Haiti: Blinken’s Presidential Council takes shape

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed optimism about the imminent establishment of the Presidential Transitional Council.

During a telephone conversation, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, who is in charge of planning and the U.S. project to set up some kind of Transitional Presidential Council (TPC) in Haiti, spoke to the President of Guyana and current Chairman of CARICOM, Mr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, to inquire about the progress and health of the players involved in setting up the Transitional Presidential Council.

The Caricom President no doubt explained to him the problems faced with, among others, the allies of former Prime Minister Ariel Henry, a member of the budding council who in a letter dated March 31, 2024 announced that he would abandon the CPT in favor of preferring a judge from the Court of Cassation to be the provisional President.

“We believe that Caricom and the partner countries supporting these initiatives, have sinned and mortgaged all chances of success of their approach, by contenting themselves only with getting the concept of this council of 7 members and 2 observers accepted, without bothering to get the stakeholders to formally sign an agreement on its mission, organization, functioning and the duration of its mandate” wrote the political parties allied to the resigning Prime Minister.

Such a U-turn would not go down well with the United States, although a Supreme Court judge is no obstacle to the continuation of imperialist domination of the country. And the United States, for its part, in order to force the Haitian Conzé to reach a consensus, is threatening to resort to a Plan B to form the next transitional power in Haiti.

Contrary to the steps taken by former Prime Minister Ariel Henry’s allies, the political party Les Engagés pour le Développement (EDE), at a press conference held on Monday April 1, 2024, issued a 72-hour ultimatum to the resigning government to appoint the members of the Presidential Council.

Does this explain the government’s complicity with the allies of the December 21 Accord in delaying the council in order to facilitate the appointment of a president from the Court of Cassation? According to Oneless Francisque, “They want to hand over power to a judge who is in their pay, so that they can continue to enjoy the privileges of the state and squander state resources.The rest of the government is clearly intent on boycotting the Presidential Council”.

So, to dispel any uncertainties surrounding the installation of the Presidential Council, during his meeting with the President of Caricom, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken expressed the firm support of the United States for the Transitional Presidential Council, and also reassured that the deployment of the Multinational Security Support Mission would go ahead.

Source: Haïti Liberté – Translation by Internationalist 360°