Haiti opened a new political chapter Thursday with the installation of a transitional council tasked to pick a new prime minister and prepare for eventual presidential elections, in hopes of quelling spiraling gang violence that has killed thousands in the Caribbean country.
Ariel Henry, the prime minister who had been locked out of the country for the past couple of months due to the violence, cleared the way for the transition by presenting his resignation in a letter signed in Los Angeles.
The document was released Thursday in Haiti on the same day as the new transitional council was sworn in to choose a new prime minister and Cabinet. Henry's outgoing Cabinet chose Economy and Finance Minister Michel Patrick Boisvert as interim prime minister. It was not immediately clear when the transitional council would name its own choice for interim prime minister.
The council was officially sworn in at the National Palace in downtown Port-au-Prince early Thursday as the pop of sporadic gunfire erupted nearby.
Addressing a crowded and sweaty room in the prime minister's office hours later in Petion-Ville, Boisvert said that Haiti's crisis had gone on too long and that the country now finds itself at a crossroads.
"After long months of debate ... a solution has been found," Boisvert said. "Today is an important day in the life of our dear republic."
Michel Patrick Boisvert, center, who was named interim Prime Minister by the remaining cabinet of outgoing Prime Minister Ariel Henry, attends the swearing-in ceremony of the transitional council in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, April 25, 2024.
He called the transitional council a "Haitian solution," and directing his remarks toward them, Boisvert wished them success, adding, "You are to lead the country to peace, to economic and social recovery, to sacred union, to participation."
The council was installed more than a month after Caribbean leaders announced its creation following an emergency meeting to tackle Haiti's crisis.
The nine-member council, of which seven have voting powers, is expected to help set the agenda of a new Cabinet. It also will appoint a provisional electoral commission, a requirement before elections can take place, and establish a national security council.
The council's nonrenewable mandate expires February 7, 2026, at which date a new president is scheduled to be sworn in.
Violence unchecked
Gangs launched coordinated attacks that began on February 29 in the capital, Port-au-Prince, and surrounding areas. They burned police stations and hospitals, opened fire on the main international airport that has remained closed since early March, and stormed Haiti's two biggest prisons, releasing more than 4,000 inmates. Gangs also have severed access to Haiti's biggest port.
Police patrol in an armored vehicle in the Champ de Mars area of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, April 24, 2024.
The onslaught began while Prime Minister Henry was on an official visit to Kenya to push for a United Nations-backed deployment of a police force from the East African country.
He remains locked out of Haiti.
"Port-au-Prince is now almost completely sealed off because of air, sea and land blockades," Catherine Russell, UNICEF's director, said earlier this week.
The international community has urged the council to prioritize Haiti's widespread insecurity. Even before the attacks began, gangs controlled 80% of Port-au-Prince. More than 2,500 people were killed or injured from January to March, up by more than 50% compared with the same period last year, according to a recent U.N. report.
"It is impossible to overstate the increase in gang activity across Port-au-Prince and beyond, the deterioration of the human rights situation, and the deepening of the humanitarian crisis," Maria Isabel Salvador, the U.N. special envoy for Haiti, said at a U.N. Security Council meeting on Monday.
SEE ALSO: Haiti police bolster security around palace ahead of transitionIn attendance at Boisvert's swearing in Thursday was Dennis Hankins, the newly installed U.S. ambassador. He said Thursday's events were an important step for Haiti.
"In crisis, the Haitians are able to do tremendous things, so we're here to help them," Hankins said. "We won't be the solution, but hopefully we will be part of helping those finding the solution."
As part of that, he said the U.S. government was working to enforce export controls on weapons, many of which have found their way to Haiti, fueling the violence.
"The fact that many of the arms that come here are from the United States is indisputable and that has a direct impact," Hankins said. "It is something we recognize is a contributing factor to instability."
At the United Nations Thursday, World Food Program Deputy Executive Director Carl Skau said Haiti is suffering from a security, political and humanitarian crisis that is causing acute food insecurity for some 5 million people, or about half the population.
Transitional council
The council members are Emmanuel Vertilaire for Petit Desalin, a party led by former senator and presidential candidate Jean-Charles Moise; Smith Augustin for EDE/RED, a party led by former Prime Minister Claude Joseph; Fritz Alphonse Jean for the Montana Accord, a group of civil society leaders, political parties and others; Leslie Voltaire for Fanmi Lavalas, the party of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide; Louis Gerald Gilles for the Dec. 21 coalition that backs former Prime Minister Ariel Henry; Edgard Leblanc Fils for the Jan. 30 Collective, which represents parties including that of former President Michel Martelly; and Laurent Saint-Cyr for the private sector.
Smith Augustin, center, a member of the new transitional council, speaks to the press after the swearing in of the council in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, April 25, 2024.
The two non-voting seats were awarded to Frinel Joseph, a pastor, and Regine Abraham, a former World Bank and Haitian government official.
Abraham said that gangs now control most of Port-au-Prince, tens of thousands of the capital's residents have been displaced by violence, and more than 900 schools in the capital have been forced to close.
"The population of Port-au-Prince has literally been taken hostage," she said.