The United States has issued a warning to Haiti’s Transitional Presidential Council, writing that it would consider action should the temporary governing body compromise the Caribbean nation’s security.
In a sternly worded social media post on Thursday, the US embassy in Haiti maintained that its goal was the “establishment of baseline security and stability”.
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“The US would regard any effort to change the composition of the government by the non-elected Transitional Presidential Council at this late stage in its tenure (set to expire on February 7) to be an effort to undermine that objective,” Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau wrote.
He added that the US would respond if such changes to the council were to occur. His statement, however, failed to identify the precise circumstances that prompted the warning.
“The US would consider anyone supporting such a disruptive step favoring the gangs to be acting contrary to the interests of the United States, the region, and the Haitian people and will act accordingly,” Landau said.
Haiti continues to struggle with the ravages of widespread gang violence, instability and corruption in its government.
But the US threat is likely to send shudders throughout the region, particularly in the aftermath of the January 3 attack on Venezuela.
The administration of President Donald Trump has repeatedly advanced the notion that the entire Western Hemisphere falls under its sphere of influence, as part of a policy it dubbed the “Donroe Doctrine”, a riff on the 19th-century Monroe Doctrine.
Trump has referenced that premise to justify the use of US military force to abduct Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, as well as to claim the US needs to control Greenland.
A political crisis
Located some 11,000 kilometres (800 miles) southeast of the US, Haiti has long struggled with instability. It is considered the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, as it continues to suffer from the legacy of foreign intervention, dictatorship and natural disasters.
But in 2021, the country faced a new crisis when President Jovenel Moise was assassinated in his home in the capital, Port-au-Prince.
Federal elections have not been held since, leading to a crisis of confidence in the government. The last federally elected officials saw their terms expire in 2023.
Experts say the lack of leadership has allowed Haiti’s gangs to flourish, and since the Moise assassination, they have taken control of vast stretches of the territory, including up to 90 percent of the capital.
The resulting violence has forced more than 1.4 million Haitians from their homes. Millions more suffer from food insecurity, as thoroughfares are often restricted by gang-led roadblocks.
This week, a United Nations report found that, between January and November of last year, an estimated 8,100 people were killed in the violence. That marks an escalation from 2024, when the yearly total was 5,600.
But efforts have been made to restore the country’s stability. The Transitional Presidential Council was designed as a temporary governing structure to set the framework for new federal elections. Established in 2024, it has nine members who rotate to serve as chair.
Very quickly, however, the council faced criticism for its membership – largely selected from the country’s business and political elite – and allegations of corruption swirled. Infighting has also broken out among the members.
The US too has added to the tensions on the council. In November, it announced visa restrictions against an unnamed government official, later identified in the media as one of the council’s members, economist Fritz Alphonse Jean.
While the council had been slated to hold tiered elections starting last November, it failed to meet that benchmark, and the first vote has been postponed to August.
In the meantime, the council’s mandate is set to dissolve on February 7, and the panel’s future remains unclear.
UN calls for action
In this week’s report on Haiti, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres linked Haiti’s ongoing humanitarian crisis to the vacuum in its government.
“Violence has intensified and expanded geographically, exacerbating food insecurity and instability, as transitional governance arrangements near expiry and overdue elections remain urgent,” Guterres said.
Another UN representative – Carlos Ruiz-Massieu, who leads the UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) – was also emphatic about the immediate need for transparent democratic processes and unified governance.
“Let us be clear: the country no longer has time to waste on prolonged internal struggles,” he said.
Still, in a speech on Wednesday to the UN Security Council, Ruiz-Massieu added that there have been “encouraging” signs ahead of this year’s scheduled elections. He applauded efforts to increase voter registration, including in Haiti’s diaspora, and encourage political participation among women.
But Ruiz-Massieu underscored that security concerns, including gang violence, could impede the democratic process, and that there was more work to be done before elections could be held.
“Achieving this goal will require sustained coordination among relevant institutions, predictable financing of the electoral process and security conditions that allow all voters and candidates to participate without fear,” he said.
The UN also signalled it would bolster its multinational security support mission in Haiti with more troops later this year.