THE RISE of gang culture in our region, from hotspots Haiti to Trinidad and Tobago, on to Colombia and up through Central America via El Salvador and on to Mexico, is a cause for alarm. We are troubled, rightly so, not just because of the violence but also the destabilising effects of gang activity on society, migration, the economy and the future of our region and its people.
Trinidad and Tobago citizens were shocked recently when a gunman pursued his victim into the Port of Spain General Hospital to finish him off. It was not the first time, but the growing audacity of the well-armed gang members knows no bounds and contributes to everyone’s fears of becoming collateral damage. Media reports are replete with daily accounts of businessmen having to pay protection money or “taxes.”
That is not new either, but it is no longer a Boysie Singh or a powerful don, but several small armies of foot soldiers carrying powerful weapons, each man looking to establish his badness and prove his legitimacy in belonging to a particular clan. Many of those young men think it is their only option and those who refuse to be affiliated sometimes are punished with death. Those who belong can never not belong.
Gangs exist to make money from running all manner of rackets – from drug and gun-trading to smuggling rare, endangered animals and selling human slaves. And the violence and intimidation are essential elements in establishing and preserving a gang’s reputation and perceived power.
It is easy to see how poorly parented, under-educated, financially poor young people with few prospects and low sense of self-worth might be recruited into a gang that promises the chance to be really someone and to wield power through a weapon, even to punish society for one’s misfortune. Soon they are part of a family, with its loyalties and rules and sense of purpose.
It is a tragic life, however. Research suggests that gang members’ life expectancy is 20-30 years, and they have a high chance of dying within two years of becoming a gang member.
It is indisputable that criminality, corruption and drug trading are alternatives to legal economic activities and many of those involved in violent crime have little option.
In Haiti, history has not been on the country’s side. Its famous, bloody 18th-century revolution failed to deliver its promise and Haiti, out of France’s spite and its geographical closeness to the US, has lacked the sort of financial backing countries like Cuba (from Russia) and Israel (from the US) have been able to use – without stringent political interference – to develop infrastructures unique to their communities and realities. Haiti has been hamstrung economically by France’s ruinous demand for compensation for ending French rule, politically by the US’s persistent meddling, and by the international community which has committed serious wrongs – sexual violence, dumping of hazardous materials leading to cholera, etc).
Now, Haiti’s police force is to comprise Africans to combat the most notorious current prevalence
