SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — One of Haiti's most powerful gang leaders confirmed to The Associated Press on Monday that he wrote the U.N. Secretary General and requested that the organization send a delegation to Haiti for dialogue and mediation amid fears that Salvadoran troops deployed after the disappearance of four aviation technicians from that country could escalate violence.
Wilson Joseph, best known as Lanmò Sanjou and leader of the 400 Mawozo gang, told the AP in his first interview with a major international media company that the technicians are dead and that the Oct. 18 attack occurred while they were in the territory of Chen Mechan, another gang. He did not provide evidence; Haiti's government has said the four Salvadorans were abducted, and the Salvadoran government believes they are alive.
Joseph said he is upset that drone attacks are killing civilians in the area, with clashes intensifying ever since a U.N.-backed gang-suppression force working with Haitian police and soldiers, as well as Vectus Global — the private security firm founded by former U.S. Navy SEAL and Blackwater founder Erik Prince — began fighting armed men in Plaine du Cul-de-Sac near Port-au-Prince following the attack on the Salvadorans.
Joseph said that the same Haitian politicians who armed gangs in Haiti are bringing foreign troops “to destroy us.”
He said he had a message for El Salvador's president, Nayib Bukele, who recently deployed 2,000 troops to Haiti: "The Haitian politicians are the father of the gangs and the rebels. ... The politicians don't want this to stop."
In his letter, Joseph wrote: “Given Mr. Nayib Bukele’s vengeful remarks, expectations, and threats, I fear this situation will lead to an escalation of violence and a logic of reprisals, of which the Haitian people would be the first victims.”
Questions swirl about oversight of El Salvador's troops
Joseph alleged in his interview with the AP that politicians are warning him about any security operations headed his way.
He added that he doesn’t have a problem with forces arresting gang members, but he accused forces of dropping drones and killing children and the elderly.
Joseph said he’s ready to have a dialogue and lay down guns, although when asked what he wanted in exchange, he declined to say, adding he would talk about that when he sits down with a peace commission. He also rejected accusations that 400 Mawozo has killed innocent Haitians.
In a statement late Monday, U.N. spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said they had received a letter with Joseph's signature: “However, receipt of such a letter does not constitute endorsement of its contents, recognition of its author, or a position by the United Nations.”
He noted that the vast majority of Salvadoran military personnel are not deployed under the U.N.-backed gang suppression force, “and therefore fall outside” the U.N. mandate and reporting.
“We want to underscore that the United Nations remains concerned that communities continue to bear the brunt of the situation in Haiti,” he said, adding that any type of security operation “must be carried out in full accordance with applicable international law.”
Gang leader calls for a ‘peaceful solution’
Joseph asserted in his letter that recent events in Plaine du Cul-de-Sac, especially where another gang, Chen Mechan, operates, “are causing serious concern.”
Joseph wrote that he was “officially available” to receive the delegation that he “respectfully” requested and would “participate in any meeting aimed at finding a peaceful solution, a dialogue agreement and a sustainable stabilization process.”
“I remain convinced that dialogue must prevail over force,” he said. “The protection of civilians, particularly children and vulnerable families, must be at the heart of any international initiative,” Joseph wrote.
More than 5,700 people have been killed or injured across Haiti from January to mid-September, according to the U.N.
In the two-page letter sent Nov. 1, Joseph said he has “officially raised the white flag” since Aug. 20 and seeks a “peaceful solution to the national crisis, in particular through the opening of a dialogue between the international forces present in Haiti and the 400 Mawozo group.”
The group, which roughly translates to "400 Simpletons," operates largely in Croix-des-Bouquets, a community near Port-au-Prince. A spokesperson for the gang who declined to be identified accused the government of abandoning that area and asserted that's why Joseph took charge of it. The gang is known for carrying out kidnappings, including those in October 2021 of 17 missionaries, 16 of them from the U.S. and one from Canada. There were five children in that group, and all were eventually released.
The spokesperson denied they were kidnappings but rather a "justice" measure given sexual abuse charges against a former missionary. The spokesperson also said that 400 Mawozo is not a terrorist organization, and that young people lacking education who are allegedly being used by politicians are being killed.
The U.S. government has issued a $1 million reward for Joseph, who was indicted in the U.S. in 2022 on charges of hostage taking and conspiracy to commit hostage taking.
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