Miami, April 25, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalist is appalled that a Haitian gang has taken over a local radio station, renamed it Radio Taliban FM, and is using it to broadcast propaganda on the troubled Caribbean island.
“We are critically concerned that the chaos in Haiti makes it nearly impossible for anyone — journalists included — to safely go about their daily lives,” said CPJ U.S., Canada, and Caribbean Program Coordinator Katherine Jacobsen. “Order must be restored, not least so that media outlets such as Radio Panic FM can provide news to Haitians and the world, rather than being hijacked to become mouthpieces for gangs.”
Privately owned Radio Panic FM’s director Joseph Allan Jr. told the Haiti-based SOS Journalists group, that the station in the central city of Mirebalais has been under the control of gang members since April 20.
“The gunmen have their own producer to operate the radio station and they played repeatedly a song recently released by their boss Jeff Larose,” the Haitian-Caribbean News Network reported.
Larose heads the Canaan faction of Viv Ansanm, or Living Together in Creole — an alliance of former rival gangs who joined forces in 2023 and took control of most of the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince.
Viv Ansanm attacked Mirebalais in March, forcing residents to flee. Journalist Roger Claudy Israël was taken hostage along with his brother. Both were later released; another journalist, Jean Christophe Collègue, was reported missing by his family.
Panic FM is the fourth Haitian broadcaster to be struck by gangs in the last month, following attacks on Radio Télévision Caraïbes (RTVC) and Mélodie FM, and TV Pluriel, in Port-au-Prince.
This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.