Beninese pan-Africanist activist Kémi Séba, on a visit to Haiti since May 28, has called on Haitian gang leaders to stop the violence against the population and turn against those who armed them.
During his visit to Haiti, in addition to holding public conferences in Cap-Haïtien, the Beninese political figure revealed that he has held talks with gang leaders who, he says, have realized they were manipulated for purposes beyond their control. “In my conversations with some armed group members, I told them clearly to stop shooting the people. The people are not the enemy — the true enemies are those who armed them: the neoliberal oligarchy trying to drown, suffocate, and crush Haiti,” Séba stated. However, he acknowledged that not all gang members support his approach.
Highly critical of Haiti’s political and economic elite, Séba — who was stripped of his French nationality in 2024 — believes they are largely to blame for the country’s current chaos. “The problem is that this elite takes its orders from Washington, Paris, and Montreal. That’s why Haiti isn’t sovereign,” he declared.
According to Séba, a tripartite alliance between the Western, Haitian, and Kenyan oligarchies is behind the deployment of the multinational force led by Kenyan officers. He insists that the Kenyan proletariat is not to blame if “some Black brothers serve white colonizers against other Black brothers.”
Ultimately, he argues that Haiti’s geographical position poses a strategic challenge for Western powers, especially the United States, who fear a Haitian revolution even more impactful than Cuba’s.
Discussion about this post