A new leadership is appointed in Haiti as gangs threaten to overthrow
the government
[August 08, 2025]
By EVENS SANON and DÁNICA COTO
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — A wealthy businessman on Thursday became
the head of Haiti’s transitional presidential council tasked with
restoring order in the troubled country as a top gang leader underscored
the challenges facing the nation by vowing to overthrow the government.
Laurent Saint-Cyr's appointment at the council's heavily guarded office
in the capital, Port-au-Prince, where criminal gangs control 90% of the
neighborhoods, marked the first time that members of Haiti’s private
sector serve in both the rotating presidency and the post of prime
minister, two positions that share the country’s executive duties.
Saint-Cyr had his start at a local insurance company while Haiti's
current prime minister once ran an internet firm.
“Our country is going through one of the greatest crises in all its
history,” Saint-Cyr said as he was sworn in. “It’s not the time for
beautiful speeches. It’s time to act.”
Gang leader issues a warning
Hours earlier, a powerful gang federation that has long denounced
Haiti’s oligarchs threatened to overthrow the government, and gunfire
erupted in parts of the capital.
In a video posted on social media, Viv Ansanm gang leader Jimmy
Chérizier — better known as “Barbecue” — warns residents to give his
armed group free passage through neighborhoods to reach the council's
office.
“People of Haiti, take care of yourselves and help us … in the battle to
free the country," Chérizier says, wearing a bulletproof vest and with
an automatic rifle slung around his shoulder.
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.
“Armed gangs had plotted to disrupt national stability and render the
country ungovernable,” it said.
A call for order
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’s economy. He noted that while he’s from the private sector, he
would serve all people equally.
Saint-Cyr previously served as president of the American Chamber of
Commerce in Haiti and of the country’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
He’ll be working with Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, a one-time
president of an internet company in Haiti and also a former president of
the country’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
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.
“We must restore state authority,” he said. “The 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.”
He questioned what was preventing the government from offering services
Haitians deserve, including health and education. “Mister prime
minister, assume your responsibilities!” he said.
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’s women and girls.
“Collective rape is endemic,” they said, noting that sexual violence has
surged as gangs persist in their rampage. The organizations also accused
Haiti's government of being “completely absent” at shelters where rape
survivors need basic services.
A growing number of people have grumbled about Haiti's private sector
leading the country. Some of Haiti’s wealthy elites and powerful
politicians have long been accused of financing and arming dozens of
gangs.
“The elites have always wanted power, and they have always wanted to
control Haiti, and now they’re in control,” said Marline Jean-Pierre, a
44-year-old teacher who braved gunfire to visit a friend at a hospital
in downtown Port-au-Prince.
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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)
She said she has lost hope that things will change, accusing former
council presidents of making promises they didn't keep.
“Nothing really happened,” she said. “Young women are being raped,
families are being dismantled.”
However, dozens of Haitians wearing white T-shirts and clutching
signs emblazoned with Saint-Cyr's photograph gathered outside the
council's office to support him.
Skirmishes broke out hours later between supporters and those who
opposed Saint-Cyr.
“Even though he’s a mulatto with good hair, he’s Haitian,” one
supporter said of Saint-Cyr, who is part of the country's small and
powerful lighter-skinned elite — as is Fils-Aimé.
‘Remain on guard!’
As the country prepared for Saint-Cyr's swearing-in ceremony,
Haitians posted a flurry of warnings about violence in hopes that
people could remain safe.
“Those of you in the capital, you will hear gunshots both ahead of
you and behind you. Remain on guard!” one message stated.
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's body slumped in the car.
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.
Violence also was reported in Kenscoff, a once peaceful farming area
above the hills of Port-au-Prince.
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
“courageously held their ground, inflicting significant damage on
the assailants." Three officers received minor injuries.
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.
“Come get it back if you can!” one gunman is heard jeering.
A plea for more officers
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 — about 14% of the estimated $800 million
needed a year.
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.
The mission also noted that the government remains fragile:
“Partisan infighting within the transitional government has had the
effect of paralyzing the government and emboldening the gangs."
Gangs in Kenscoff recently kidnapped eight people from an orphanage,
including an Irish missionary and a 3-year-old child. They remain
missing.
Violence surged in the aftermath of the July 2021 killing of
President Jovenel Moïse, and ongoing violence has displaced more
than 1.3 million people in recent years.
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.
___
Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico.
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