<\/p>\n
A worker cleans the red carpet for the installation ceremony of Laurent Saint-Cyr, who replaces Fritz Alphonse Jean, for the rotating presidency of the transitional presidential council in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Aug. 7, 2025. (AP Photo\/Odelyn Joseph)<\/p>\n
A worker cleans the red carpet for the installation ceremony of Laurent Saint-Cyr, who replaces Fritz Alphonse Jean, for the rotating presidency of the transitional presidential council in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Aug. 7, 2025. (AP Photo\/Odelyn Joseph)<\/p>\n
Read More<\/p>\n
Gang leader issues a warning <\/p>\n
Hours earlier, a powerful gang federation that has long denounced Haiti\u2019s oligarchs threatened to overthrow the government, and gunfire erupted in parts of the capital.<\/p>\n
In a video posted on social media, Viv Ansanm gang leader Jimmy Ch\u00e9rizier \u2014 better known as \u201cBarbecue\u201d \u2014 warns residents to give his armed group free passage through neighborhoods to reach the council\u2019s office. <\/p>\n
\u201cPeople of Haiti, take care of yourselves and help us \u2026 in the battle to free the country,\u201d Ch\u00e9rizier says, wearing a bulletproof vest and with an automatic rifle slung around his shoulder.<\/p>\n
A U.N.-backed mission led by Kenyan police said in a statement that officers thwarted potential attacks by around-the-clock patrols and by boosting the number of armed forces in certain neighborhoods and around critical infrastructure.<\/p>\n
\u201cArmed gangs had plotted to disrupt national stability and render the country ungovernable,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Outgoing president of the transitional council Fritz Alphonse Jean, right, speaks during a ceremony to name Laurent Saint-Cyr, center, as the new council president in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Aug. 7, 2025. (AP Photo\/Odelyn Joseph)<\/p>\n Outgoing president of the transitional council Fritz Alphonse Jean, right, speaks during a ceremony to name Laurent Saint-Cyr, center, as the new council president in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Aug. 7, 2025. (AP Photo\/Odelyn Joseph)<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n A call for order<\/p>\n Saint-Cyr thanked all national and international actors who have helped Haiti, as well as the private sector, which he called the engine of the country\u2019s economy. He noted that while he\u2019s from the private sector, he would serve all people equally.<\/p>\n Saint-Cyr previously served as president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Haiti and of the country\u2019s Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He\u2019ll be working with Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aim\u00e9, a one-time president of an internet company in Haiti and also a former president of the country\u2019s Chamber of Commerce and Industry.<\/p>\n Saint-Cyr said security was a priority. He called on the armed forces to intensify their operations and on international partners to send more soldiers, offer more training and help boost a mission lacking resources and personnel<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe must restore state authority,\u201d he said. \u201cThe challenges we face are certainly linked to insecurity, but they also are the result of our lack of courage, a lack of vision and our irresponsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n He questioned what was preventing the government from offering services Haitians deserve, including health and education. \u201cMister prime minister, assume your responsibilities!\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, 58 organizations from countries that include the United States in a letter to Saint-Cyr accused the council of violating its legal obligations to Haiti\u2019s women and girls.<\/p>\n \u201cCollective rape is endemic,\u201d they said, noting that sexual violence has surged as gangs persist in their rampage. The organizations also accused Haiti\u2019s government of being \u201ccompletely absent\u201d at shelters where rape survivors need basic services. <\/p>\n A growing number of people have grumbled about Haiti\u2019s private sector leading the country. Some of Haiti\u2019s wealthy elites<\/a> and powerful politicians<\/a> have long been accused of financing and arming dozens of gangs.<\/p>\n \u201cThe elites have always wanted power, and they have always wanted to control Haiti, and now they\u2019re in control,\u201d said Marline Jean-Pierre, a 44-year-old teacher who braved gunfire to visit a friend at a hospital in downtown Port-au-Prince.<\/p>\n She said she has lost hope that things will change, accusing former council presidents of making promises they didn\u2019t keep.<\/p>\n \u201cNothing really happened,\u201d she said. \u201cYoung women are being raped, families are being dismantled.\u201d<\/p>\n However, dozens of Haitians wearing white T-shirts and clutching signs emblazoned with Saint-Cyr\u2019s photograph gathered outside the council\u2019s office to support him. <\/p>\n Skirmishes broke out hours later between supporters and those who opposed Saint-Cyr.<\/p>\n \u201cEven though he\u2019s a mulatto with good hair, he\u2019s Haitian,\u201d one supporter said of Saint-Cyr, who is part of the country\u2019s small and powerful lighter-skinned elite \u2014 as is Fils-Aim\u00e9.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Supporters celebrate the installation of Laurent Saint-Cyr, who replaces Fritz Alphonse Jean, in the rotating presidency of the transitional presidential council in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Aug. 7, 2025. (AP Photo\/Odelyn Joseph)<\/p>\n Supporters celebrate the installation of Laurent Saint-Cyr, who replaces Fritz Alphonse Jean, in the rotating presidency of the transitional presidential council in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Aug. 7, 2025. (AP Photo\/Odelyn Joseph)<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n \u2018Remain on guard!\u2019<\/p>\n As the country prepared for Saint-Cyr\u2019s swearing-in ceremony, Haitians posted a flurry of warnings about violence in hopes that people could remain safe.<\/p>\n \u201cThose of you in the capital, you will hear gunshots both ahead of you and behind you. Remain on guard!\u201d one message stated.<\/p>\n Tripotay Lakay, a local news site, reported that one person was killed and another injured while driving into Port-au-Prince on Thursday, though it was unclear how that happened. A video posted on social media shows a woman\u2019s body slumped in the car.<\/p>\n Heavy gunfire around downtown Port-au-Prince persisted on Tuesday afternoon, with local media reporting that several people were wounded. Small explosions from police-manned drones also were heard.<\/p>\n Violence also was reported in Kenscoff<\/a>, a once peaceful farming area above the hills of Port-au-Prince.<\/p>\n The U.N.-backed mission said it lost two armored vehicles after they became trapped in trenches dug out by gangs. It said Kenyan policemen came under an attack with Molotov cocktails but \u201ccourageously held their ground, inflicting significant damage on the assailants.\u201d Three officers received minor injuries.<\/p>\n Videos posted on social media show suspected gang members laughing and cheering as they surrounded one of the armored vehicles that was later set on fire.<\/p>\n \u201cCome get it back if you can!\u201d one gunman is heard jeering.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Transitional presidential council members listen to Haiti\u2019s national anthem during the installation ceremony of Laurent Saint-Cyr as the new president of the council in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Aug. 7, 2025. (AP Photo\/Odelyn Joseph)<\/p>\n Transitional presidential council members listen to Haiti\u2019s national anthem during the installation ceremony of Laurent Saint-Cyr as the new president of the council in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Aug. 7, 2025. (AP Photo\/Odelyn Joseph)<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n A plea for more officers<\/p>\n In a report released Thursday, the U.N.-backed mission noted that it has 991 personnel, far less than the 2,500 envisioned, and some $112 million in its trust fund \u2014 about 14% of the estimated $800 million needed a year.<\/p>\n The mission said it has no air support for operations and that only 200 officers can be deployed at a time because of insufficient equipment, including vehicles.<\/p>\n The mission also noted that the government remains fragile: \u201cPartisan infighting within the transitional government has had the effect of paralyzing the government and emboldening the gangs.\u201d<\/p>\n Gangs in Kenscoff recently kidnapped eight people<\/a> from an orphanage, including an Irish missionary and a 3-year-old child. They remain missing.<\/p>\n Violence surged in the aftermath of the July 2021 killing of President Jovenel Mo\u00efse<\/a>, and ongoing violence has displaced more than 1.3 million<\/a> people in recent years.<\/p>\n At least 1,520 people were killed and more than 600 injured from April to the end of June across Haiti. More than 60% of the killings and injuries occurred during operations by security forces against gangs, with another 12% blamed on self-defense groups, according to the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico.<\/p>\n ____<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n