(Christopher Sabatini – Chatham House) Politics in Haiti is a blood sport. The last elected President, Jovenel Moïse, was gunned down by mercenaries in 2021. Since then, the country has descended into rampant gang violence. Thousands have been killed and abducted in the chaos. Criminals control roughly 90 per cent of the capital city, Port-au-Prince. Legal economic activity has nearly ground to a halt. Now there is serious doubt on whether the country will have a government after 7 February, when its Transitional Presidential Council (TPC) was originally set to dissolve. Internecine battles have broken out over what should follow the Council, and more specifically who can remain in power. In recent weeks, several TPC members attempted to remove Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé in a palace coup. Those same members have put forward plans for a reduced Council that would include – of course – them. There is a real threat that some Council members will mobilize the gangs to coerce other members and the international community. In response, the US has parked a warship and three coast guard cutters off the coast of Haiti. The upheaval threatens the future of any government in Haiti and the status of the UN’s new Gang Suppression Force (GSF) mission to the crime-ridden country. What can be done to break Haiti’s cycle of disaster?
Haiti’s vicious circle: Funding is needed to end the violence. But the violence means the funding doesn’t come
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