The United States has issued a strong warning to Haiti’s Transitional Presidential Council (TPC), cautioning the unelected body against altering the government’s structure amid calls for the country’s first elections in nearly a decade.
The U.S. Embassy in Haiti declared: “The United States would consider that any person who supports such a destabilizing initiative, which favors the gangs, would be acting against the interests of the United States, the region, and the Haitian people, and will take appropriate measures accordingly.”
The embassy added that such efforts would undermine progress toward “a minimal level of security and stability” in Haiti, amid surging gang violence and deepening poverty, per the Associated Press.
A separate U.S. letter to council members, reported by Caribbean National Weekly, stated: “The U.S. objective for Haiti remains the establishment of baseline security and stability. The U.S. would regard any effort to change the composition of the government by the non-elected TPC at this late stage in its tenure to be an effort to undermine that objective and as such null and void. The U.S. would consider anyone supporting such a disruptive step favoring the gangs to be acting contrary to the interests of the United States, the region, and the Haitian people and will act accordingly.”
The warning follows a failed motion on Wednesday to remove Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, which initially had support from five council members but collapsed when Advisor Smith Augustin declined to back it. Analysts attribute the outcome partly to U.S. Embassy influence.
Council leader Laurent Saint-Cyr rejected destabilizing actions ahead of the council’s provisional end date on February 7.
“As major institutional deadlines for the Nation approach, any initiative likely to fuel instability, confusion or a breakdown of trust carries serious risks for the country,” he wrote. “Haiti cannot afford to make unilateral decisions or engage in short-sighted political calculations that would compromise the stability and continuity of the State, as well as the well-being of the already sorely tested population.”
The TPC, formed in April 2024 with Caribbean support after gang attacks forced former Prime Minister Ariel Henry’s resignation, has appointed two confirmed prime ministers, with Fils-Aimé—a former Chamber of Commerce head—taking office in November 2024 after Garry Conille’s removal.
Elections remain delayed by violence, tentatively set for August with a December runoff.
Gangs control about 90% of Port-au-Prince and have expanded centrally, with over 8,100 homicides recorded from January to November last year (likely undercounted). Haitian police, backed by an under-resourced U.N.-supported Kenyan-led mission (now shifting to a “gang suppression force” with arrest powers), struggle amid the crisis.
The government has used private contractors for drone strikes against suspected gang members, killing over 970 people from March to December, including 39 civilians (11 children killed, 9 children injured), per the U.N. human rights office.
At a U.N. Security Council session, special representative Carlos Ruiz-Massieu urged: “Haiti has entered a critical phase in its process of restoring democratic institutions. The country no longer has time to waste in prolonged infighting.”
Panamanian Ambassador Eloy Alfaro de Alba called it a “critical juncture” with just days left in the council’s mandate.
Haiti’s U.N. representative Ericq Pierre emphasized responsibility: “There’s a need to approach this deadline with a sense of responsibility … to sustain continuity of state and avoid any disruptions that may undermine the operation of national institutions.”
The U.S. Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs posted on X that Haiti’s turmoil stems from “corrupt Haitian politicians who use gangs and other armed groups to create chaos in the streets and then insist on a role in government to turn down the chaos they themselves have created.” It added: “Real stability will come when political leaders get their power from the support of voters rather than their ability to sow chaos. The members of the (council) who have followed this path are not Haitian patriots. They are criminals like the gangs they conspire with.”
The instability traces to the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.
