Washington: Haitian leaders face an uphill balancing act as they arrive in a deeply ravaged country where security is essential and an unelected government must exist in ordinary Haiti.
Haiti’s transitional government and international supporters say a Kenyan police mission is needed to control gangs that have taken control of much of the capital.
Meanwhile, interim prime minister Harry Connell must manage the memories of a dead foreign affairs between nations.
“After the Kenyans leave, things like this will happen again,” a Port-au-Prince resident told AFP on condition of anonymity.
“The real solution will not come from foreigners. It is not up to them,” he said, urging the country’s embattled politicians to “come together to move forward.”
Haiti has long been rocked by sectarian tensions, but the situation worsened in late February when armed groups launched a coordinated attack in Port-au-Prince, seeking to overthrow Prime Minister Ariel Henry.
Henry then surrendered power as the country’s prime minister to the transition council, now known as Conille, in Washington, D.C., to meet with US officials.
The task of the transitional government is important: to overcome the political, security and humanitarian crisis that is ravaging the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, and pave the way for the first elections since 2016.
“There are no official elections in Haiti, so we are in an uncharted territory,” said Francois Pierre-Louis, a professor of political science at Queens College in New York.
“Everything in Haiti today is unconstitutional, illegal.”
39 people were killed in live fire at the latest demonstration in Nairobi, the monitor said, renewing questions about how Kenyan forces will handle the unrest.
Haiti itself has a brutal history of foreign intervention, from 20 years of American occupation in the early 1900s to cholera outbreaks linked to UN peacekeeping missions in the 2010s.
Regional blogs say the rules for joining the CARICOM- and US-backed Transitional Council include that members cannot oppose the Kenyan-led stabilization mission.
The national security council, which is supposed to help manage the mission, has not been established and “no one can tell you … who is ultimately responsible, it will be controlled,” he said.
At the same time, many Haitians who want to restore order support the Kenyan army.
“My children can no longer go to school,” said 20-year-old Nathalie.
While Haiti’s current leaders are not elected, the lack of government oversight makes it nearly impossible to vote, experts say.
After destroying the country in 2010, the United States, among others, hoped that the elections delayed by the disaster would be held quickly.
As a result, uncontrolled, violent mass voting was declared illegal.
Behind the need to restore security lies a larger issue of trust, including the relationship between Haitian politicians and pirates.
“Government (historically) doesn’t do much for people’s lives, and nobody trusts government,” he said. “If that doesn’t change … it’s hard to see that dynamic change.”
Stakes high for Haiti as Kenya forces deploy
