Violence in Haiti | Shots heard in Port-au-Prince, negotiations on the transition continue

(Port-au-Prince) Shots were heard Thursday in Port-au-Prince after three days of relative calm, at a time when negotiations on the creation of transitional authorities continue to try to get the country out of Caribbean of its deep political and security crisis.

The residence of the general director of police was looted and then set on fire by “bandits”, according to the Synapoha police union. The outgoing government extended the nighttime curfew until Sunday in the West department, which includes the capital.

On Monday evening, Prime Minister Ariel Henry, whose mandate was marked by a rise in gang power, announced that he was resigning.

During an emergency meeting in Jamaica with the participation of Haitian representatives, the Caribbean Community (Caricom), the UN and several countries such as the United States and France tasked Haitian groups with setting up a council national transition.

This structure must be composed of seven voting members representing the main political forces in Haiti and the private sector. She must choose an interim prime minister and appoint an “inclusive” government.

Democracy

Six out of seven groups have submitted the name of their representative to Caricom, several sources told AFP.

Only the left-wing Pitit Desalin party refuses to be represented. Steps are underway to replace it.

As for the members of the December 21 collective, Ariel Henry’s group, they were unable to agree on a single representative and designated three people.

“Over the past few hours, a number of the entities that will make up the transition council have submitted their names,” confirmed a spokesperson for the US State Department.

The United States will continue to work with Caricom, international partners and “above all with Haitians themselves” on ways to “return to democracy and free and transparent elections in Haiti,” he said. added.

Deployment suspended

Highly contested, Ariel Henry was appointed a few days before the assassination in 2021 of President Jovenel Moïse. Haiti, which has not had an election since 2016, is still without a head of state.

Gangs control entire swaths of the country, including 80% of the capital Port-au-Prince. Their violence – murders, rapes, kidnappings for ransom, looting – has recently taken on a new dimension, causing concern among international organizations.

Mr. Henry, who had gone to Nairobi to sign an agreement on sending Kenyan police officers to Haiti, was unable to return to his country.

After a few days of calm, automatic weapon fire was heard during the night in the capital.

“I heard gusts throughout the night. I couldn’t sleep. The shots were really close,” a resident of Vivy Mitchell, a district of Pétion-Ville, close to the police academy, told AFP.

On Thursday, shots were also heard near the airport, which remains closed.

In view of the situation, Kenya announced on Tuesday that it would suspend the deployment of its police officers as part of an international mission supported by the UN, but assured that it would intervene once a presidential council was installed.

For “the safety” of its teams and passengers and “out of an abundance of caution”, the cruise line Royal Caribbean told AFP that it was currently suspending its stopovers in Labadee, Haiti.

Emigration?

The reaction of gangs to political developments is particularly scrutinized. The leader of one of these armed bands, Jimmy Chérizier alias “Barbecue”, affirmed that the resignation of Ariel Henry “mattered little” to him and that he intended to “continue the fight for the liberation of Haiti “.

While waiting to see if an end to the crisis is in sight, the United Nations announced that they would set up an “air bridge” between Haiti and the neighboring Dominican Republic to allow “the fluidity of humanitarian aid”.

In the United States, the right has taken up the subject of Haiti from a migration angle, with former President Donald Trump and Republican presidential candidate relaying the false information according to which “hundreds of thousands of people are in arriving in our country from Haiti.