On November 11, 2024, the Prime Minister of Haiti was fired by the Transition Council. The country has been in the grip of a severe crisis for around ten years and instability has resumed with a vengeance in recent days.
For several days, Haiti has been on fire. Already plagued by episodes of violence between gangs for around ten years, in addition to serious economic difficulties, the country is experiencing new tensions.
Haiti has not had a president since the assassination of former head of state Jovenel Moïse in 2021. The last elections were in 2016.
Prime minister sacked
On Monday, the Presidential Transitional Council of Haiti made the decision to dismiss Garry Cornille, at the head of the government since June, reports The World. His appointment was intended to stabilize the country, and in particular to hinder organized crime.
For a week, the Transition Council has been plagued by great tensions. Garry Cornille opposed the replacement of the Ministers of Justice, Finance, Defense and Health, although requested by the members of this transitional chamber.
A deadly context
At the end of October, the United Nations released a final distressing report. Between July and September, 1,233 murders were committed in the country of 12 million inhabitants. In comparison, in Île de France, which has the same number of inhabitants, there were 164 deaths over the whole of 2023, or proportionally 41 per three months – 30 times less than in Haiti.
Among these homicides, 45% are attributable to Haitian law enforcement and 47% to gangs. Acts of violence have increased by 40% since April. Most of these actions of a “extreme brutality”are committed by “self-defense groups”. On site, this movement is called “Kalé Wood”.
The Prime Minister will be replaced by businessman Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, note France 24. A second change this year. Because already, in April, the head of government Ariel Henry had resigned, which is why the Transition Council was set up.
Shots in the air
According to BFMTVa plane was targeted on Monday. The Spirit Airlines flight was heading to the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, from Florida when it was hit by gunfire.
Inspection of the device “revealed evidence of damage to the device consistent with gunfire”quote our colleagues according to the airline. A flight attendant was injured.
The country's authorities had to suspend commercial flights, and the targeted plane made an emergency landing in the Dominican Republic. The shootings are blamed on gangs. Earlier in the week, a helicopter was hit.
Gang violence
A scourge that has plagued the country for several years. Several gangs share Haitian territory, regularly using violence. These groups would control 80% of the capital of the country.
The gangs are regularly accused of murders, rapes, kidnappings and looting. The situation has only gotten worse. Especially since at the start of the year, the groups decided to unite to overthrow the government.
But civilians do not escape the violence. On September 5, deplores the UN, a teenager lost his life in abominable circumstances: “A 15-year-old boy, accused of stealing a pig, was beaten with a machete before being buried alive.”
700,000 inhabitants, half of them minors, had to flee their homes. A humanitarian mission, supported by the UN and the United States, was sent by Kenya. 400 people are there. The objective is “to help the Haitian police restore public order in a context of worsening civil conflicts and gang violence plaguing the country”notes the Institute for Security Studies.
