By Humeyra Pamuk and Daphne Psaledakis
VIENNA/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Most of the parties for Haiti’s transition council have named their representative but a couple still have yet to do so, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday, as the Caribbean nation faces a political and humanitarian crisis.
Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry announced on Monday he would step down once the council, made up of seven voting members and two observers, was in place.
The State Department said on Tuesday it expected that members of the transition council would be appointed in the next 24-48 hours, but the process has lagged.
“This is never going to be smooth and never going to be linear,” Blinken told reporters during a visit to Austria.
“So that’s a work in progress, but we’ve seen that move forward,” Blinken said.
Blinken traveled to Jamaica on Monday for talks with regional Caribbean leaders and representatives from Haiti’s government and opposition on the crisis in Haiti.
After unpopular Henry’s announcement later on Monday, the capital, Port-au-Prince, was initially quieter, but violence appeared to be flaring up again as of late Wednesday, with a shootout in one neighborhood and an attack on the police academy early on Thursday.
Gang violence has spiraled in Haiti, fueling a humanitarian crisis, cutting off food supplies and forcing hundreds of thousands from their homes.
Heavily armed gangs have taken over much of the capital in Haiti, and rights groups have reported widespread killings, kidnappings and sexual violence. More than 360,000 people are internally displaced in Haiti, according to U.N. estimates.
U.S. aid chief Samantha Power was set to announce $25 million in humanitarian assistance for Haiti on Friday, first reported by Reuters, including for immediate food assistance, essential relief supplies, relocation support and emergency health care.
The further aid follows Blinken’s announcement on Monday of $33 million in humanitarian aid for the country.
Blinken on Friday also said an international force to tackle the spiraling violence in Haiti was moving forward, but added that there are challenges.
The force, set to be led by Kenya, has faced stumbling blocks and Nairobi announced earlier this week it was pausing the deployment and would re-evaluate once a new Haitian government was in place.
“Once the new council is fully stood up – and again, I would anticipate that happens in the coming days – that process with the force will be able to move forward and then we have a trajectory that has at least the chance of putting Haiti in a more stable place,” Blinken said.
“Having said all of that, every single day there are challenges to that process. There are political challenges, there are security challenges, and we’re working to address them.”
(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk, Daphne Psaledakis and Ismail Shakil; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
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