Ariel Henry, the man who took charge of Haiti after the assassination of Jovenel Moïse in 2021, and who was forced to resign in March amid a wave of gang violence and international pressure, now faces what What Haitians call the loneliness of kanpe lwen (to be far away in exile). The former prime minister who had clung to power was stranded in Puerto Rico due to the threat of criminal gangs and since then he has not been able to return home.
Then, the Presidential Transition Council (CPT) assumed the task of stabilizing Haiti and preparing the ground for future elections for which it will be necessary to restore order and security in the country. Almost three months later, this Monday, Garry Conille was officially sworn in as interim prime minister during a brief ceremony at the Reception Village, west of Port-au-Prince, something that commits him to starting the process of forming the Government in consultation with the CPT. . At the event, the president of that organization, Edgar Leblanc Fils, called on political actors to work with their eyes fixed on a single objective: achieving a successful transition.
The appointment occurs at a difficult time for the country, which is facing an unprecedented multidimensional crisis and while the international community advances in its attempt to contribute to the pacification of the country. On May 24, an advance team of 200 Kenyan police officers arrived in Port-au-Prince to assess preparations for the deployment of a multinational force to Haiti, which will be delayed from initial plans.
These are some of the keys to the current crisis in Haiti:
The CPT, the basis of current Haitian politics
The Transition Council was tasked with electing a prime minister with whom they would work together to lead the country toward “democratic, free and credible elections,” according to an agreement they reached for its formation. No member of the council or the current Government will be able to run in these elections. That body established three priorities: “security, constitutional and institutional reforms and elections.”
The Presidential Council is made up of nine members from traditionally antagonistic political sectors (eight men and one woman) who rotate the presidency and make decisions by qualified majority. In May, they announced that they had received more than 80 applications for the position of prime minister. Among them, Garry Conille was chosen.
Furthermore, in an agreement reached on April 3, CPT members committed to forming a ministerial cabinet, creating the Provisional Electoral Council, forming the Body for Control of Government Actions (OCAG) and creating a National Security Council ( CNS), among other things.
According to this agreement, CPT members must also form the Body for Control of Government Action (OCAG), which should be composed of a broad advisory group of the Presidential Council with Haitian civil society organizations in the capital, the departments and the diaspora.
For its part, the CNS must define the modalities of cooperation with international partners to improve security, including technical assistance to national security forces and the judicial system to sustainably resolve the problems of insecurity, armed violence, trafficking of people, drugs, weapons, ammunition and contraband.
Garry Conille, at the wheel of the transitional Government
With a master’s degree in Health Services Administration from the University of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and a specialization in gynecology, Garry Conille has a long career at the United Nations. This will be the second time that he has held a high position in the Haitian Government, which he presided over between October 18, 2011 and May 16, 2012.
Until last Saturday, Conille lived in Panama, where he served as UNICEF regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean. Already in Port-au-Prince, after his appointment, he presented the Government’s road map for the next 18 months in which he committed to “engaging in a constructive dialogue with armed groups to find peaceful solutions and avoid violent confrontations.”
He also promised to reinforce the presence of security forces in these areas, with specialized formations accompanied by the forces of the Multinational Security Support Mission and greater support to maintain public order and protect civilians.
Pacifying Haiti, an impossible mission?
About a thousand Kenyan police officers have been preparing to be deployed to Haiti in a bid to combat the violent gang crisis after Kenya volunteered to lead a multinational security force. Its mission will be to support the Haitian National Police in its fight to restore security in the country. In addition, Benin has offered to add 2,000 troops and the Bahamas 150. For its part, the United States promised 158 million dollars to support the deployment. And other Caribbean nations, such as Jamaica and Antigua and Barbuda, have also said they are willing to help.
After overcoming some obstacles – such as internal opposition in Kenya from those who criticized President William Ruto’s decision due to the deployment and judicial disputes – the African country sent an advance party of 200 officers who delivered an evaluation report to President William Ruto last Friday. in which he recommends a delay in deployment. According to Haitian authorities, the base from which the mission will operate is 70% complete. Then, the Kenyan leader made the announcement on his X account in which he assured that his country would fully comply with the mandate conferred by a UN resolution.
The arrival of the mission has not been without criticism in Haiti, a country with a bad memory of this type of operations in the past, with scandals that led citizens to request their departure from the country. The UN-Minustah mission, which ran from 2004 to 2017, was hit by sexual a
buse scandals and a cholera outbreak that killed more than 9,000 people and sickened another 800,000.
This time, international forces are not being deployed under the UN peacekeeping mission. They will be supervised by Kenyan forces, which have received authorization from the UN Security Council.
According to Kenyan media reports, hundreds of Kenyan police officers have received training and French classes in preparation for deployment. Kenyans speak English, Swahili and other indigenous languages, while French and the Haitian Creole, Kreyol, are the official languages of Haiti.
Meanwhile, Haiti prepares for deployment. Haitian presidential advisor Leslie Voltaire visited the construction site of the mission base in the area of the Toussaint Louverture international airport on May 29. “I am satisfied with the progress of the work,” Voltaire told EL PAÍS. “It is time for peace and security to return.” As he said, they are working hard so that the population can finally breathe.
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