Lefranc Joseph

Port-au-Prince has descended into urban warfare, with armed gangs controlling 90 percent of Haiti’s capital as of October 2025. This violence has displaced 1.4 million people and left thousands dead. Armed with US-sourced weapons and sustained by transnational trafficking networks, the gangs’ territorial conquests reveal how illicit arms flows and money laundering undermine weak states. The crisis challenges conventional development frameworks and demonstrates that urban fragility constitutes a growing global threat. Haiti’s experience offers crucial lessons for policymakers confronting similar dynamics in vulnerable cities worldwide.