Foreign powers and UN withdraw their support for Haiti’s prime minister Claude Joseph

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Foreign powers and the UN have withdrawn their support for Haiti’s interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph, who has been at the helm of the country since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse ten days ago, by announcing on Saturday (17) their explicit support for one of his rivals for power.

The representatives in Haiti of the United Nations, the Organization of American States (OAS) and the European Union, and a group of six ambassadors, including that of the United States, expressed their support for Ariel Henry as prime minister.

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The positioning of the ambassadors of the so-called Core Group in favor of one of the three aspirants to power represents an important turn of events: in the early days following the assassination, both the UN and the United States recognized Claude Joseph’s authority to lead the Caribbean country until the next elections.

The doubts about succession arose because Ariel Henry was appointed Prime Minister by President Moïse last July 5, in the last decree signed by him, only two days before his death. Still, he was not invested in office, so Joseph, the Prime Minister about to be replaced, continued at the head of the Government with the support of the Police and the Army.

CALL FOR A CONSENSUS GOVERNMENT

In their communiqué, the foreign powers called for the formation of a consensus and inclusive government. To this end, they ‘strongly’ encouraged Ariel Henry to continue with ‘the mission entrusted to him to form such a government’.

According to the ambassadors’ vision, this consensus Executive should be in charge of organizing “in the shortest possible time” the presidential and legislative elections, which, they stressed, should be “free, fair, transparent and credible”.

The Core Group is formed by the ambassadors of the US, France, Spain, Brazil, Germany, Canada, the EU, and representatives of the UN and the OAS.

This group was initially established as a facilitating body for the work of the UN Mission for the Stabilization of Haiti (Minustah), deployed between 2004 and 2017. Still, in practice, it serves to reach a consensus on the political positions of the powers in relation to Port-au-Prince.

FOUR PATHS IN DISPUTE FOR POWER

Foreign support for Henry has not been acknowledged by either of the two prime ministers involved, nor by the president of the Senate, Joseph Lambert, the third contender for control of the National Palace.

Lambert received the support of some senators to proclaim himself president of Haiti two days after Moise’s death. Still, he has been silent since last Sunday, the day on which a tripartite meeting was held with Washington’s mediation, but no agreement was reached.

To these three aspirants to power, a fourth way can be added, which began to be discussed this Saturday by numerous groups of civil society and representatives of opposition parties in a meeting held in a hotel in Port-au-Prince.

The so-called “Haitian civil society commission for the search of a Haitian solution to the crisis” intends to reach a consensus on an agreement to decide the country’s direction without the interference of foreign powers.

THE RETURN OF THE FIRST LADY

On the sidelines of the dispute for power, this Saturday, the widow of the assassinated governor, Martine Moïse, arrived at the capital Port-au-Prince still convalescing from the wounds she suffered in the armed attack ten days prior.

Martine Moise walked off the plane that brought her back from Miami, USA, where she was hospitalized for ten days; she was received on the airport runway by interim Prime Minister, Claude Joseph.

Martine Moise is expected to attend the state funeral, scheduled for next Friday in Cap-Haitien, the largest city in the north of the country, which is close to the commune of Trou-du-Nord, where her husband was born.