During a contentious conference over Haiti’s growing crisis on April 10, 2024. a U.S. official stated that the establishment of a transitional committee tasked with selecting the country’s next leaders is soon.
Brian A. Nichols, the U.S. assistant secretary for Western Hemisphere affairs, stated at a Council on Foreign Relations event in New York that the nine-member council may be formally constituted in Haiti as early as this week.
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Authorities are excited for the council to be established as Haiti struggles under a leadership vacuum, with the prime minister barred from a nation where gang violence has engulfed the capital of Port-au-Prince and the surrounding areas, driving more than 53,000 people from the region in recent weeks.
Experts warn that hunger and disease rates are rising, yet Haiti’s key dock and airport are still blocked, blocking off vital help.
Nichols expresses concerns for the impoverished nation, “There is no greater humanitarian crisis in the world today than what is going on in Haiti.”
On February 29, gangs started targeting important government buildings around Port-au-Prince. They stormed police stations, the country’s two largest prisons, and released nearly 4,000 prisoners while also opening fire on the main international airport, which is still closed.
The situation has been described as “cataclysmic” by the U.N. Human Rights Office, which notes that as of late March, over 1,550 people had died and over 800 were injured.
It is not anticipated that the establishment of the seven-member transition committee, which will have the authority to vote on selecting Haiti’s new prime minister and Cabinet, can instantly resolve the nation’s long-standing issues.
According to Nichols, there isn’t “one single thing” that can fix all of the nation’s issues.
Monique Clesca, a writer from Haiti who is a part of the Montana Group, a combination of political, commercial, and civic figures who were given seats on the transitional council, criticized Nichols during the one-hour session.
She accused Prime Minister Ariel Henry of being inept and accountable for the nation’s declining circumstances, and she denounced the United States for having backed him. After President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated in July 2021, Henry was sworn in as an acting leader with support from the international community.
Henry has faced opposition from Haiti’s most influential gangs, who point out that he was not legitimately elected and that he has pledged to step down when the council is established.
“You dropped him like a hot potato,” Clesca said to Nichols, asking her why the United States had ever backed Henry in the first place. “If we are going forward … we have to think about that policy. Was it bad? What can we learn from it? Can we admit that there was a failure?
In February, Henry traveled to Kenya to advocate for the United Nations-backed transfer of a police force from the East African nation, and while there, the country’s gangs began carrying out massive attacks against government targets. Since then, he has been prohibited from entering the nation due to the unrest that has prompted the closure of important ports of entry.
Questioners in New York questioned panelists on why the gangs controlling 80% of Port-au-Prince were left out of negotiations and the formation of a transitional council.
“Having a broad, inclusive dialogue among all segments of society is certainly something that is worth doing,” However, Nichols stated that the gangs’ interests “cannot be put ahead of ordinary, law-abiding citizens.”
He asserted that to address the root causes of gang membership, remedies are required, “There has to be access to education and job opportunities and training programs.”
Clesca continued by saying that social identities need to shift to emphasize careers and education more.
Garry Pierre-Pierre, the creator of the online news outlet The Haitian Times, situated in Brooklyn, was also present on the panel. He bemoaned that the Haitian diaspora has not been sufficiently consulted during the crisis and said that Haitian officials and the nation’s elite have long secretly supported gangs to further their interests.
“Security is a short-term problem that can be dealt with,” he noted, “But stitching back Haitian society, that’s going to be a real challenge.”
