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As violent street protests continued in Port-au-Prince on March 12, Haitians awaited news on who would replace Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who announced his resignation, as a member of the transitional council. CLARENS SIFFROY/AFP via Getty Images
Latest updates
A U.N. spokesperson said non-essential U.N. staff will leave Haiti starting Wednesday for security reasons, but “life-saving colleagues” will remain and the U.N. office will not leave. The situation in Port-au-Prince remains tense, but has calmed down somewhat since Prime Minister Ariel Henry promised to resign. After the establishment of Haiti's Transitional Presidential Council, Kenya remains committed to leading international forces to “restore peace and security,” President William Ruto said on Wednesday. A day earlier, Mr Henry's Foreign Office spokesman said the deployment of 1,000 police reinforcements was on hold due to uncertainty over who would replace Mr Henry. The capital, Port-au-Prince, is under a state of emergency as authorities try to quell gangs that have set fire to police stations and injured civilians in a fight for control of the capital. CLARENS SIFFROY/AFP via Getty Images.Oderin Joseph/AP; Ralph Teddy Errol/Reuters
Where is Haiti? What is happening there?
Haiti is the oldest independent republic in the Caribbean, the product of a black revolution against French colonialism and slavery in the early 19th century. Poverty, foreign intervention, a coup d'état, and a 2010 earthquake have left state institutions vulnerable, but the situation has become even more difficult since foreign mercenaries assassinated then-President Jouvenel Moïse in 2021.
Haiti has no standing army, and its underfunded national police, whose former chief was indicted in Moïse's conspiracy, is ill-equipped to fight the armed groups that have taken control of much of Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince.
The most recent fighting began on February 29, when Haiti's prime minister arrived in Kenya to rescue a planned contingent of 1,000 police officers. Gangs in Port-au-Prince barricaded streets, torched police stations, broke out thousands of people from Haiti's two largest prisons and vowed to arrest the national police chief and government ministers. With the capital's main port closed, food and medicine supplies have dried up, putting the poorest Haitians at risk of starvation.
Key people and groups you should know about in Haiti
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Ariel Henry is the Prime Minister of Haiti.Andrew Cusk/Associated Press
ariel henry
Henry had only been in office for a week when Moïse, who appointed him in 2021, was murdered. Henry quickly assumed de facto leadership of the country and promised to eventually hold elections. But his failure to do so last year, citing the risk of gang violence, further fueled public anger and calls for his resignation, which boiled over during a political trip to Kenya. On March 11, he said he hoped to restore order and would resign as soon as the Interim Presidential Council could take office. For now, he remains in Puerto Rico.
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Jimmy Sheridier, aka Barbeque, is the leader of the G9 Family and Alliance of Gangsters.Ralph Teddy Errol/Reuters
Jimmy (Barbecue) Cherizier
As the leader of the G9 gang federation, Mr. Chéridier is one of the most influential and feared figures in Haiti's underworld, but he likens himself to a revolutionary like Che Guevara. He took responsibility for the February 29 uprising and said its aim was to prevent Mr Henry's return to power. “We will liberate this country with our guns and the Haitian people,” he said in a video statement.
presidential transitional council
Mr. Henry's successor will include seven voting members from Haiti's political and business communities, as well as two non-voting observers, said Guyana's president and head of Caribbean trade bloc Caricom. Chairman Irfaan Ali said. The council will have some of the powers normally reserved for Haiti's president, such as appointing an interim prime minister and ministers. It is expected to establish an interim electoral council to organize Haiti's first elections since 2016.
Funmi Rabalas
This center-left Haitian party was founded by Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Haiti's last democratically elected president, who was overthrown in a 2004 coup. Mr. Funmi Ravalas will appoint members of the interim council.
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Claude Joseph spoke as Haiti's interim prime minister in 2021, serving in the role for about three months.Matthias Delacroix/Associated Press
claude joseph
The man who briefly served as Haiti's prime minister after Moïse's assassination is now one of those accused in the plot, but says the charges are politically motivated. His party, Development Commitment (EDE), is one of the parties represented in the transitional council.
Jean-Charles Moise
The former senator left Fanmi-Lavalas to found the Piti Dessalines party, was involved in the anti-Henry protests, and is now likely to invest in parliament on Henry's behalf.
Guy Philippe
Mr. Philip, a former police chief, led a coup attempt in 2004, ran unsuccessfully for political office, and later served a prison sentence in the United States on money laundering charges. Since being deported to Haiti last year, he has traveled the country holding rallies against Henry's government and vowing to return to politics.
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UN peacekeepers like the one who detained the suspect in 2007 were last in Haiti from 2004 to 2017 as part of the Brazilian-led mission MINUSTAH. Kena Betancur/Reuters
What are the United States, Canada, and our allies doing?
Military intervention in Haiti has a long and troubled history with little success, and many in the Haitian diaspora do not want their country to take that step. Representatives from around the world, including Canada's Ambassador to the United Nations Bob Rae, are gathering in Jamaica on March 11 to discuss ways to respond to the Haiti crisis. In the meantime, here's what different countries are already doing.
united nations
Last year, the United Nations established the framework for an international military force in Haiti to fund and facilitate, but not lead. In return, Kenya will send 1,000 police officers from participating countries including Benin, Bangladesh, Chad and Barbados, and command thousands more. The timing of the deployment has been in flux since Kenya announced in response to Henry's resignation that it would suspend the deployment until a transitional council of its officers could be held in Haiti.
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Haitian police stand guard outside the Canadian embassy during a protest against Henry Ralph on February 25.Ralph Teddy Errol/Reuters
USA and Canada
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Caribbean leaders in Jamaica on March 11 to discuss finding ways to ease the rising violence. Henry, who is banned from Haiti while traveling abroad, did not attend the closed-door meeting. Washington and Ottawa have pledged up to $200 million and $59 million, respectively, to international troops in Haiti. The US military sent reinforcements to the Port-au-Prince embassy on March 10 and allowed non-essential personnel to leave. On Tuesday, Canada's ambassador to the United Nations, Bob Rae, said military intervention was Haiti's best chance to eradicate the gangs that control parts of the country.
CARICOM
The Caribbean Regional Trade Bloc has spent months urging Haiti's factions to form an interim unity government, but without success.
dominican republic
Haiti's neighboring country, which has cracked down on Haitian immigration in recent years, has said it will not join international forces or allow Haitian refugee camps to be built on Dominican territory. President Luis Abinader has also refused entry to Henry.
Recommended books about Haiti
decibel podcast
What should Canada do to help Haiti? Michael Jean, former Canadian governor-general and UNESCO special envoy to Haiti, said last year that the decibel I told the paper about it. Subscribe for more episodes from The Globe and Mail's news podcast.
Explanation
Greg Beckett: The world needs to let Haiti write its own story
Robert Muga: Haiti's elites should be held accountable for supporting gangs
Robert Rotberg: Kenya offers to help Haiti, but US and Canada remain on the sidelines
With reporting from The Associated Press, The Canadian Press, Reuters and Globestaff
