Overview:
The Caribbean Neighborhood’s first mediation assembly on Friday geared toward shaping Haiti’s put up–Feb. 7 governance ended with out settlement, prompting a three-day postponement. Some teams boycotted the talks, criticized the regional group’s previous position and renewed requires Haitian-led options amid worsening gang violence.
PORT-AU-PRINCE — The Caribbean Neighborhood’s (CARICOM) mediation assembly on Friday geared toward forging a political settlement to information Haiti past Feb. 7 ended with out a resolution, underscoring deep divisions amongst Haitian actors and renewed criticism of the regional bloc’s position as gang violence continues to escalate.
The Jan. 30 assembly, convened by CARICOM’s Group of Eminent Individuals, introduced collectively a number of political events and civil society teams to debate proposals for a brand new governance association to interchange the Transitional Presidential Council (CPT), which the regional group helped create two years in the past. After hours of dialogue, contributors failed to succeed in a consensus, prompting a 72-hour postponement.
Whereas most attendees agreed that Haiti’s disaster should in the end be resolved by Haitians themselves, disagreements over tips on how to obtain a Haitian-led resolution rapidly surfaced, derailing progress.
A number of political teams participated, together with Les Engagés pour le Développement ( EDE, led by former Prime Minister Claude Joseph; the Patriotic Consortium, composed of a number of political events, together with Louverturean reformist Pressure led by Emmanuel Ménard, a media character and proprietor; the April 4 Initiative, represented by former Senator Jean-Renel Sénatus; the December 21 Accord; and the Civil Society Initiative, led by Rony Desroches.
However others stayed away.
The Montana Accord, a key political framework backed by a number of civil society actors, declined to attend. Economist Jacques Ted St. Dic, who represents the group, mentioned discussions ought to happen amongst Haitian actors earlier than any proposals are shared externally.
“It’s essential that stakeholders put apart variations to succeed in consensus. CARICOM calls on all Haitian stakeholders to place the way forward for their individuals and nation above all else, and to behave responsibly, and with urgency and patriotism.”
Caribbean Neighborhood
“We is not going to publish proposals,” St. Dic informed The Haitian Occasions forward of the assembly. “It’s inside a bunch of Haitian actors that we should first decide what must be accomplished.”
CARICOM renewed its mediation supply in a Jan. 27 statement, urging Haitian stakeholders to place apart variations and attain a consensus earlier than the CPT’s mandate expires Feb. 7. The regional physique mentioned it stays obtainable to assist reconcile competing proposals.
“It’s essential that stakeholders place the way forward for their individuals and nation above all disagreements,” CARICOM mentioned.
But, skepticism towards CARICOM’s position looms massive
A number of teams, together with the G10 — a coalition of political events, based on former Prime Minister Jean-Michel Lapin — boycotted the talks altogether. The G10 additionally refused to have interaction in earlier dialogue initiated by the CPT, calling on each CARICOM and the council to acknowledge what it described as a failed transition.
The political group Lapè Pou Ayiti echoed that place, rejecting mediation by “eminent personalities” in a Jan. 29 statement. The group argued that the CPT, created by CARICOM-backed negotiations, did not ship safety or political stability.
Comparable criticism got here from Fusion des Sociaux Démocrates Haïtiens, which accused CARICOM of imposing an ill-suited transition mannequin and creating what it described as a dysfunctional construction that worsened insecurity.
“Any resolution imposed from outdoors has failed,” the celebration mentioned, calling as an alternative for a course of rooted in Haitian consensus.
As political talks stalled, violence surged.
On the morning of Jan. 30, gangs affiliated with Viv Ansanm coalition launched an assault in Kenscoff— a number of miles uphill to the southeast of Port-au-Prince— killing no less than seven individuals, together with a child, injuring a number of others and setting houses ablaze, based on native officers.
The assault added to an already grim toll. Practically 6,000 individuals had been killed in Haiti in 2025, together with no less than 1,523 within the remaining quarter alone, based on a Jan. 30 report from the United Nations Built-in Workplace in Haiti (BUNIH).
With no settlement in sight and key actors rejecting the mediation course of, Haitians stay caught between a political vacuum and a safety disaster that continues to say lives day by day.