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Members of the second contingent of Kenyan police greet each other after arriving in the Caribbean country as part of a peacekeeping mission, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti July 16, 2024.
Double duty: Kenya and Bangladesh try to balance domestic crises with Haiti aid
Haiti’s Prime Minister Garry Conillecalled for gangs to surrender their weapons and recognize the state’s authority late Wednesday, as a Kenyan-led police mission there enjoys some early success.
Some 200 officers arrived in late June and are trying to take back the capital from gangs that launched a series of highly coordinated attacks in February, ousting former Prime Minister Ariel Henry and seizing about 80% of the capital. The mission received another 200 Kenyan officers on Tuesday, and, within the coming months, the multinational force is expected to see recruits from other countries, including Bangladesh. But oddly enough, both Nairobi and Dhaka are facing severe challenges to law and order at home.
Kenya is entering its second month of deadly protests calling for the resignation of President William Ruto. But Ruto has doubled down, banning protests in Nairobi mere hours before a demonstration was planned for Thursday. Protests are likely to continue and will be met by a violent police response.
Meanwhile, in Bangladesh, at least 32 people have been killed in police clashes during nationwide, student-led protests this week. The young activists are demonstrating over quotas that reserve 30% of government jobs for relatives of veterans of Bangladesh’s 1971 War of Independence. Protesters announced they will force a nationwide shutdown in response to the police brutality in one of the most severe challenges yet to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who has ruled for 20 years.
We’re watching for signs of whether the security mission’s main contributors feel they need to put their own houses in order before helping Haiti.
Venezuelan Vice President Nicolas Maduro looks on during his swearing-in ceremony as caretaker president following the death of President Hugo Chavez in Caracas March 8, 2013.
Hard Numbers: Venezuelan opposition arrests, Bangkok’s murder mystery, Acropolis closed amid heat wave, More Kenyan police arrive in Haiti, Voting day for von der Leyen
102: Ahead of presidential elections set for July 28, Venezuelan authorities have arrested at least 102 people linked to the political opposition this year, according to Foro Penal, a local legal aid non-profit. Three-quarters of them were jailed after the official presidential campaign period began on July 4. On Wednesday, police arrested the security chief of opposition leader Marina Corina Machado. Polls show strongman President Nicolas Madurotrailing badly ahead of the vote.
6: Authorities said Wednesday that traces of cyanide were found in the blood of six Vietnamese nationals, two of whom had dual US citizenship, in a luxury suite of a Grand Hyatt in Bangkok. The group was last seen alive on Monday by a waiter delivering room service. Police say there was a possible financial motive related to an investment … and that the suspected perpetrator is among the six dead.
5: Greece’s most-visited archaeological site, the Acropolis, was closed for five hours by the Ministry of Culture on Wednesday amid a brutal southern European heat wave. Wildfires, meanwhile, are proving difficult to contain amid the extreme heat and led to the closure of a major border crossing between Greece and North Macedonia for several hours on Wednesday.
200: Another 200 Kenyan police officers joined the UN-backed mission in Haiti this week to support local authorities against the violent gangs who took over the capital city of Port-au-Prince in a joint offensive last February. The Kenyan-led mission also expects new arrivals from Jamaica, Bangladesh, Chad, and others to help grow the force to 2,500 personnel in the coming weeks.
361: In the EU parliament later today, MEPs will decide whether to confirm Ursula von der Leyen as Commission president in a knife-edge vote that will either result in another five-year mandate for the EU executive’s first female leader or tip the bloc into a temporary crisis. Despite no other candidate standing, it looks like she will just barely, if at all, get the 361 votes she needs.
Haiti's Prime Minister Garry Conille shakes hands with members of the first contingent of Kenyan police as part of a peacekeeping mission in the Caribbean country, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti June 26, 2024.
Haiti takes back major hospital from gangs
On Tuesday, Haiti’s interim Prime Minister Garry Conillevisited the country’s largest hospital in the capital city of Port-au-Prince to celebrate taking it back from armed gangs on Sunday.
Haiti has been engulfed in deadly gang violence since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021. Since then, over 200 armed gangs formed large alliances that brought Haiti to a state of anarchy, with intensifying violence that eventually forced former Prime Minister Ariel Henry’s resignation this spring. Coordinated gang attacks in February — strategically timed to occur while Henry was overseas — seized control of harbors and airports, effectively cutting the country off from the world.
Conille, a former doctor himself, described the hospital as a “war zone” that had been left inoperable by the violence. In recent months, gangs have taken control of 80% of the capital and driven Haiti’s already weak health system to the brink of collapse.
The Haitian government’s reclamation of this hospital, expected to be back in full service by February 2026, is a rare victory for Haiti and an early success for the UN-backed, Kenyan-led police mission that has been fighting on the ground since it deployed on June 25.
What’s next? Can Haitians with the help of their Kenyan allies hold the territory they’ve retaken while also ingratiating themselves with ordinary people who have endured years of violence and scarcity? If they can win back territory without losing hearts and minds, they may create a window to begin the long road to recovery.
Kenyan police officers wearing ceremonial uniform participate in a parade during the commemoration of 61st Madaraka Day. A contingent of Kenyan Police is awaiting deployment to lead a Multinational Security Support Mission(MSS) to Haiti.
Kenyan cops are finally heading to Haiti
On Sunday, Kenyan officials said the police force they have promised to lead in Haiti, where they will help the beleaguered Haitian police fight heavily armed gangs, will depart on Tuesday.
They’re walking into a desperate situation. The Haitian National Police can count on only around 4,000 officers in a nation of 11 million, and last week new Prime Minister Garry Conille dismissed the country’s police chief. The Kenyans are bringing around 1,000 more officers, and other countries, including Benin, the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, and Chad have pledged forces, though it is unclear when they will arrive. The project will be funded generously by Uncle Sam, to the tune of $110 million so far, but there will be no US boots on the ground.
Even with international support, the gangs may have the upper hand. They have formed large alliances and effectively control around 80% of the capital. Some leaders, like Jimmy “Barbecue” Chérizier, a former cop who now leads the G-9 gang alliance, have amplified street power into political ambition to try and assume powerful positions in post-conflict Haiti.
We’re watching how the Kenyans fare in the first days of what is sure to be a grueling and violent deployment — and hoping they can help bring some peace and stability to Haiti.
Newly appointed Haitian Prime Minister Garry Conille leaves a news conference in Port-au-Prince October 6, 2011. Haiti's Senate approved Conille as prime minister on Tuesday, endorsing President Michel Martelly's third nominee for the post in a move many hope will boost reconstruction efforts in the earthquake-ravaged nation.
Haiti chooses new prime minister
This is not a job for the faint of heart. The transition council governing crisis-wracked Haiti has selected former Prime Minister Garry Conille to lead the country until new elections can be held.
Conille, who briefly served as PM in 2012, takes over for Ariel Henry, who resigned in March after being unable to re-enter the country following a trip abroad to secure international help fighting Haiti’s powerful gangs.
The task ahead is daunting. Violence has plunged the country into near failed state status since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021. Gangs control more than 80% of the capital while more than 360,000 people have been displaced from their homes by clashes between gangs, vigilantes, and overmatched police, and nearly half of the island nation’s 11 million people face acute hunger.
A UN-backed international policing mission led by Kenya is preparing to deploy to Haiti in a bid to reassert government control ahead of fresh elections, which must be held by February 2026. It will be no small miracle if Conille stays in power that long.
What lies behind Haiti’s chronic instability? See our woefully timeless explainer here.
Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Commercial flights in and out of the airport have been suspended since early March 2024 when armed groups targeted the facility and nearby domestic airport.
Kenyan officials arrive in Haiti to prep police deployment
An advance team of Kenyan security officials has arrived in Haiti to make final preparations for the deployment of a long-awaited police force to help take back the streets from gangs. If they find the facilities for the mission are adequately prepared, it could mean Kenyan cops hit the streets of Port-au-Prince within weeks or even days.
The arrival coincides with Kenyan President William Ruto’s state visit to Washington, DC, during which he and President Joe Biden are planning to discuss the deployment. The US has opened its wallet to the tune of $300 million to support the Kenyan mission to Haiti — after all, a stable Haiti is much more in Washington’s interest than Nairobi’s. But the ties go deeper.
The Biden administration has pulled Kenya closer to the center of its Africa policy as relations cool with Ethiopia and South Africa, formerly Washington’s best allies on the continent, and military juntas in the crucial Sahel region expel US forces. Kenya has a stable democracy and growing economy, and it has proven its commitment to regional stability with troop deployments to Somalia, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, among other conflicts.
But the deployment to Haiti presents big risks. It will be the first time an African country has led a security deployment outside the continent, and it will be under heavy scrutiny given the atrocious behavior of past foreign peacekeepers in Haiti. The UN force that operated there after the 2010 earthquake is accused of abandoning hundreds of children they fathered with Haitian women and of bringing cholera back to the country.
If Kenyan officers fall or are injured, a domestic political crisis could ensue for Ruto, whose constituents don’t necessarily see the sense in sending their boys to die on an island 7,500 miles away. We’re watching for how much Washington backs up Nairobi when the going gets tough — and with Haiti’s gangs promising a hard fight, that could be soon.A U.S. force aircraft arrives with contractors to build a base for a Kenyan-led international security force aimed at countering gang violence, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti May 11, 2024.
Will international aid stabilize Haiti?
Gang violence continues to escalate in Haiti, prompting calls for the dismissal and arrest of the country's National Police Director Frantz Elbé. In the words of Garry Jean-Baptiste, a police union spokesperson, “Monsieur Elbé has failed.” Jean-Baptiste accuses the chief of incompetence and complicity with gangs, noting that 30 police stations have been attacked and burned in recent months.
In the US, representatives of 2.5 million voters of Haitian descent are calling on Washington to grantTemporary Protected Status to Haitian migrants already in the US.
While TPS is complicated by the Biden administration’s attempts to tighten migration policy, last Friday the US began sending $300 million worth of resources and civilian contractors to support a UN-authorized, multinational security force, to be led by 1,000 Kenyan police officers. The goal is to bolster Haiti’s outmatched police force, restore order, and avert a humanitarian disaster. Nearly one and a half million Haitians are on the verge of famine, and many are fleeing to the neighboring Dominican Republic.
In anticipation of the inflow of international assistance, Haiti’s transitional councilrestructured itself to rotate leadership among four veteran politicians every five months and altered its majority decision requirement. The hope is that this will stabilize decision making and enable the country to hold elections by February 2026.A drone view of the Jalousie neighbourhood after former President of the Senate Edgard Leblanc was named to lead the transitional council, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, April 30, 2024.
Who is Haiti’s new PM? Even Haitian heavyweights don’t know
Haiti’s transitional council unexpectedly elected obscure former Sports Minister Fritz Bélizaire as prime minister on Tuesday, dividing the council 4 to 3. Gangs, meanwhile, threaten chaos if they are excluded from government.
Didn’t Haiti just get a new PM? Yes, Michel Patrick Boisvert, the well-known finance minister, briefly took the premiership after Ariel Henry stepped down last week.
The appointment of Bélizaire came as a surprise, with four of the transitional council’s seven voting members suddenly revealing their consensus. The new PM has not held any political office in over a decade, and Leslie Voltaire, one of the council members, told the Guardian “I don’t know him.”
Some believe Voltaire’s appointment was orchestrated by former Senator Jean-Charles Moïse. Moïse had to be persuaded to join the council while he also flirted with an alternative transition plan proposed by former coup leader and convicted drug trafficker Guy Philippe. Appointing a nobody like Bélizaire could leave Moïse in a position to call shots.
What about the gangs? All the politicking feels farcical in the face of facts on the ground. The council was sworn in secretly last month as powerful coalitions of armed gangs hold most of the capital, Port-au-Prince. They’ve already toppled one government, and warlord Jimmy “Barbecue” Chérizier threatened to do it again if they aren’t brought in: “Either we are all at the table, or the table gets destroyed with all of us,” he said.