Gunfire rang out Thursday in Haiti’s capital, ending three days of relative calm as politicians pressed on with talks aimed at forming an interim governing body after a gang uprising convulsed the country.
These well-armed gangs launched a rebellion two weeks ago saying they wanted to topple Prime Minister Ariel Henry — an unpopular and unelected leader — sending destitute Haiti into violent conflict with warnings of famine and civil war.
Bodies have littered the streets in recent days as normal social order melted away, although the last three days were a bit calmer.
However, overnight Wednesday into Thursday and during the morning hours, automatic weapons fire boomed in Port-au-Prince, which is 80 percent controlled by gangs.
“I heard shots all night. I did not sleep a wink. The gunfire sounded like it was coming from very close,” said a resident of Vivy Mitchell, on the outskirts of the capital, who declined to give her name out of fear of reprisal.
It was not immediately clear who was shooting at whom or what.
Shots also broke out Thursday near the shut-down Toussaint Louverture Airport, where work was underway to repair walls that were damaged when gangs attacked it and other key infrastructure earlier this month.
An officer was shot and wounded in the courtyard of the police headquarters near the airport, the police union said.
Embattled Prime Minister Henry agreed to step aside after an emergency meeting Monday that brought together US, UN and Caribbean representatives, among others, and yielded a blueprint for Haitians to form a governing Transitional Presidential Council until elections can be held.
The transitional body is to have seven voting members drawn from political parties and the private sector, and is supposed to quickly name an interim prime minister.
But Haiti received more bad news Wednesday when a powerful gang leader, Jimmy Cherizier, who goes by the nickname Barbecue, vowed to keep fighting even though Henry agreed to step down as the armed groups had demanded.
“We are going to continue the fight for Haiti’s liberation,” the former policeman, currently under UN sanctions, told Spanish-language network W Radio.
Six of the organizations tapped to make up the interim governing body have picked their representative and notified CARICOM, the regional Caribbean body that took part in the crisis meeting, several sources told AFP.
But a small leftist party called Pitit Desalin has balked at taking part, and talks are underway to find another party or group to replace it, these sources said.
Another group, loyal to Henry, could not agree on a single delegate and wants to name three people to the transitional body, the sources added.
– Crisis and lawlessness –
Haiti has not held an election since 2016 and there is currently no president or parliament.
President Jovenel Moise was assassinated in 2021 and has not been replaced. Henry, appointed by the president shortly before the assassination, has led Haiti since then in an atmosphere of crisis and lawlessness, with rampant gun battles, kidnappings and sexual violence.
Henry has been stranded in Puerto Rico since early this month, after a visit to Kenya, where he hoped to nail down details of a plan for Nairobi to lead a UN-approved police force to restore order in Haiti.
He announced late Monday he would resign when the transitional council is stood up.
But a special advisor to Henry told CNN Thursday that under the Haitian constitution, only Henry and his cabinet can appoint the transitional council.
“We will not deliver the country to just a group of people without following the procedure. We are in crisis as a country, but we must stay inside of the law and set a good example,” the adviser, Jean Junior Joseph, added.
Kenya earlier said it had put its plans to lead the international police force on hold, but President William Ruto confirmed Wednesday that his country still intended to follow through with the support mission once the transitional council is installed.
With the airport in Port-au-Prince still closed, the United Nations said it is working to set up a helicopter airlift from the Dominican Republic to bring in aid.
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