While the situation in the ground in Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince seems to have subsided for a while, a quick look at the political moves in play gives one the feeling that the worse may still be ahead for the impoverished, violence-stricken Caribbean country.
The CARICOM Caribbean leaders, after an ‘urgent’ meeting with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, announced a plan for a ‘transitional council’ to take over after the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry and ‘manage the transition’ back to democracy – but it’s become immediately apparent that it’s not going to fly.
The proposal to install interim new leadership in Haiti is already crumbling, as some political parties rejected the plan to create a presidential council that would.
The proposed panel would select an interim prime minister and a council of ministers.
But a series of different power players are out in force trying to be awarded unelected ‘transitional’ political power.
Politico reported:
“Jean Charles Moïse, an ex-senator and presidential candidate who has teamed up with former rebel leader Guy Philippe, held a news conference Wednesday to announce his rejection of the proposed council backed by the [CARICOM] international community.
Moïse insisted that a three-person presidential council he recently created with Philippe and a Haitian judge should be implemented.
‘We are not going to negotiate it’, he said in a loud voice as he wiped his forehead with a handkerchief. ‘We have to make them understand’.”
Guy Philippe led a revolt in 2004 against former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. He has just been released from a U.S. prison, after pleading guilty to money laundering.
Philippe says no Haitian should accept any proposal from CARICOM, that he sees as ‘complicit with Haiti’s elite and corrupt politicians’. He urged Haitians to take to the streets.
“’The decision of Caricom is not our decision’,” he said, referring to the regional trade bloc whose leaders presented the plan to create a transitional council. ‘Haitians will decide who will govern Haiti’.”
Other high-profile Haitian politicians declined the jockeying for positions of power.
“Meanwhile, a former senator, Sorel Jacinthe, and a young politician, Jorchemy Jean Baptiste, both supporters of Prime Minister Ariel Henry and the Dec. 21 coalition that backs him, called Radio Caraïbes separately Wednesday to argue why their [CARICOM] choice for the transitional council was the best one.”
What is notable in the Politico report is that nothing is said about rebel gang leader Jimmy ‘Barbecue’ Chérizier, who controls the heavily armed men who are in charge of things on the ground.
It’s not like he is not a force to be reckoned with.
William O’Neill, U.N.’s independent expert on human rights in Haiti: “This is absolutely catastrophic. I describe Port-au-Prince now as an open-air prison. There is no way to get out: land, air or sea. The airport is still not functioning.”
Read more:
HAITI HELL: Prime Minister Ariel Henry Resigns as Country Unravels Under Attack by Gang Rebels