The humanitarian and political crisis that Haiti is experiencing is as relevant as the events in the Gaza Strip or Ukraine, the US Undersecretary of State, Brian Nichols, stressed this Friday in a talk with a group of international journalists, including THE COUNTRY. “The situation in Haiti is an international crisis as important as any other challenge that the international community faces today,” said the senior official, urging countries to make “robust contributions” to the multilateral force that is being prepared and the efforts of peace, a day after the new Presidential Transition Council was established in a ceremony at the presidential palace in Port-au-Prince.
The new interim Prime Minister, Michel Patrick Boisvert, former head of the Economy and who replaces the resigned Ariel Henry, has now been in charge of the normalization process that must culminate in elections and the inauguration of a president elected at the polls in February 2026, the first since the assassination, in 2021, of Jovenel Moïsse.
It is a “key moment” for Haiti, noted Nichols, who on Thursday hailed the formation of the transitional council as “a vital step for Haiti’s return to inclusive governance.” And in the conversation with the press this Friday he added: “There has been frustration because this process has not progressed as quickly as Haitians would have liked, but it is a process that has finally allowed the entire political spectrum to come to an agreement. on a path of consensus.”
The process faces enormous challenges: while the nine members of the transitional council took office on Thursday, the sound of bullets nearby was a reminder that 80% of the capital, and a good part of the country, is still controlled by the gangs. that in the first three months of the year they have killed more than 2,500 people, an increase of 53% compared to the same period in 2023, according to UN data. These gangs, now unified in the Live Together movement, under the leadership of former police officer Jimmy Barbecue Chérizier, and who prevented the return to the country of Prime Minister Ariel Henry in February – who resigned on Wednesday -, continue their routine of murders, rapes and kidnappings; and have promised to block the political normalization process.
Restoring security is the top priority. A multilateral force of more than a thousand members, headed by Kenya, must arrive to support the Haitian national police force that confronts these gangs. But their landing is still pending schedule and funds: the Government in Nairobi was waiting for the swearing-in of the transitional council to reactivate the sending plans, although this Friday it indicated that it is ready to resume preparations for a force of which the The UN considers an “imminent deployment” essential.
Even more pressing is the question of funds. The United States has promised, for the moment, 300 million dollars (280 million euros), of which 200 million (186 million euros) will be contributed by the Department of Defense and the other 100 (93.4 million euros) by the State Department; as well as equipment for the Haitian national police. But it estimates that between 500 and 600 million dollars annually (between 467 and 560 million euros) will be necessary to maintain that force. Nichols has noted that the first year the cost will be higher, and he has expressed hope that other countries in the region will offer significant contributions.
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“Countries around the world must make robust contributions to that effort. We continue to involve our partners so that they are generous when it comes to facing this challenge,” indicated the Deputy Secretary of State in his meeting with journalists.
The humanitarian situation is on the brink: more than 380,000 people have been displaced by gang violence, and extreme insecurity continues to complicate the control of key transportation routes and the development of economic activity.
Nichols has highlighted the opening, as of this Thursday, of the Port-au-Prince airport as a positive development, which adds to the establishment of the transition council and will allow the arrival of planes that “transport much-needed humanitarian aid to Haiti.”
One of the fears in the region is that the crisis will generate an avalanche of asylum seekers in other neighboring countries, a possibility that the State Department admits, although it emphasizes that at the moment no signs in that sense are detected. “The potential for a mass migration event in Haiti cannot be ruled out, but we see no indication of this at this time. We are not seeing signs of boat construction on the beaches or greater migratory flows from there,” Nichols noted.
The new Haitian transitional council has five objectives before it: in addition to restoring public security and holding free elections, organizing a national conference and constitutional reform; restore justice and the rule of law, and achieve institutional and economic recovery.
The institutional structures of the Haitian State, “weakened by decades of political instability, have suffered a spectacular collapse,” declared one of the members of the Council, Régine Abraham, at the inauguration. “Not only the quality, but the very existence of the public services offered to our population, has been compromised,” she added.
“It is a vitally important moment,” the Deputy Secretary of State reiterated. Despite the problems, “we are seeing progress in Haiti,” he stated. “There is an opportunity for positive change. Haitian leaders who many people had said could never get on board with anything have finally united around the presidential transition council… There is much work to be done to return Haiti to full democratic government. But we have seen very important achievements in recent days.”