{"id":25246,"date":"2024-04-12T22:34:42","date_gmt":"2024-04-12T22:34:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/12\/haiti-in-crisis-sets-up-ruling-council-clearing-way-for-an-acting-leader\/"},"modified":"2024-04-12T22:34:42","modified_gmt":"2024-04-12T22:34:42","slug":"haiti-in-crisis-sets-up-ruling-council-clearing-way-for-an-acting-leader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/12\/haiti-in-crisis-sets-up-ruling-council-clearing-way-for-an-acting-leader\/","title":{"rendered":"Haiti in Crisis Sets Up Ruling Council, Clearing Way for an Acting Leader"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"550\" src=\"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/04\/12\/multimedia\/12haiti-government-qztv\/12haiti-government-qztv-facebookJumbo.jpg?fit=1050,550&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Haiti in Crisis Sets Up Ruling Council, Clearing Way for an Acting Leader\" title=\"Haiti in Crisis Sets Up Ruling Council, Clearing Way for an Acting Leader\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A new transitional ruling council was finalized in Haiti on Friday to try to bring political stability to a country wracked by escalating gang violence and a worsening humanitarian crisis.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The council\u2019s formation, announced in an official state-run bulletin, comes after gangs who have a brutal grip on much of the capital prevented the prime minister, Ariel Henry, from returning to the country after a trip overseas and ultimately pushed him to announce his resignation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The presidential transition council is tasked with restoring law and order through the appointment of an acting prime minister to head a new government as well as to pave the way for the election of a new president.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A coalition of armed gangs has had control of most of the capital, Port-au-Prince, since it launched an offensive in late February, destroying police stations and government offices, looting banks and hospitals and killing and kidnapping hundreds of people.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The establishment of the council was hashed out in Jamaica last month by a regional Caribbean Community bloc, CARICOM, along with the United States, France and Canada after it became clear that Mr. Henry would no longer be able to govern Haiti.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But the selection of the body\u2019s members was delayed after several names were withdrawn out of safety fears or because ethical issues had become a concern.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Henry <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/03\/01\/world\/africa\/haiti-kenya-police-security.html\" title=\"\">left Haiti for Kenya in early March to finalize an agreement<\/a> for a 2,500-member multinational force, led by the East African nation, to deploy and take on the gangs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The council includes members of Haiti\u2019s main political parties and coalitions as well as representatives of the private sector, civil society, the Haitian diaspora and religious leaders. The council\u2019s mandate says a new president is expected to take office in February 2026, but does not specify when elections would be held.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">As a condition for joining the body, all the members agreed to back deployment of the Kenya-led mission. Anyone under indictment, facing sanctions by the United Nations or intending to run in the next election was excluded from the council.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">One gang leader, Jimmy Ch\u00e9rizier, known as Barbecue, had threatened to attack anyone who signed on to the new government, describing the transition as an illegitimate concoction of Haiti\u2019s corrupt political system.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cCut off their heads and burn down their houses,\u201d he told his gang members, using a 19th-century war cry for Haitian independence.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">While the installation of the council is widely considered to be a positive step, many challenges remain, experts say.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWill it have the capacity to silence the guns of the armed men?\u201d asked Robert Fatton, a Haitian-born political scientist at the University of Virginia. \u201cHow can it be installed safely, and how can it start governing in an environment of widespread insecurity?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Some Haitians have questioned the council\u2019s constitutional legitimacy, and protesters tried to prevent the official announcement from being printed on Thursday at the offices of Le Moniteur, the official state bulletin.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The council must first be sworn in at the National Palace in downtown Port-au-Prince, the scene of some of the heaviest clashes between gang members and the Haitian police.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The multinational security force meant to take on the gangs still lacks funding, despite a pledge of $300 million by the Biden administration. So far Congress has approved only $10 million of that commitment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe are at a tipping point, and we need a solution now,\u201d U.S. Representative Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, a Democrat from Florida and the only Haitian American in Congress, said on the floor of the House this week. \u201cHaitians cannot wait any longer for the multinational security mission.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Biden administration pushed hard for the installation of the transition council, which comes days after the arrival of a new U.S. ambassador, Dennis Hankins, an experienced diplomat who served previously in Haiti.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI recognize that these are difficult times for the Haitian people,\u201d he said in a statement. \u201cHaitians deserve to be represented by elected officials who are accountable to the people.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The United Nations\u2019 human rights office reported this month that more than 1,500 people had been killed in Haiti so far this year, the result of what it described as a \u201ccataclysmic situation\u201d in the country.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Corruption, impunity and poor governance, together with increasing levels of gang violence, have brought the Caribbean nation\u2019s state institutions \u201cclose to collapse,\u201d the agency said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Local humanitarian agencies have also reported a shortage of food and fuel after the capital\u2019s main port was shut down. Several countries, including the United States, Canada and France, have evacuated hundreds of stranded citizens on emergency flights and by helicopter.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The World Food Program said that Haiti was suffering its worst levels of food insecurity on record after gangs took over farmlands and blocked the roads in and out of the capital, extorting buses and trucks delivering goods.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On Thursday, the program, which is a U.N. agency, warned that its stocks in Haiti could run out by the end of the month.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe can only hope the transition council is ready to deliver,\u201d said Reginald Delva, a Haitian security consultant and former Haitian government minister. \u201cThe population can no longer wait.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe are facing the worst humanitarian and sanitarian crisis,&#8221; he added. \u201cA new cabinet is a priority to get the ball rolling. Political leaders need to put their differences aside, make the population a priority.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/04\/12\/world\/americas\/haiti-transitional-council.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A new transitional ruling council was finalized in Haiti on Friday to try to bring political stability to a country wracked by escalating gang violence and a worsening humanitarian crisis. The council\u2019s formation, announced in an official state-run bulletin, comes after gangs who have a brutal grip on much of the capital prevented the prime [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":25247,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/04\/12\/multimedia\/12haiti-government-qztv\/12haiti-government-qztv-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[17060,30336,3483,734,1418,1891,1872,2584],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25246"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25246"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25246\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25248,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25246\/revisions\/25248"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}