Gang violence rocks Haiti's capital ahead of political handoff
PORT-AU-PRINCE - Gang violence flared in Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince on Thursday and a top gang leader threatened the country's precarious government as it prepared to hand over its rotating leadership.
Businessman Laurent Saint-Cyr is set to step into the rotating presidency of Haiti's transitional presidential council on Thursday, taking over from former central bank chief Fritz Alphonse Jean as the council and security authorities struggle to wrest control from powerful gangs.
The Kenya-led multinational security support mission operating in Haiti said it had thwarted attacks on Thursday that gangs had plotted to "disrupt national stability and render the country ungovernable."
Three officers from the mission were briefly hospitalized after two armed mission vehicles came under attack by Molotov cocktails and were set ablaze, the mission said in a statement.
Bursts of gunfire were also heard in parts of the capital on Thursday morning.
Gang alliance leader Jimmy Cherizier, alias Barbecue, said on Thursday that the gangs were planning to disrupt Saint-Cyr's transition later in the day.
"We have decided to march on the Premier's office and the Villa d'Accueil to end it all," Cherizier said in a video shared on social media.
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Saint-Cyr is scheduled to take over the rotating presidency at a ceremony at the Villa d'Accueil, which has been serving as the government headquarters since the National Palace in downtown Port-au-Prince has become the site of frequent gun battles.
His term runs until February 7, 2026, when the council's mandate was set to end and a newly elected president be inaugurated, although it is unclear if elections called for November will be able to take place.
The transitional council, which took power in April last year, has been marked by political in-fighting. It has been criticized by many Haitians, including the country's top police unions, for failing to address the violence.
Cherizier, a former police office alleged by the United Nations to have played a role in multiple massacres, has previously called for the toppling of Haiti's unelected government. REUTERS
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