Haiti’s Transitional Presidential Council (TPC, or CPT using its French acronym) ended its tumultuous and unhappy two-year run on Saturday, stepping down with the country still in chaos and its final major effort — to unseat U.S.-backed Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime — completely ignored.
The TPC was established in 2024 to bring a modicum of political stability to Haiti, which has been overrun by gang lords since the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in 2021. Executive power was held by Prime Minister Ariel Henry after Moise was murdered, but he was hated by the gang lords and disliked by much of the population, which viewed him as an illegitimate and unelected leader.
Henry was eventually run out of Haiti by the gangs, left stranded in exile in Puerto Rico for months until he officially resigned in April 2024. The TPC was sworn in at the National Palace in Port-au-Prince on the same day Henry tendered his letter of resignation.
The transitional council was the brainchild of former President Joe Biden’s secretary of state, Antony Blinken, who argued it was the best way to stabilize Haiti’s political and security situation enough to hold elections. The TPC never had much support from Haiti’s economic or political elites, it captured no respect from the gang leaders, and it very quickly exhausted the patience of the second Trump administration.
The TPC was torn by infighting and allegations of corruption from the moment it convened. Its first appointed prime minister, Garry Conille, lasted all of six months before he was replaced by Fils-Aime. The council constantly talked about scheduling elections, but always delayed or canceled them. As of the moment the TPC dissolved on Saturday, there were no firm plans to hold elections this year.
The United Nations sought to establish a support force that would help Haitian police bring the gangs under control, but only a fraction of the promised manpower has set foot in Haiti, and the promises were not very inspiring to begin with. Meanwhile, the gangs killed at least 6,000 people last year, and displaced 1.4 million more.
Two weeks before the panel was due to step down, the TPC supposedly voted to sack Prime Minister Fils-Aime. The details of this vote were always murky, no concrete reason for firing him was ever provided, and TPC President Laurent Saint-Cyr said he was opposed to the move.
The U.S. government castigated the TPC for trying to get rid of Fils-Aime, arguing that his continued presence in office was necessary to provide stability, continuity, and a measure of local leadership in the war against gangs.
“Haiti’s leader must choose Haiti’s stability. The United States will ensure there is a steep cost for corrupt politicians who support vicious gangs and wreak terrorism on Haiti,” the U.S. State Department warned on January 23, after Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Fils-Aime by telephone.
A few days later, the State Department revoked the visas for four members of the TPC for “interfering with the Government of Haiti’s efforts to counter gangs designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations by the United States.”
The nine members of the TPC therefore shuffled out of office with their final spasm of weird political infighting neutralized — and three U.S. warships floating off their coast to demonstrate America’s “unwavering commitment to Haiti’s security, stability, and brighter future.”
One of the TPC members who lost his U.S. visa privileges, Fritz Alphonse Jean, grumbled that the U.S. was trying to run Haiti as a puppet government.
“Many leaders in Haiti have been pressured, manipulated, even punished when they attempt to pursue an independent national agenda. There is like a recurring pattern where foreign powers treat Haitian officials as expendable tools,” he said.
Jean and another TPC member, Leslie Voltaire, said they were directly threatened by the U.S. embassy in Haiti that they would lose their visas if they tried to oust Fils-Aime. The State Department did not dispute their account of the conversations.
Fils-Aime spoke at the departure ceremony for the TPC, stating that the council “has done its work by paving the way for a governance mindful of security and electoral issues.”
On Saturday night, the prime minister gave a rare national address in which he promised to provide security, boost humanitarian aid to Haiti, and hold elections as soon as possible.
“The suffering of the population demands immediate action,” he said. “The gangs and those who support them will be hunted down, one by one. Every occupied area will be retaken, until the day every child walks to school without fear.”
“The coming days will be demanding. I don’t promise miracles,” he added.
The U.S. Embassy in Haiti sent an alert on Friday morning, warning Americans in Haiti to be on guard for “unrest outside the normal” after the TPC stepped down. Port-au-Prince residents told CBS News they feared a renewed surge of gang violence, possibly involving the gangsters’ new favorite deadly toy, bombs dropped by drones.
A hospital administrator told CBS she thought the Haitian National Police (HNP) might hit back hard against the gangs, backed by U.N. peacekeepers and the U.S. ships anchored off Haiti. She pleaded with the HNP and its allies to be aware that facilities like hers would be open for operations and full of patients during any pitched battle for control of Haiti.
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