Haïti: The Barbecue Revolution and the Path to Power

TPC Nominees and Observers Submitted to CARICOM

January 30 Collectif - Edgard LeBlanc Fils

A co-founder of the Organization of the People in Struggle, OPL, political party. An engineer, he was president of the Senate, 1995 to 2000, during the administration of President of René Préval.

Fanmi Lavalas - Lesly Voltaire,

Studied at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and has a master's degree in urban planning from Cornell University in New York. An architect and urban planner, Voltaire is a former minister for Haitians living abroad in the Aristide government. . He is educated in Mexico and fluent in Spanish, French, English, and Creole.

Montana Agreement - Fritz Alphonse Jean

Served as interim prime minister of Haiti’s 2016 government. A former governor of the Banque de la République d’Haïti, BRH, from 1998 to 2001, Jean has been involved in promoting development in the rural sectors of northern Haiti. He’s a U.S.-educated economist.

RED/EDE - Augustine Smith

A Ph.D. student in sociology. Smith Augustin is a specialist in the political and social issues of Latin America and the Caribbean. He was Haiti's ambassador to the Dominican Republic from 2020 to 2022

December 21 - Louis Gérald Gilles,

Former surgeon Gilles served as a Senator of Grand-Anse. He was the leader of the New Unified Orientation to Liberate Haiti (UNAH) political party.

Pitit Desalin - Emmanuel Vertilaire

Commissaire du Gouvernement au Parquet du TPI de la GRN / 19 August 2010, Juge au TPI de la GRN since August 2012 at Juge au TPI de Grande Rivière du Nord Studied at Faculty of droit des sciences economiques et de gestion du cap-haitien

License in Law

Private Sector - Laurent St-Cyr

President of Haiti's Chamber of Commerce, American Chamber of Commerce in Haiti. He was also selected in February 2023 by Ariel Henry to represent the business community on his High Transitional council (HCT).

Two Observers

Regine Abraham

Nominated by the Rally for National and Sovereign Accord (REN), Abraham is an Agronomist Master's degree in Rural Development from the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM). During her 15-year career at the Ministry of the Environment, Ms. Régine was Departmental Director, Director of the National Agency for Protected Areas and Director of the Minister's Office.

Frinel Joseph

Minister and Former Treasurer of the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) dissolved in 2021.

11 March 2024

Today CARICOM convened Haitian Stakeholders and the following international development partners: Brazil, Canada, France, Mexico, United Nations and the United States of America to discuss the multidimensional crisis in Haiti.

This meeting followed a series of discussions over a period of time, including those facilitated by the Eminent Persons Group, which engaged a wide range of actors including Haitian political parties, the religious community, private sector, the diaspora, and civil society.

We are pleased to announce the commitment to a transitional governance arrangement, which paves the way for a peaceful transition of power, continuity of governance, an action plan for near-term security, and the road to free and fair elections. It further seeks to assure that Haiti will be governed by the rule of law. This commitment reflects hard compromises among a diverse coalition of actors who have put their country above all differences.

To that end:

We acknowledge the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry, upon the establishment of a Transitional Presidential Council and the naming of an Interim Prime Minister.

And the following is agreed:

The creation of a Transitional Presidential Council comprised of seven voting members and two non-voting observers. The seven voting members will comprise one representative from each of the following groups: Collectif, December 21, EDE/RED/Compris Historique, Lavalas, Montana, Pitit Desalin, and the Private Sector.

The non-voting members will be represented by one member from civil society and one member of the InterFaith community. The Council will exercise specified presidential authorities during the transition, operating by majority vote;

The exclusion from the Transitional Presidential Council of:

Anyone who is currently on a charge, indictment or has been convicted in any jurisdiction.

Anyone who is under UN Sanction;

Anyone who intends to run in the next election in Haiti;

Anyone who opposes the UN Security Council (UN SC) Resolution 2699.

-The Transitional Presidential Council will swiftly select and appoint an interim Prime Minister;

-The Transitional Presidential Council will together with the Interim Prime Minister appoint an inclusive Council of Ministers;

-The Transitional Presidential council will hold the relevant and possible powers of the Haitian presidency during the transition period until an elected government is established. The Transitional Presidential Council will undertake the following:

-Appoint an inclusive Council of Ministers;

-Co-sign the orders, decrees and to sign off on the agenda of the Council of Ministers

-Set the essential criteria for the selection of an impartial Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) and establish the Provisional Electoral Council;

-Make arrangements for a peaceful transition, ensure continuity of governance, and establish a national security council;

Continue collaboration with all members of the international community for the accelerated deployment of the Multinational Security Support Mission authorized by UNSCR 2699/2023.

It is agreed that implementation of these measures will be conducted in parallel.

The parties also made specific, individual commitments regarding principles of inclusion, integrity, a restoration of peace, and an orderly transition of power.

These shared and individual commitments can represent important steps toward facilitating increased humanitarian access to help ease the suffering of the Haitian people. The international community stands ready to partner with Haiti to achieve these goals.

Haitian participants must now fully implement their commitments. Haitians deserve a country where children can go to school and their parents know they will be safe. We commend the willingness and courage of Haitian stakeholders to commit to put Haiti back on a path toward democracy, stability, and prosperity. With a framework in place that illuminates a path forward, it is incumbent upon all Haitians to give the agreement a chance to work, to enter into a process of national dialogue, and to lay the groundwork for a transition that is based on inclusivity, encourages participation by all stakeholders, and paves the way for elections as soon as possible. This is the only sustainable path to a future of strong democratic institutions, peaceful resolution of conflict, and security and prosperity for all Haitians.

Subject to strong criticism, death threats and constitutional reservations about her age since her appointment to the Presidential Council of the Transition, Dominique Dupuy announces that she is returning to her post as Vice-President of UNESCO. The group that appointed her is actively looking for a replacement.

In a pre-recorded video sent to Le Nouvelliste, the head of the permanent delegation of Haiti to UNESCO thanked the political grouping EDE-RED and Compris historique for having chosen her to sit on the Presidential Council of the Transition.

"In addition to the unfounded political attacks on my character, the threats on my life, my participation as the only woman among eight men faces obstacles that some actors want to create," Dupuy said.

According to her, these political actors have raised the constitutional provision on the age to hold a position in the Presidential Council "despite the fact that this transition process is not within the framework of the Constitution", she stresses.

At the head of Haiti's permanent delegation to UNESCO for more than three years, Dominique Dupuy represents the country's interests on the international scene. His accomplishments and those of his team are well known.

She cited as an example, the election of Haiti for the first time to the vice-presidency of UNESCO in November 2023 for a two-year term. She could also have cited the inscription of the Joumou Soup in the Register of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity at UNESCO, her fight for the kasav and the direct compass.

"Mwen konsakre tout enèji m pou m kanpe diyite peyi a nan zye lòt peyi yo jan mwen kapab," she says.

Dominique Dupuy announced that she would continue to carry out her position as vice-president of UNESCO "and continue with the other projects" she had launched.

Moved to tears, Dominique Dupuy calls on the country's young people, especially women, to get involved everywhere. "M ap kontinye sèvi peyi m ak tout kè m nan non pitit mwen, nan non paran m, nan non zansèt yo."

(Translation - I will continue to serve my country with all my heart in the name of my children, in the name of my parents, in the names of their fathers.)

Ms. Dupuy thanked those who had thought that her presence on the Presidential Council as the only woman was a good signal. She also thanked the political grouping RED-EDE and Historic Compromise that had made her "even though I am not a member of any of these political structures", she said, stressing that these political organisations had not set any conditions for her contribution to the Council.