
Members of the ‘Sixx’ and ‘Seven’ gangs in Saint Lucia agreed to put an end to the violence on Saturday after feuding with each other for months.
The groups met with each other in New Village, Castries, according to a report from DBS News World.
The meeting was organised by a local group called ‘Strive’.
President of the organisation, Steve Jean, said, “It only took us a week (to) say… we have to stop it.”
“I think that peace will hold forever,” he added.
Michael Phillips, another member of ‘Strive’, said he hopes the groups can remain at peace.
“We had the ones from New Village go to… Wilton’s Yard (to) play football,” he said.
And since then, they’ve made tremendous progress.
Some of the gang members were unable to attend school for months “because… their enemies (were) waiting for them … with cutlass and knives,” Phillip said.
Four of them were able to attend school on Monday, however.
“We’re looking to put the rest back in school but…. we need financial support,” he noted.
The gangs’ history can be traced back to Trinidad.
In late 2023, the Daily Express said the ‘Sixx’ and ‘Seven’ had agreed to put an end to the bloody killings.
“Both leaders we spoke with told us they wanted peace. And in turn, sent messages through their own mediums to give each other the reassurance that they wanted peace on the streets,” an Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) officer told the outlet.
So, what triggered the war?
The IATF officer told the Daily Express “They try to settle disagreements through violence and one act of violence leads to reprisal killings. Reprisals account for about 35 per cent of the killings and if police can get to them before that, we could minimise this. When there is a shooting over the years we realise that quick intervention prevents reprisal killings”.
In 2023, a company in Trinidad warned employees to avoid clothing with numbers that might be mistaken for gang allegiance, Trinidad Newsday reported.
The warning was necessitated by at least one incident where a worker carrying an umbrella with the number ‘six’ was confronted by gangsters, said Newsday.
“The number six was merely an indication of the postal district,” the website reported.
Locally, the authorities are hoping that the level of violence will decrease.

Castries Central Parlimentarian, Richard Frederick, praised ‘Strive’ for their initiative.
“I want to make this pledge publicly. I want the men that brought them together to think of any programme…. that will benefit the young men,” he said, and he will ensure that it’s funded.
“We want our youth to go forward,” he added.