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5d ago

Business Leader Assumes Haiti’s Transitional Presidency as Port-Contract Rift Deepens and Gangs Threaten Overthrow

Private-sector control of Haiti’s executive branches spotlights deep divisions over a long-term port lease, heightening fears of gang takeover.

Police officers patrol the area near the Saint-Helene orphanage in the Kenscoff neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, Aug. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
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FILE PHOTO: Security personnel patrols near the Villa d'Accueil where Haiti's transition council will be installed, on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince, Haiti April 25, 2024. REUTERS/Ralph Tedy Erol/File Photo
FILE - Fritz Alphonse Jean, an economist and former central bank governor, who replaces Leslie Voltaire in the rotating presidency of the transitional presidential council, speaks during his installation ceremony in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, March 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph, File)

Overview

  • Laurent Saint-Cyr is set to be sworn in on August 7 as president of Haiti’s transitional presidential council, marking the first time business figures hold both executive branches.
  • Council head Fritz Alphonse Jean said communications staff were coerced into issuing an unauthorized press release on a proposed 27-year lease to Caribbean Port Services and has urged a judge to review the agreement’s legality.
  • Jimmy Chérizier’s Viv Ansanm gang federation released a video vowing to overthrow the government on swearing-in day, as pre-dawn gunfire erupted across Port-au-Prince.
  • United Nations reports show gangs now control about 90% of Port-au-Prince and have escalated attacks, including ambushing UN-backed Kenyan police vehicles and abducting children from a Kenscoff orphanage.
  • The transitional council, formed after ex-Prime Minister Ariel Henry’s resignation, faces the challenge of overcoming internal divisions and security threats to deliver credible elections by February 2026.