According to officials on March 25, 2024, there has been a rush of meetings with Caribbean leaders and officials from the United States, Canada, and France due to recent unrest around a transitional presidential council that will be in charge of selecting Haiti’s new leader.
Fears for the members’ safety are among the reasons why the council hasn’t been sworn in yet, according to a regional official who was ordered not to speak with the press noted under anonymity that the regional trade group supporting the transitional council’s creation, is based in Guyana, where the representative also maintains offices.
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As gangs continue to target the capital of Haiti, the council’s establishment is being delayed. More than 4,000 prisoners have been released from the nation’s two largest jails after gunmen assaulted and burnt police stations and the nation’s principal international airport, which is still closed.
Numerous individuals have lost their lives in the attacks, and over 33,000 have left Port-au-Prince, the country’s capital.
According to the US Department of State, since March 17, over 340 American individuals have been evacuated from Haiti, the bulk of them from Port-au-Prince.
The nine-member council was forced to shuffle through candidates after the most recent nominee to represent EDE/RED, one of numerous political parties and organizations in Haiti, resigned. An official video message from Dominique Dupuy, the ambassador to UNESCO, stated that she resigned partly due to threats of murder and political abuse.
The Montana Accord, an organization of leaders from civil society with a seat on the council, recently stated on X, the former Twitter, that it was in favor of Dupuy and her family, “at a time when she is being persecuted and threatened.”
“Society must remain vigilant about all political maneuvers based on fear and terror,” it noted. “It’s time for us to stop the violence.”
Dupuy was swiftly removed, returning the council to nine members total—seven of whom are eligible to vote but had not yet taken the oath of office.
When the council will be publicly announced was not immediately apparent, since there was another scheduled meeting between its members and representatives from Caricom.
Once the council names a council of ministers and chooses a new leader for Haiti, officials are hopeful that the widespread gang violence will stop. Following the creation of the council, Prime Minister Ariel Henry has announced his resignation.
In downtown Port-au-Prince, gunmen set fire to a sizable open-air garage while gang violence has slightly decreased recently.
“A lot of people have lost everything,” attorney Joseph James said. “We couldn’t save anything.”
Elidor Samuel, a mechanic, combed through the burned dirt, looking for items that could still be reusable.
“All my tools have been burnt,” he said. “What am I going to do now?
According to a recent analysis by Romain Le Cour of the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, “rather than all-out war, the gangs seem to be pursuing a strategy of maximum pressure, consisting of attacks interspersed with lulls.”
According to a study conducted by a Swiss-based civil society group, the plan may not have been decided upon by gang leaders alone, but rather might have resulted from connections “that still bind them to their political bosses, who could be setting fluid red lines without renouncing the use of violence for political ends.”
Le Cour expressed worry, along with others, regarding the wait for Haiti to elect a new leadership.
“The inability to make the presidential transitional council operational bears witness to the conflicts running through the Haitian political arena, while each passing day consolidates the power of guns and of politico-criminal brokers,” he stated.
