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The Guardian
18-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
How destruction of Hotel Oloffson is symbol of Haiti's gang crisis
There was an outpouring of grief in Haiti when the Hotel Oloffson, a cultural and architectural landmark in Port-au-Prince, was set ablaze on the night of 5 July, in what local media described as retaliation by armed gangs after a police operation in its vicinity. For many, its ruins are a stark and sobering symbol of the state of a capital city on the verge of collapse, and a sign that a once vibrant culture may be fading as violent criminal armed groups continue their reign of terror. The 19th-century mansion, built in 1887 in the ornate 'gingerbread' style, once welcomed celebrities including Elizabeth Taylor, Mick Jagger and Graham Greene. A magnet for the world's rich and famous in the 1960s and 70s, it was reborn in the 80s as a hub for vodou musicians and a refuge for foreign correspondents. Watching the white wooden fretwork – often likened to lace – that once adorned the balconies reduced to ashes, has been tough for former patrons, who were once enchanted by its dreamlike, otherworldly charm. 'It was an extraordinary place, beyond time and space,' said Haitian historian and legal scholar Georges Michel, who would stop by, in the evenings on his way home. 'After two or three beers, I'd sometimes have dinner. I'd meet people. It was Haitian. It was home.' Some have already started dreaming of rebuilding the Oloffson, when the embattled city returns to some level of normality. But they are unable to make solid plans to do so as the Caribbean nation teeters dangerously toward a 'point of no return' – a warning that UN officials have expressed as the body count continues to climb into the thousands. The anti-government groups have been terrorising Port-au-Prince for the past four years, setting homes ablaze one neighbourhood after another and tightening their grip on the capital, cutting it off from the rest of the country. On 1 June 2021, a gang seized control of a stretch of the only national road leading south out of the city, in the name of a coalition of criminal groups. The next month Jovenel Moïse, the then president, was assassinated, triggering a political crisis that has prevented elected governance. Last year a transitional presidential council was established to prepare the country for elections after a fresh wave of attacks enabled gangs to take control of much of downtown Port-au-Prince. According to UN figures in January more than a million people were displaced and more than 5,600 were killed by gangs in 2024. Armed groups began occupying an area near the Oloffson in January, displacing residents and forcing staff to flee and the hotel to close. Universities on the same street have since shut down or relocated. Residents say there was a police operation in the area on the day the hotel was destroyed, but the cause of the blaze remains unknown, with clashes making it dangerous for officials or journalists to investigate. Haitian architect Daniel Elie said the torching of the hotel is 'part of a succession of losses', which has seen aspects of Haiti's culture 'going up in smoke'. 'The Oloffson was one of those rare spaces where two worlds tried to meet,' he said, adding that it was a part of the literary and artistic 'Indigenist movement' in Haiti between 1915 and 1945, which sought to reclaim African heritage and elevate the voices, traditions and lived realities of Haiti's rural population. 'All of that unfolded in venues such as the Oloffson. So beyond the architecture, its cultural legacy is even more significant,' he said. The hotel was one of the finest examples of gingerbread architecture – a popular style in Port-au-Prince in the latter half of the 19th century. The grand wooden houses, a blend of neoclassical and neo-gothic elements, were inspired by architectural trends in Europe at that time. 'A European bourgeoisie, strengthened by the Industrial Revolution, appropriated ancient styles and reinvented them' said Elie, a leading expert in heritage conservation. 'Haitian families were sending their children to Europe to study in universities and architecture schools, and they brought back all these ideas.' Some houses were even imported piece by piece from Europe. The hotel was designed by a French architect known only as Mr Lefèvre and assembled in Haiti by a French builder. Unlike many modern buildings, gingerbread houses like the Oloffson survived the 2010 earthquake, thanks to their flexible wooden frames. But many were lost to rapid urbanisation. Today, just a few dozen exist, local experts said – but scarcely any carry the historical weight of the Oloffson. Over the years it hosted Haitian presidents from Vilbrun Guillaume Sam in 1915 to René Préval in the 2000s, as well as musicians, film stars and renowned authors. Greene even set his 1966 novel, The Comedians, at the hotel and later co-wrote the screenplay for its 1967 film adaptation starring Taylor and Richard Burton. As portrayed in Green's novel, Oloffson was also a hotspot for foreign elites in search of exotic adventures during the 1960s and the 1970s. 'It was a kind of jet-set moment when Vogue would send photographers to shoot models in the lush gardens with glistening, shirtless paddlers in the background,' recalled French photographer and documentarian Chantal Regnault, who said she was struck by the colonial overtones when she first stayed there in 1979. 'You used to see a photo of the Oloffson on the cover of the city's tourism brochures,' recalled Théodore 'Lòlò' Beaubrun Jr of legendary Haitian band Boukman Eksperyans. As a child in the late 1960s, he would accompany his father, a renowned Haitian theatre artist, through the hotel's vast white-painted gallery, mingling with local artists. 'I learned so much, it was a school,' he said. 'When we started, it was all about catering to journalists,' said Richard Morse, who took over management of the Oloffson in 1987 with the help of his girlfriend. He later bought the property with his family. Speaking to the Guardian from Maine, he described the guilt and sense of helplessness as the hotel destruction came amid the rising tide of violence, murder and rape. Born in Puerto Rico to a Haitian mother and an American father, Morse had been a new wave rock musician in the US before moving to Haiti in search of traditional drum rhythms. In 1988, he launched Thursday night vodou music concerts at the hotel. This would later be a key moment in the rise of his vodou-rock band RAM, and a new era of cultural crossover for the venue, which he described as a fantastic 'Alice in Wonderland' experience. 'The gangs were the last clients – and they didn't pay,' he said. 'I need to go there and decide what to do. People keep telling me I can't go, but what I really want is just to stand in the yard. That's my home.' Haiti's stability was a significant concern for Caribbean leaders when they met earlier this month at the Caribbean Community (Caricom) leaders summit. Opening the meeting, the outgoing chair of Caricom and the prime minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, appealed for more global support for Haiti. 'The world really needs a check on itself when it comes to Haiti. If ever we doubted that there were first class and second class citizens in the eyes of the world, don't doubt it any more,' the Mottley said. She added that, in spite of the staggering loss of life, and the displacement of people and food insecurity, 'the world … has been unable to move beyond the promises and the platitudes that would bring help to the people of Haiti'. Mottley said the Caribbean's capacity to address the escalating situation is limited, and called for a 'truth talk, both within the context of what is possible from Haiti's perspective, but equally what is possible from the international community'.
The Guardian
18-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
How destruction of Hotel Oloffson is symbol of Haiti's gang crisis
There was an outpouring of grief in Haiti when the Hotel Oloffson, a cultural and architectural landmark in Port-au-Prince, was set ablaze on the night of 5 July, in what local media described as retaliation by armed gangs after a police operation in its vicinity. For many, its ruins are a stark and sobering symbol of the state of a capital city on the verge of collapse, and a sign that a once vibrant culture may be fading as violent criminal armed groups continue their reign of terror. The 19th-century mansion, built in 1887 in the ornate 'gingerbread' style, once welcomed celebrities including Elizabeth Taylor, Mick Jagger and Graham Greene. A magnet for the world's rich and famous in the 1960s and 70s, it was reborn in the 80s as a hub for vodou musicians and a refuge for foreign correspondents. Watching the white wooden fretwork – often likened to lace – that once adorned the balconies reduced to ashes, has been tough for former patrons, who were once enchanted by its dreamlike, otherworldly charm. 'It was an extraordinary place, beyond time and space,' said Haitian historian and legal scholar Georges Michel, who would stop by, in the evenings on his way home. 'After two or three beers, I'd sometimes have dinner. I'd meet people. It was Haitian. It was home.' Some have already started dreaming of rebuilding the Oloffson, when the embattled city returns to some level of normality. But they are unable to make solid plans to do so as the Caribbean nation teeters dangerously toward a 'point of no return' – a warning that UN officials have expressed as the body count continues to climb into the thousands. The anti-government groups have been terrorising Port-au-Prince for the past four years, setting homes ablaze one neighbourhood after another and tightening their grip on the capital, cutting it off from the rest of the country. On 1 June 2021, a gang seized control of a stretch of the only national road leading south out of the city, in the name of a coalition of criminal groups. The next month Jovenel Moïse, the then president, was assassinated, triggering a political crisis that has prevented elected governance. Last year a transitional presidential council was established to prepare the country for elections after a fresh wave of attacks enabled gangs to take control of much of downtown Port-au-Prince. According to UN figures in January more than a million people were displaced and more than 5,600 were killed by gangs in 2024. Armed groups began occupying an area near the Oloffson in January, displacing residents and forcing staff to flee and the hotel to close. Universities on the same street have since shut down or relocated. Residents say there was a police operation in the area on the day the hotel was destroyed, but the cause of the blaze remains unknown, with clashes making it dangerous for officials or journalists to investigate. Haitian architect Daniel Elie said the torching of the hotel is 'part of a succession of losses', which has seen aspects of Haiti's culture 'going up in smoke'. 'The Oloffson was one of those rare spaces where two worlds tried to meet,' he said, adding that it was a part of the literary and artistic 'Indigenist movement' in Haiti between 1915 and 1945, which sought to reclaim African heritage and elevate the voices, traditions and lived realities of Haiti's rural population. 'All of that unfolded in venues such as the Oloffson. So beyond the architecture, its cultural legacy is even more significant,' he said. The hotel was one of the finest examples of gingerbread architecture – a popular style in Port-au-Prince in the latter half of the 19th century. The grand wooden houses, a blend of neoclassical and neo-gothic elements, were inspired by architectural trends in Europe at that time. 'A European bourgeoisie, strengthened by the Industrial Revolution, appropriated ancient styles and reinvented them' said Elie, a leading expert in heritage conservation. 'Haitian families were sending their children to Europe to study in universities and architecture schools, and they brought back all these ideas.' Some houses were even imported piece by piece from Europe. The hotel was designed by a French architect known only as Mr Lefèvre and assembled in Haiti by a French builder. Unlike many modern buildings, gingerbread houses like the Oloffson survived the 2010 earthquake, thanks to their flexible wooden frames. But many were lost to rapid urbanisation. Today, just a few dozen exist, local experts said – but scarcely any carry the historical weight of the Oloffson. Over the years it hosted Haitian presidents from Vilbrun Guillaume Sam in 1915 to René Préval in the 2000s, as well as musicians, film stars and renowned authors. Greene even set his 1966 novel, The Comedians, at the hotel and later co-wrote the screenplay for its 1967 film adaptation starring Taylor and Richard Burton. As portrayed in Green's novel, Oloffson was also a hotspot for foreign elites in search of exotic adventures during the 1960s and the 1970s. 'It was a kind of jet-set moment when Vogue would send photographers to shoot models in the lush gardens with glistening, shirtless paddlers in the background,' recalled French photographer and documentarian Chantal Regnault, who said she was struck by the colonial overtones when she first stayed there in 1979. 'You used to see a photo of the Oloffson on the cover of the city's tourism brochures,' recalled Théodore 'Lòlò' Beaubrun Jr of legendary Haitian band Boukman Eksperyans. As a child in the late 1960s, he would accompany his father, a renowned Haitian theatre artist, through the hotel's vast white-painted gallery, mingling with local artists. 'I learned so much, it was a school,' he said. 'When we started, it was all about catering to journalists,' said Richard Morse, who took over management of the Oloffson in 1987 with the help of his girlfriend. He later bought the property with his family. Speaking to the Guardian from Maine, he described the guilt and sense of helplessness as the hotel destruction came amid the rising tide of violence, murder and rape. Born in Puerto Rico to a Haitian mother and an American father, Morse had been a new wave rock musician in the US before moving to Haiti in search of traditional drum rhythms. In 1988, he launched Thursday night vodou music concerts at the hotel. This would later be a key moment in the rise of his vodou-rock band RAM, and a new era of cultural crossover for the venue, which he described as a fantastic 'Alice in Wonderland' experience. 'The gangs were the last clients – and they didn't pay,' he said. 'I need to go there and decide what to do. People keep telling me I can't go, but what I really want is just to stand in the yard. That's my home.' Haiti's stability was a significant concern for Caribbean leaders when they met earlier this month at the Caribbean Community (Caricom) leaders summit. Opening the meeting, the outgoing chair of Caricom and the prime minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, appealed for more global support for Haiti. 'The world really needs a check on itself when it comes to Haiti. If ever we doubted that there were first class and second class citizens in the eyes of the world, don't doubt it any more,' the Mottley said. She added that, in spite of the staggering loss of life, and the displacement of people and food insecurity, 'the world … has been unable to move beyond the promises and the platitudes that would bring help to the people of Haiti'. Mottley said the Caribbean's capacity to address the escalating situation is limited, and called for a 'truth talk, both within the context of what is possible from Haiti's perspective, but equally what is possible from the international community'.
The Guardian
30-06-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
‘Post-apocalyptic': medical staff struggle as gangs fight over aid supplies in Gaza
For the beleaguered staff of Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, one new casualty brought into the emergency department last week posed a particular challenge. He had been wounded moments earlier in the southern Gaza city while fighting in a battle between rival armed gangs over hundreds of valuable sacks of flours stripped from aid convoys and, within an hour of his arrival, men with assault rifles had invaded the hospital. They roughed up medical staff, smashed equipment and set fire to vehicles. Other armed men soon arrived and automatic gunfire reverberated around the sprawling hospital compound, already battered by successive Israeli strikes close by or on its buildings. There was worse to come. Soon, another force joined the shooting, dispatched by the interior ministry in Gaza, long a bastion of Hamas, to restore order. There was now a new gun battle, which ended only when the opposing gunmen from the two duelling gangs fled. Overhead, throughout the fighting, Israeli drones flew by. The incident, described to the Guardian by medical staff and local residents, was a microcosm of the new violence and anarchy in Gaza after almost 21 months of war. 'You have [these] gangs fighting and the Israeli airstrikes or troops shooting people, and Hamas still there, while there are miles and miles of ruins where desperate people are cooking on fires and living in tents and very hungry,' one humanitarian official said. 'It's like some kind of post-apocalyptic sci-fi film.' The war in Gaza was triggered by a surprise attack launched by Hamas militants into southern Israel in October 2023, which led to the killing of 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and the abducton of 251, 50 of whom remain in the territory. So far, the Israeli offensive has killed more than 56,500 Palestinians, mostly civilians, displaced most of the 2.3 million population and reduced much of Gaza to rubble. In recent months, more armed actors have joined the fighting, and a fierce struggle for power and influence has intensified even as the Israeli offensive continues. These now include various other militant factions, a dozen armed militias representing major local families or clans, new coalitions organised by independent community leaders, and criminal gangs empowered by the deepening anarchy. The result is that Gaza is fragmenting into individual fiefdoms. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) holds much of the territory, including a wide 'buffer zone' cleared of buildings along the territory's perimeter and a swath of the south along the border with Egypt, where it works closely with the Popular Forces, a new militia run by a former convict and smuggler called Yasser Abu Shabab. Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, has confirmed that Israel provides weapons to clans that oppose Hamas. Abu Shabab, who denies getting support from Israel or contacts with the Israeli army, also controls territory along Gaza's eastern perimeter near the main entry point from Israel – though the militia's influence there is contested by several armed local families. The chaos has encouraged other traditionally important families and clans to assert their control over much of the rest of south and central Gaza. In the north, Hamas remains a force in Gaza City and the shattered neighbourhoods of Jabaliya and Shujaiya. Though the Islamist militant organisation's military capabilities are now much reduced and most of its veteran leaders have been killed by Israel, many civilian technocrats remain in their posts in key ministries, and other officials, operating secretly, run neighbourhood administrations. 'They're hiding because they are being instantly hit by [Israeli] planes but they appear here and there, organising queues in front of bakeries, protecting aid trucks, or punishing criminals,' said a 57-year-old construction worker in Gaza City. 'They're not like before the war, but they exist.' Hamas and its paramilitary police forces have clashed with criminal gangs too – as shown by the firefight at Nasser hospital. 'All the people in Khan Younis are blaming [the fighters] for spoiling the hospital and have asked them to apologise,' said a senior medical official at the hospital. The police have also been repeatedly targeted by the IDF. Several members of the Sahm force, set up by Hamas to crack down on looters, profiteers and thieves, were killed last week in an Israeli airstrike on Deir al-Balah, a central town, which also killed about a dozen civilians. The IDF denied reports from witnesses that the police were distributing aid seized from looters when attacked. Stocks of aid built up during the two-month ceasefire early this year ran out during the subsequent 11 weeks when Israel allowed nothing into Gaza. 'The shortage is completely artificial and it means [aid] is the most valuable commodity now, so basically if you've got guns and you can get aid, you can use it to get money and power, and so that's causing a lot of the violence,' said one aid official, pointing out that a single 25kg sack of flour can sell for up to $500. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion Community leaders and heads of powerful families in Gaza say their aims are simply to serve the population. 'The clans came … to form a stance to prevent the aggressors and the thieves from stealing the food that belongs to our people,' said Abu Salman Al Moghani, a community leader, after gunmen from the Supreme Tribal Committee in Gaza guarded one aid convoy that entered last week. In recent weeks, the UN and other agencies have been allowed to bring in about 70 trucks a day. Most carry flour for Gaza's community kitchens but they are usually stopped by barricades made of concrete blocks and then stripped of their cargoes, sometimes by armed gangs but most often by desperate civilians who gather in massive numbers at points the convoys are expected to pass. 'The scenes are appalling. You have 50 trucks, spread over two kilometres, and there are 50,000 on the road trying to get the flour,' said another aid official in Gaza. Many civilians have been killed as they tried to reach food distribution hubs opened last month by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a secretive US- and Israel-backed private organisation. The GHF said on Sunday that it had safely delivered more than 51m meals despite 'a highly volatile environment'. Statistics from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) confirm ministry of health counts of more than 500 deaths from live fire on those seeking aid by Israeli forces in recent weeks, as well as a small number in clashes between looters. A report by Haaretz last week quoted multiple Israeli soldiers describing orders to fire at civilians. The report revealed the IDF had launched an investigation into potential war crimes. An officer quoted in the report told the newspaper about the growing chaos in Gaza. 'I'm stationed there, and even I no longer know who's shooting at whom,' he said. Reuters contributed to this report
Associated Press
25-06-2025
- Associated Press
Nigeria says gunmen kill at least 14 soldiers in clashes in the troubled north
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — At least 14 Nigerian soldiers have been killed in clashes with hundreds of gunmen in north-central Niger State, an army spokesman said Wednesday. More than 300 gunmen were planning to attack villages from their forest enclave in the Mariga council area on Tuesday when the military conducted 'precision strikes' and deployed soldiers to engage them, according to army spokesperson Appolonia Anele. Ten other soldiers were wounded, Anele said. The operation resulted in 'significant enemy losses,' the army added. Armed gangs have been terrorizing communities across northern Nigeria, many of them former pastoralists caught up in decades-long conflict with farming communities. Nigeria's army said the latest clash involved gangs operating out of the notorious Kwanar Dutse Forest, one of several abandoned reserves used as hideouts in the troubled region.
The National
09-06-2025
- Politics
- The National
Hamas and Israel-backed gang engage in battle of attrition in Gaza
The ranks of a shadowy, Israeli-backed gang in southern Gaza are swelling, with its armed members attacking Hamas operatives and their families, as well as gathering intelligence on behalf of Israel 's military. Sources told The National on Monday that Hamas has hit back at the gang, known as the Yasser Abu Shabab Popular Forces, by quietly eliminating its members and supporters. "Hamas is assassinating them in the range of five to seven a day," a sources said. "It's the latest chapter in a history of enmity between Hamas and armed gangs and families opposed to its rule in Gaza." The Yasser Abu Shabab gang now has up to 150 members, up from about 75 a little more than a week ago, who are equipped with assault rifles, walkie-talkies and night vision goggles, the sources said. They added that members of the gang are paid, which explains its rapid growth at a time when job opportunities are extremely scarce in an enclave devastated by war since October 2023. The leader of the gang is Yasser Abu Shabab, 31, the sources said. He has long been viewed with suspicion by residents of Gaza and many of his men have criminal records for drug trafficking and murder. But the gang has been operating in full view of the Israeli military since emerging in Gaza last month, the sources said. The group operates outside the framework of any recognised Palestinian authority and is accused of trying to create an alternative government model amid the leadership vacuum created by the war. Israel has not yet publicly shared its plan for Gaza after the conflict, which it says will not end until Hamas has been eliminated and all hostages held by the group are freed. Israel said on Thursday that it has "activated" Palestinian clans in Gaza as part of its war, confirming long-held suspicions that it is working with anti-Hamas groups. The announcement followed claims by a former Israeli minister, Avigdor Lieberman, leader of the opposition Yisrael Beiteinu party, that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved the transfer of large quantities of arms to organised crime families in Gaza. In a video posted online late on Thursday, Mr Netanyahu offered an explanation for his actions, saying the government was acting on the advice of 'security officials" to save the lives of Israeli soldiers. But the sources said supporting anti-Hamas groups raised the spectre of civil strife in Gaza, pitting Hamas fighters against the groups at a time when the majority of the enclave's 2.3 million population are facing severe shortages of food, water, medicine and other essentials. Israel last month eased a nearly two-month blockade on aid, but only a fraction of the supplies needed has since found its way to Palestinians. The sources said the Yasser Abu Shabab gang, which has a track record of trafficking in drugs and arms, as well as black market profiteering, was also carrying out tasks on behalf of the Israeli military, including blowing up structures suspected of concealing the entrances of Hamas tunnels. The gang has also besieged suspected tunnel entrances, hoping to prevent supplies from reaching Hamas fighters inside, the sources added. The sources could not ascertain the effectiveness of that anti-Hamas activity, but noted the group's weakness, estimating that it may have lost more than half of its fighters and a significant amount of its arsenal since the war began. Israel has a record of empowering groups potentially dangerous to its security to weaken major enemies. Taking advantage of Gaza's woeful economy, it is also known to be running an elaborate network of paid spies in the enclave, providing real-time intelligence on the whereabouts of senior Hamas officials and the group's military wing. Hamas dedicates a significant part of its policing capabilities to counter-espionage, hunting down informants and subjecting them to secret trials. It is known to have executed dozens of suspected spies since it took power in Gaza in 2007. The sudden rise of the Yasser Abu Shabab gang is widely seen as an Israeli experiment in government by proxy. Gazan civilians told The National last week that they view such groups, not as a protective force, but as collaborators offering people false promises in exchange for political and social submission. The gang claims to be guarding Israeli and US-backed food distribution centres in southern Gaza, but aid workers say it has a long history of looting UN lorries. Gaza's armed groups have ties to powerful clans or extended families and often operate as criminal gangs. Aid workers have said Israel's backing of such groups is part of a wider effort to control all humanitarian operations in the enclave. Israel denies allowing looters to operate in areas it controls. But with Hamas weakened after 20 months of war, gangs have regained the freedom to act. The leadership of several clans – including the one from which the Yasser Abu Shabab group's members hail – have issued statements denouncing looting and co-operation with Israel. The group went public in early May, declaring itself a "nationalist force". It said it was protecting aid, including around food distribution sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a mainly American private contractor that Israel intends to replace the UN-led aid network. Before the war, Yasser Abu Shabab was involved in smuggling cigarettes and drugs from Egypt and Israel into Gaza, according to two members of his extended family, one of whom was once part of his group. Hamas arrested him, but freed him from prison when the war began in October 2023, they said. The conflict began when Hamas-led fighters attacked Israel in October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking about 240 hostage. Israel's relentless military campaign has so far killed nearly 55,000 Palestinians, Gaza's health authorities have said. The conflict has displaced the majority of the its population and laid to waste much of the enclave's built-up areas.
