U.S. and then one by the U.N., and they haven't gone very well.

  So right now a lot of people are skittish and nervous about what to do, because no one wants to have another failed intubation of some kind, that really doesn't solve the problem. And so now, people want to make sure that whatever it is that needs to be done will be something that works for the Asian people, and for the international community, because we just cannot have a repeat of the same old, same old again.

• John Yang:

  Given that legacy and shadow of previous interventions, would an international security force work? Would it be an answer to this?

• Garry Pierre-Pierre:

  The question is that whether it will work, what is the long term strategy? How do you make sure that the gangs reintegrated into society, and then not just waiting out whatever force that comes in, and then when that force inevitably leaves because it has to leave. What happens next, the last mid to long term situation in Haiti. We're going to be back 10 years later to to try to get pacify the situation. And no one wants that.

• John Yang:

  Given again, their memories of the Marines landing in '94. And the U.N. force going in after the earthquake, with the Haitian people welcome that an international force coming in?

• Garry Pierre-Pierre:

  Well, it depends, I mean, people in Haiti, yes. The diaspora Haitian Americans are very, very skeptical about the international community's motives when it comes to Haiti, whether they have the right policy, whether they really care about helping Haiti, or is it something that they're going to pour billions of dollars, that really doesn't help the situation at all. And one can understand the skepticism.

• John Yang:

  Why hasn't Prime Minister Henry held elections?

• Garry Pierre-Pierre:

  Well, John, the situation is untenable. People can even unsafe in their home. And so I don't know how he's going to organize elections to be quite honest. First of all, you need to pacify. We turn the country to normalcy, then organize elections. And when we're not being honest about the situation of elections.

  I think the United States government think that election is what constitutes a democracy. In the case of Haiti, it doesn't. We need to build an institution's first and foremost, and then you can have a climate for elections. And then you can have a real democracy. You can hold elections anytime you want. But that doesn't mean that it's going to hold together.

• John Yang:

  What's the short term prognosis do you think? What — are things getting worse? Are they getting better or staying the same in Haiti right now?

• Garry Pierre-Pierre:

  One of the things we talked to some of my sources at the U.N. have told me that they — when controlling the gangs, one of the things that they doing is squeezing them out of the munitions. But, you know, the Haitian people on the ground in Haiti use — the clip that you played, it's very clear what they want, they want help. And that help cannot be done to diplomacy, because it just they are being abused. They are being raped. They are being killed by these gangs.

  And it's not even, you know, a war because the other side is doesn't have any weapon to fight against the gangs, the police — you said our gun and they all add gun because the gang members, the gang leaders have better weapons than the police.

• John Yang:

  At the risk of sounding frivolous. I want to ask you about the World Cup. The Haitian women's soccer team has in the World Cup for the first time and doing better than expected. Is anyone there paying attention to that?

• Garry Pierre-Pierre:

  Well, absolutely. I mean, thank you for that question. Because it's been a really breath of fresh air for Haiti, Haitians all over the world. These women, young ladies have made us very proud. And I think also, this is a metaphor for Haiti. What Haitians can do if we put ourselves together and decide what we want to do, because the government and the Haitian Federation have invested millions into this team to make sure that they are performing they are where they are.

  And by the way, John, they are the youngest team in the competition, very inexperienced to some extent, but they are playing well, despite having lost two matches. It's been close when competitive. And so yeah, this is something that's welcome distraction, if you will, and it's not vain at all because as you know, sports is really something that brings joy to the world. And right now all riveted with the World Cup. The women are great all the other teams are doing well and I'm really enjoying it. The time difference notwithstanding, it's great.

• John Yang:

  Garry Pierre-Pierre, the founder and publisher of the Haitian Times. Thank you very much.

• Garry Pierre-Pierre:

  Thank you John.