Haiti’s prime minister, Ariel Henry, this week swore-in a cabinet which includes eight new ministers. The move puts paid to speculation which has mounted since he struck a deal in September with various opposition groups to forge a unity government [WR-21-38] to address the political and security crisis which has intensified since the July assassination of President Jovenel Moïse (2017-2021). The challenges facing the new government are huge – as well as the staging of long overdue elections, the need to address the security crisis remains paramount. This recently made headlines following the mass kidnapping of 17 North American missionaries as well as gangs’ blockading of fuel supplies [WR-21-43].
Henry swore-in his new cabinet members on 24 November. Indicative of concessions to the opposition, new appointments include Ricard Pierre, a former senator for the opposition Pitit Dessalines, who receives the planning & foreign cooperation portfolio, and Rosemond Pradel, secretary general of opposition party Fusion, who resumes his former post as public works minister, which he held from 1993-1994. Pradel was a signatory of the September accord, along with other opposition groups such as the radical Secteur Démocratique et Populaire (SDP), whose leader André Michel was present at the inauguration ceremony.
Other key changes include Henry’s replacement of his political rival Claude Joseph as foreign minister, with Jean Victor Géneus, a former minister for Haitians living abroad. Lawyer Berto Dorcé takes over as justice minister while former education minister Nesmy Manigat (2014-2016) and former public health minister Alex Larsen (2008-2011) will resume their old jobs. Meanwhile, Odney Pierre Ricot, a former director of programming and research at the social affairs ministry, will now head up this ministry. Raymonde Rival is the new youth & sports minister.
The inauguration of the new cabinet comes as the government’s weakness continues to be exposed by the manoeuvring (not least over access to fuel) of gang leaders, such as former police officer Jimmy Chérizier, amid the power vacuum which has intensified following Moïse’s assassination. Following gangs’ blocking of access to major fuel terminals last month over demands that Henry resign, on 12 November Chérizier announced that his G9 An Fanmi e Alye alliance of gangs would allow trucks to access the Varreux port terminal in the capital Port-au-Prince.
Chérizier said that this “truce” was to allow for Henry to resign and a “week of reflection” among Haitians to commemorate the 18 November 1803 Battle of Vertières, a major battle of the Second War of Haitian Independence. He warned that the blockade would resume if Henry did not resign – a threat which has yet to be fulfilled.
With government officials telling the media that the government would not negotiate with criminals, and the prime minister’s office publicly denying rumours that it had paid G9 An Fanmi e Alye HTG400m (US$401,500) to restore access to fuel supplies, the authorities nonetheless appeared powerless in the face of the blockade. While prior to Chérizier’s announcement the national police (PNd’H) announced that it had created security cordons to help ensure the delivery of fuel, on 9 November PNd’H director Frantz Elbé admitted that the measures hitherto taken to allow for the safe distribution of fuel had failed to produce results.
He said that while a security corridor had been set up from the Varreux port terminal and goods such as rice, cooking oil, and cement were getting through, gangs were blocking tanker lorries carrying fuel.
Indicative of the blockade’s impact, on 10 November NGO Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) warned that “nearly all public and private health facilities in Port-au-Prince have stopped or limited admissions to only acute cases, or closed their doors due to similar problems”. MSF added that further closures were possible, “with some hospitals expected to run out of fuel for generators” imminently.
On 12 November the Core Group (which comprises the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General, Organization of American States [OAS], European Union, and US, among other foreign representatives) issued a statement expressing concern about the fuel supply crisis and its humanitarian, social, and economic impact on the Haitian population.
Fuel shortages
The lack of fuel has also affected other essential goods and services, such as potable water. On 7 November Haiti’s national water agency Dinepa announced that it currently lacked fuel to continue pumping drinking water to numerous areas of the capital.
Core Group statement
The Core Group statement also condemned the violent criminal acts that have been exacerbating “the already deep suffering of Haitians” and hampering the work of the PNd’H, and it urged Haiti’s “political and economic actors” to act responsibly in the interest of the Haitian people, and to prioritise the restoration of law and order as well as the normal functioning of strategic infrastructure.
Security crisis continues
Gangs also made headlines of late following the mass kidnapping on 16 October of 17 North American missionaries from the US group Christian Aid Ministries [WR-21-42]. On 21 November the US group announced that it had learned that two of the 17 hostages, who had been kidnapped by the 400 Mawozo gang, had been released and were “safe, in good spirits, and being cared for”, while adding that it could not give the names of those released, why they were freed or other information.
Yet security concerns remain rife. On 10 November the US embassy in Port-au-Prince posted an alert urging US citizens to “make plans to depart Haiti now via commercial means”, citing “the current security situation and infrastructure challenges”.
The following day the Canadian government announced that it was temporarily withdrawing non-essential Canadian employees as well as family members of Canadian embassy staff from Haiti.