Haiti has appointed businessman Laurent Saint-Cyr as the pinnacle of its transitional presidential council because the nation continues to battle rampant gang violence, corruption and financial insecurity.
Saint-Cyr’s inauguration ceremony came about on Thursday on the Villa d’Accueil, a colonial-style mansion in a suburb of the capital, Port-au-Prince.
“We should restore state authority,” Saint-Cyr mentioned on the ceremony. “The challenges we face are definitely linked to insecurity, however additionally they are the results of our lack of braveness, a scarcity of imaginative and prescient and our irresponsibility.”
However even the situation of Saint-Cyr’s inauguration was an indication of the instability Haiti confronted. The federal authorities has been largely displaced from downtown Port-au-Prince, the place gangs management practically 90 p.c of the town.
On Thursday morning, one distinguished gang chief, Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier, even pledged to disrupt Saint-Cyr’s inauguration.
“We’ve determined to march on the premier’s workplace and the Villa d’Accueil to finish all of it,” Cherizier mentioned in a video posted on-line.
He referred to as on Port-au-Prince’s residents to help him and his fighters of their strategy of the mansion: “Folks of Haiti, handle yourselves and assist us.”
However Cherizier was in the end not profitable. A safety mission backed by the United Nations and led by Kenya issued an announcement explaining that law enforcement officials had elevated their patrols within the space.
“Armed gangs had plotted to disrupt nationwide stability and render the nation ungovernable,” the assertion mentioned, asserting that legislation enforcement had efficiently deterred these efforts.
Saint-Cyr’s appointment, nonetheless, has drawn scrutiny for what it symbolises within the conflict-torn nation.
Each Saint-Cyr and Haiti’s prime minister, Alix-Didier Fils-Aime, are light-skinned, mixed-race businessmen who made their fortunes within the non-public sector. Saint-Cyr labored within the insurance coverage trade, whereas Fils-Aime led an web firm.
The vast majority of Haitians, nonetheless, are Black, with solely 5 p.c of the inhabitants figuring out as combined race. The nation itself is the poorest in Latin America.
Some critics worry the management of figures like Saint-Cyr might herald a slide backwards for Haiti’s authorities, the place energy has lengthy been concentrated among the many wealthy and lighter-skinned.
The nation has not held a presidential election since 2016, and turmoil within the nation elevated following the 2021 assassination of Jovenel Moise.
Felony networks have exploited the ability vacuum to develop their very own affect, whereas denouncing the remaining authorities management as inefficient and corrupt.
Although the presidential council was solely fashioned in April 2024, by the top of that yr, three of its members had been accused of corruption, although they denied wrongdoing.
The transitional presidential council is taken into account to be broadly unpopular, and its 9 members have been rotating into the management place.
Saint-Cyr is supposed to be the ultimate head of the council earlier than it completes its activity of holding a presidential election on February 7, 2026. At that time, Saint-Cyr and the council are anticipated at hand off energy to the election’s victor.
Elections for roles within the federal authorities are anticipated to unfold in three phases, beginning in November and ending with February’s presidential race. However critics warn gang violence might thwart these plans.
The United Nations estimates that 4,864 people in Haiti had been killed from October 2024 to June of this yr.
Threats of violence have compelled important providers to close down, together with hospitals and roadways, and practically 1.3 million individuals have been displaced from their properties.
The humanitarian state of affairs in Haiti is taken into account among the many most dire on the planet, and Saint-Cyr referred to as on the worldwide group to reply with additional assets.
“I invite all worldwide companions to extend their assist, ship extra troopers, present extra coaching,” Saint-Cyr mentioned at Thursday’s ceremony. “I’m asking the safety forces to accentuate their operations.”
Ambassadors from a number of overseas international locations had been in attendance. He directed a few of his remarks at them.
“Our nation goes via one of many best crises in all its historical past,” Saint-Cyr mentioned. “It’s not the time for lovely speeches. It’s time to behave.”