Armed gangs announce ‘new battle’ in Haiti after the dismissal of the prime minister

Haiti’s Transitional Presidential Council (CPT) has dismissed Prime Minister Garry Conille, who had been in office since last May, when he was appointed by the same body that is now removing him to stabilize a country that continues to be mired in a wave of violence. His replacement is the businessman and former Senate candidate Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, whose appointment comes amid accusations of corruption, disputes over the legality of the process, and questions by Conille about the legitimacy of the decision, which he believes violates the Constitution. The armed gangs that have been sowing instability in the country have been quick to react. “The battle will begin again,” predicted guerrilla leader Jimmy “barbecue” Chérizier.

As he was sworn in, Fils-Aimé said his top priorities were to restore peace to the crisis-stricken nation and call elections, which haven’t been held in Haiti since 2016, the Associated Press reported. “There is a lot to be done to bring back hope” he said before a room of suit-clad diplomats and security officials. “I’m deeply sorry for the people that have been victimized, forced to leave everything they own.”

The move is the latest blow to Haiti’s political stability. Armed gangs have taken control of most of the capital, Port-au-Prince, and nearby regions, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes and exacerbating food insecurity for those who remain. Promised international aid to stabilize the country and support the population is still lagging.

On Monday, a Spirit Airlines flight landing at the international airport in Port-au-Prince was shot at by armed gangs, according to the airline and the U.S. State Department. A flight attendant sustained minor injuries and the airport was temporarily shut down as the country prepared to swear in its new leader.

The decision to remove Conille, considered by some political sectors as illegal, was announced on Sunday through a leaked executive order before its official publication. Eight of the nine members of the transition council signed the resolution; former senator Edgard Leblanc Fils, who previously led this body, refused.

Conille, who in recent weeks, faced with the magnitude of the security crisis in the country, had embarked on trips abroad in search of assistance, responded to the announcement in a letter to Ronald Saint-Jean, editor of the national press, in which he requested that the resolution not be published in the official newspaper Le Moniteur. The former prime minister argued that the Haitian Constitution grants exclusively to parliament the power to dismiss a prime minister and not to the Presidential Council. In his brief, Conille called the CPT’s action an abuse of power and asserted that the government has a responsibility to manage the publication of official acts.

The situation in Haiti has not improved substantially in recent months and remains extremely critical. Without a parliament and without an elected president, the country is going through an unprecedented institutional crisis. Conille, who took office in May after a selection process among several candidates, had difficulty collaborating with members of the council, who represent political parties preparing for the elections.

Barbecue: “The battle will begin again”

In a video posted on social media Sunday, the leader of the armed coalition known as Viv Ansanm (Living Together), Barbecue, said that “the battle will begin again” and called on the population not to go out on the streets unless absolutely necessary. In his message, he claimed that the authorities are not looking out for the interests of the Haitian people, that “the time for the Viv Ansanm gangs to observe the situation has come to an end” and that “the time has come, as you are accustomed to doing, to take the destiny of this country into your own hands.”

Political instability has been compounded by a growing wave of gang violence that has displaced thousands of Haitians and generated food insecurity. More and more neighborhoods are controlled by gangs, and more people are going hungry despite the presence of the Kenyan-led, UN-backed Multinational Security Support Mission.

In recent weeks, as the situation has worsened, Conille has embarked on trips abroad — to the United Arab Emirates and Kenya — seeking security assistance following a gang attack that left at least 70 people dead. Between July and September alone, at least 1,223 people were killed and 522 injured in Haiti as a result of violence and the fight against gangs, according to the United Nations Integrated Office in the Caribbean country. Added to this are the 3,900 victims between deaths and injuries in the first half of the year, after 2023 closed with some 8,000 victims.

The transitional council, appointed in April, was tasked with electing a prime minister and assuming certain presidential powers until conditions are deemed safe enough to hold new elections. Despite the presence since June of troops from the Kenyan-led Multinational Security Support Mission with the backing of the UN, violence has not ceased in Haiti.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition