‘Will act accordingly’: US threatens action against Haitian council

The Transitional Presidential Council in Haiti is being advised by the United States that it would take action if the temporary governing body’s security were to be compromised.

The US embassy in Haiti stated in a stern-worded social media post on Thursday that its goal was “the establishment of baseline security and stability.”

The non-elected Transitional Presidential Council’s tentative change of the government composition would appear to be an attempt to undermine that goal, according to Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, who wrote in a letter to the US.

If the council were to undergo such changes, the US would respond, he added. However, his statement failed to specify the specifics of the warning’s occurrence.

Anyone supporting a disruptive move that favors the gangs would be acting in a way that would conflict with the interests of the United States, the region, and the Haitian people, according to Landau.

Haiti’s government is still struggling to cope with the effects of widespread gang violence, instability, and corruption.

However, the region’s response to the US threat is likely to be agonizing, particularly in the wake of Venezuela’s January 3 attack.

In a move known as the “Donroe Doctrine,” a riff on the Monroe Doctrine from the 19th century, President Donald Trump has repeatedly defended the idea that the entire Western Hemisphere falls under its purview.

Trump has made use of that premise to support his claims that the US needs to control Greenland and that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro should be kidnapped.

A crisis in politics

Haiti, which is located 800 kilometers (11, 000 kilometers) southeast of the United States, has long experienced instability. Because of the legacy of foreign intervention, dictatorship, and natural disasters, it is still regarded as the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere.

However, the nation experienced a new crisis in 2021 when Jovenel Moise was killed inside his Port-au-Prince residence.

Since then, there hasn’t been a single federal election, which has caused a government-confidence crisis. Mandats for the last federally elected officials came to an end in 2023.

According to experts, Haiti’s gangs have taken control of large areas of the territory, including up to 90% of the capital, as a result of the country’s lack of leadership.

More than 1.4 million Haitians have been forced out of their homes as a result of the violence. Millions more people are affected by food insecurity because gang-led roadblocks frequently obstruct thoroughfares.

An estimated 8, 100 people were killed in the violence between January and November of last year, according to a UN report released this week. Since 2024, when the annual total was 5,600, has increased, that is.

However, efforts have been made to restore stability in the nation. To establish the framework for new federal elections, the Transitional Presidential Council was created as a temporary governing body. It was established in 2024 and has nine members who serve as chairs on a rotating basis.

However, the council quickly received criticism for its largely selected members from the country’s business and political elite, and corruption allegations began to surface. Additionally, the members have engaged in internal fighting.

The tensions on the council are also heightened by the US. It placed visa restrictions on an unnamed government official who was later identified in the media as Fritz Alphonse Jean, a member of the council.

The council had planned to hold tiered elections starting in November, but they failed to do so, forcing the first vote to be postponed until August.

The council’s mandate is set to expire on February 7, and the panel’s future is still undetermined.

UN action is demanded.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres attributed the government’s dysfunctional leadership to Haiti’s ongoing humanitarian crisis in this week’s Haiti report.

As transitional governance arrangements near expiration and overdue elections remain urgent, violence has increased and spread geographically, aggravating food insecurity and instability, according to Guterres.

Another UN representative, Carlos Ruiz-Massieu, who is in charge of the UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH), was equally vocal about the urgent need for unified governance and transparent democratic processes.

Let’s be clear: “The country no longer wastes time on protracted internal struggles,” he said.

Ruiz-Massieu added that there have been “encouraging” signs ahead of the upcoming elections this year in a speech to the UN Security Council on Wednesday. He applauded efforts to increase voter registration, particularly among those in Haiti’s diaspora, and promote female political participation.

However, Ruiz-Massieu emphasized that security concerns, including gang violence, could impede the democratic process and that more needed work needed to be done before elections could be held.

According to him, “achieving this goal will require continued coordination among the relevant institutions, predictable funding of the electoral process, and security conditions that allow all voters and candidates to participate without fear.”

Source: Aljazeera