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CTV News
6 days ago
- Politics
- CTV News
Haiti declares a 3-month state of emergency as gangs ravage country's central region
Newly-appointed police chief Vladimir Paraison, left, salutes Transitional Council President Laurent Saint-Cyr, during his presentation ceremony as the new interim police chief, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Friday, Aug. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph) SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Haiti's government announced Saturday that it is implementing a three-month state of emergency in the country's central region as gang violence surges. The measure will cover Haiti's West, Artibonite and Center departments 'to continue the fight against insecurity and respond to the agricultural and food crisis,' according to a government statement. The region — known as Haiti's rice basket — has been under attack in recent years, with gangs killing farmers or forcing them to abandon their fields as they raze nearby communities. The United Nations' human rights office noted that from October 2024 to the end of June 2025, more than 1,000 people have been killed, more than 200 injured and 620 kidnapped in the Artibonite and Central departments and nearby areas. Gang violence also has displaced more than 239,000 people in Haiti's central region, according to the U.N. In late April, dozens of people waded and swam across the country's largest river in a desperate attempt to flee gangs. On Friday, the government appointed a new interim director general to oversee Haiti's National Police, which is working with Kenyan police officers leading a U.N.-backed mission to help quell gang violence. André Jonas Vladimir Paraison replaces former police director general Normil Rameau, who was criticized for his struggle to contain violence perpetrated by gangs that control up to 90% of Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince. Rameau had repeatedly warned about the department's severe underfunding. Paraison previously served as head of security of Haiti's National Palace, and he was on duty as a police officer when former President Jovenel Moïse was killed at his private residence in July 2021. The changes come as Laurent Saint-Cyr, a wealthy businessman, takes over as president of Haiti's transitional presidential council, which is charged with holding elections by February 2026. The Associated Press
South China Morning Post
08-08-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
New president for Haiti as gangs threaten to topple government
Haitian businessman Laurent Saint-Cyr took over his country's leadership on Thursday, the last phase of its transition before it is mandated to hand power to a democratically elected successor, but a top gang leader threatened to topple the precarious government. Advertisement Saint-Cyr was inaugurated at a ceremony at the capital's Villa d'Acceuil, the temporary seat of power after downtown Port-au-Prince became too insecure. He called on foreign allies to do more to help local security forces that have struggled to prevent heavily armed gangs from gaining power and territory. 'I invite all international partners to increase their support, send more soldiers, provide more training,' Saint-Cyr said at the ceremony. 'I am asking the security forces to intensify their operations.' Haitian businessman Laurent Saint-Cyr, who is now Haiti's president. Photo: AP A UN-backed security force led by Kenyan police deployed to Haiti a year ago but it has struggled with a lack of personnel and resources. The council has said it has recently contracted a private military company to assist.
Associated Press
08-08-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Bolsonaro backers protest, Mother Earth offerings and other top photos this week from Latin America
Supporters of Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro protested his house arrest order by the Supreme Court. During the month of rituals for Pachamama, or Mother Earth, people in Bolivia burned offerings. In Haiti, Laurent Saint-Cyr replaced Fritz Alphonse Jean for the rotating presidency of the transitional presidential council. This photo gallery was curated by photo editor Ramón Espinosa in Havana. ___ Follow AP visual journalism: AP Images blog:
Al Jazeera
08-08-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Haiti names new head of transitional council ahead of scheduled elections
Haiti has appointed businessman Laurent Saint-Cyr as the head of its transitional presidential council as the country continues to battle rampant gang violence, corruption and economic insecurity. Saint-Cyr's inauguration ceremony took place on Thursday at the Villa d'Accueil, a colonial-style mansion in a suburb of the capital, Port-au-Prince. 'We must restore state authority,' Saint-Cyr said at the ceremony. 'The challenges we face are certainly linked to insecurity, but they also are the result of our lack of courage, a lack of vision and our irresponsibility.' But even the location of Saint-Cyr's inauguration was a sign of the instability Haiti faced. The federal government has been largely displaced from downtown Port-au-Prince, where gangs control nearly 90 percent of the city. On Thursday morning, one prominent gang leader, Jimmy 'Barbecue' Cherizier, even pledged to disrupt Saint-Cyr's inauguration. 'We have decided to march on the premier's office and the Villa d'Accueil to end it all,' Cherizier said in a video posted online. He called on Port-au-Prince's residents to assist him and his fighters in their approach of the mansion: 'People of Haiti, take care of yourselves and help us.' But Cherizier was ultimately not successful. A security mission backed by the United Nations and led by Kenya issued a statement explaining that police officers had increased their patrols in the area. 'Armed gangs had plotted to disrupt national stability and render the country ungovernable,' the statement said, asserting that law enforcement had successfully deterred those efforts. Saint-Cyr's appointment, however, has drawn scrutiny for what it symbolises in the conflict-torn country. Both Saint-Cyr and Haiti's prime minister, Alix-Didier Fils-Aime, are light-skinned, mixed-race businessmen who made their fortunes in the private sector. Saint-Cyr worked in the insurance industry, while Fils-Aime led an internet company. The majority of Haitians, however, are Black, with only 5 percent of the population identifying as mixed race. The country itself is the poorest in Latin America. Some critics fear the leadership of figures like Saint-Cyr could herald a slide backwards for Haiti's government, where power has long been concentrated among the rich and lighter-skinned. The country has not held a presidential election since 2016, and turmoil in the country increased following the 2021 assassination of Jovenel Moise. Criminal networks have exploited the power vacuum to expand their own influence, while denouncing the remaining government leadership as inefficient and corrupt. Though the presidential council was only formed in April 2024, by the end of that year, three of its members had been accused of corruption, though they denied wrongdoing. The transitional presidential council is considered to be widely unpopular, and its nine members have been rotating into the leadership position. Saint-Cyr is meant to be the final head of the council before it completes its task of holding a presidential election on February 7, 2026. At that point, Saint-Cyr and the council are expected to hand off power to the election's victor. Elections for roles in the federal government are expected to unfold in three stages, starting in November and ending with February's presidential race. But critics warn gang violence could thwart those plans. The United Nations estimates that 4,864 people in Haiti were killed from October 2024 to June of this year. Threats of violence have forced essential services to shut down, including hospitals and roadways, and nearly 1.3 million people have been displaced from their homes. The humanitarian situation in Haiti is considered among the most dire in the world, and Saint-Cyr called on the international community to respond with further resources. 'I invite all international partners to increase their support, send more soldiers, provide more training,' Saint-Cyr said at Thursday's ceremony. 'I am asking the security forces to intensify their operations.' Ambassadors from several foreign countries were in attendance. He directed some of his remarks at them. 'Our country is going through one of the greatest crises in all its history,' Saint-Cyr said. 'It's not the time for beautiful speeches. It's time to act.'
Reuters
07-08-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Gang violence rocks Haiti's capital ahead of political handoff
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Aug 7 (Reuters) - 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. 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.
