The News
Haiti’s Prime Minister Ariel Henry officially resigned on Thursday morning, with violence forcing the transitional council’s swearing-in ceremony to be moved from the presidential palace for its members’ safety.
Henry, who had been the acting prime minister since 2021 after his predecessor was assassinated, agreed to step down last month after armed groups stopped him from returning to the country, where gangs now control most of the capital Port-au-Prince.
More than 2,500 people have died in the Caribbean nation since January, according to the UN, and shootouts between police and armed criminals are common.
The US has hailed the transitional council as a step towards free elections, but it will face extreme challenges, with prominent gang leader Jimmy “Barbecue” Chérizier warning incoming officials to “brace yourselves.”
The council’s mandate will expire in February 2026, the deadline for the selection of a new president.
SIGNALS
Haitians skeptical transitional council can navigate disparate interests
The transitional council is made up of long-time adversaries who have struggled to find common ground, leading Haitians to remain skeptical that the group “can now come together to lift Haiti out of the worsening security and humanitarian crisis,” Jacqueline Charles wrote for the Miami Herald. In the current crisis, there are “very disparate actors with disparate interests…there’s not one goal,” Charles told Foreign Policy, and the leadership vacuum has led to gang leaders to step in. To get past divisions and Haiti’s cycle of coups, failed elections, and foreign interference, the transitional council should prioritize building strong institutions, she said. “When you put institutions in place and provide them with support, then they can start to do the grassroots work in various communities and figure out how in this country of many realities, we find a way to move forward, even if we don’t agree.”
Haiti faces a growing humanitarian crisis and foreign aid falls short
“It is impossible to overstate the increase in gang activity across Port-au-Prince and beyond, the deterioration of the human rights situation and the deepening of the humanitarian crisis,” María Isabel Salvador, the UN’s special envoy for Haiti, told a UN Security Council meeting on Monday. More than 160,000 people have been displaced and many face growing hunger, but the country faces a huge shortfall in aid: the UN has asked for $674 million but has received less than 10% of that figure, Foreign Policy reported. While the US and EU have committed funding, the money often does not reach the people who need it: “You have a completely unconstitutional government in Haiti that’s not accountable and it’s not really clear how it’s spending any of that money,” one anthropology professor told NBC News.