Emmanuel Wilmer (known popularly as Dread Wilme) was a Haitian criminal, rebel, and anarchist killed in a United Nations armed assault on Cité Soleil that killed dozens of people. The assault was led by Brazilian general

Augusto Heleno Augusto Heleno Ribeiro Pereira (born 29 October 1947) is a Brazilian politician coup articulator and retired General of the Brazilian Army. He was military commander of the Amazon and Chief of the Department of Science and Technology of the Arm ...

and was carried out by

COMANF The Marine Corps Special Operations Battalion, known as the Tonelero Battalion, located in the city of Rio de Janeiro, is the military unit of the Amphibious Commandos (COMANF), which are a troop of Special Forces of the Marine Corps of the Brazi ...

on July 6, 2005. Cité Soleil, the location where the assault occurred, was largely governed by

Aristide Jean-Bertrand Aristide (born 15 July 1953) is a Haitian former Salesian priest and politician who became Haiti's first democratically elected president. A proponent of liberation theology, Aristide was appointed to a parish in Port-au-Prince in ...

-backed gangs affiliated with Fanmi Lavalas who monitored visitors via two roads that accessed the slum.

Background

In February 2004, under pressure from the United States government and local unrest, Prime Minister Claudette Werleigh resigned. Large portions of Cité Soleil, a slum largely without government services, water infrastructure, or police presence, were politically loyal to Aristide. The Fanmi Lavalas affiliated gangs, of which Wilmer was a leader, and the anti-Aristide paramilitary groups began to scale up violence in response to the government of the new interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue. The territory of the anti-Aristide paramilitary groups was located in a section of Cité Soleil known as Boston, backed by a leader known as Labaniere. More than a political war, the gangs were also fighting over drugs, turf, and other illegal activities. Residents attempting to cross from one turf to another without prior gang approval were shot by sniper fire for fear of being informants. The only hospital in the area was shut down after a French diplomat visiting the hospital was caught in a gun fight against a Wilmer-allied gang and was rescued from the facility by Brazilian Marines Special Forces. A wikileaks source revealed that the business elite of Haiti, aligned with the new government, were privately arming police forces after the February 2004 transfer of power to protect their business interests in the country. Thomas Robenson, aka Labaniere, was formerly a member of the Aristide-Lavalas party, but joined the private forces in protecting commercial zones following the February transfer of power. On March 30, 2005 Labaniere was killed by a Wilmer-backed group. After Labaniere's death, UN troops had difficulty discerning Cité Soleil residents from government opposition members. On July 6, 2005, the UN assault began.

Controversy

The pro-

Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network called Wilmer a community leader and a

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

. It is claimed by

MINUSTAH ) , leader_title = Head , leader_name = Sandra Honoré (Special Representative of the Secretary-General) , status = Replaced by MINUJUSTH , formation = 1 June 2004 , websiteUN Peacekeeping: MINUSTAH

and the supporters of the 2004 coup that Wilmer was a gangster; however, this characterization is disputed by supporters of deposed Haitian president

Jean-Bertrand Aristide Jean-Bertrand Aristide (born 15 July 1953) is a Haitian former Salesian priest and politician who became Haiti's first democratically elected president. A proponent of liberation theology, Aristide was appointed to a parish in Port-au-Prince in ...

and others. Local and left-leaning press characterized Wilmer as a freedom fighter defending his turf from foreign invaders. This press raised Wilmer to the same status of Charlemagne Péralte and Kapwa Lamò. On October 17, 2005, a few months after Wilmer's death, the people of Cité Soleil renamed a section of Route 9 as "Dread Wilme Boulevard".

Background

Controversy

References

Further reading