The U.S. warned Haiti’s transitional presidential council against making changes that could destabilize the country’s government, saying the United States would consider “appropriate measures” if a person supports a destabilizing initiative that favors gangs, according to a statement posted by the U.S. Embassy in Haiti on X.
The Embassy said the maneuver would undermine efforts to establish “a minimal level of security and stability” in Haiti, where gang violence is surging and poverty deepening, the AP reported.
The warning came as pressure grew for the unelected council—an authority appointed to oversee the transition—to move toward elections for the first time in a decade. Some council members were reported to be at odds with Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, though it was not immediately clear why, and the council met behind closed doors earlier Wednesday and again on Thursday.
In a separate message posted on X, the U.S. Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs said Haiti’s chronic instability results from “corrupt Haitian politicians who use gangs and other armed groups to create chaos in the streets and then insist on a role in government to turn down the chaos they themselves have created.” The bureau added that “Real stability will come when political leaders get their power from the support of voters rather than their ability to sow chaos,” and wrote that the members of the council who followed that path “are not Haitian patriots” and “They are criminals like the gangs they conspire with.”
A spokesman for the prime minister’s office said he could not comment, and the council’s seven members with voting powers did not return messages seeking comment.
Laurent Saint-Cyr, the council’s leader, issued a statement opposing any push to undermine government stability ahead of Feb. 7, when the council is provisionally scheduled to step down. He said that as major institutional deadlines approach, “any initiative likely to fuel instability, confusion or a breakdown of trust carries serious risks for the country,” and added that Haiti “cannot afford to make unilateral decisions or engage in short-sighted political calculations that would compromise the stability and continuity of the State, as well as the well-being of the already sorely tested population.”
The council has been one of Haiti’s top authorities since April 2024, formed with help of Caribbean leaders after gangs forced the closure of Haiti’s main international airport and targeted key state infrastructure. That pressure contributed to former Prime Minister Ariel Henry’s resignation, the AP reported, and the council’s role included selecting Haiti’s prime minister as part of efforts to stabilize the country quickly.
Fils-Aimé is the third person chosen by the council, appointed in November 2025 after the council fired Garry Conille, the AP reported. The council is provisionally scheduled to step down by Feb. 7, though it was unclear if it will do so; critics said some members are trying to stay in power longer and that a move could spark new rounds of violent protests.
The Feb. 7 deadline was approved in early 2024 on the assumption Haiti would have held general elections to elect a new president, but gang violence prevented officials from holding elections so far. The AP said elections are tentatively set for August, with a runoff to be held in December.
The developments also came as the U.N. Security Council met earlier Wednesday to discuss Haiti’s situation, following a new U.N. report released Wednesday that said national stakeholders remain divided over the transitional governance architecture to lead the country to elections. Carlos Ruiz-Massieu, the U.N. Secretary General’s special representative in Haiti, said Haiti had entered “a critical phase” and that the country “no longer has time to waste in prolonged infighting,” while Panamanian Ambassador Eloy Alfaro de Alba said Haiti was at a “critical juncture,” with only 18 days left for the transitional presidential council’s mandate to end.
U.N. members at the meeting said Haiti needed to quickly move toward a democratic transition as gangs continued to seize more territory, and Ericq Pierre, Haiti’s permanent representative to the United Nations, said the deadline should be approached with responsibility “to sustain continuity of state and avoid any disruptions that may undermine the operation of national institutions.” The AP reported that gangs control an estimated 90% of Port-au-Prince and have seized swaths of land in the central region.
The AP said more than 8,100 killings were reported across Haiti from January to November last year, with figures likely underreported because of limited access to gang-controlled areas, and that Haiti’s National Police has sought help from a U.N.-backed mission led by Kenyan police that remains understaffed and underfunded. The mission is transitioning into a “gang suppression force” with the power to arrest suspected gang members, the AP reported.
The AP also said Haiti’s government has worked with a private military contractor to launch drone strikes targeting suspected gang members, and that the strikes also killed civilians. It reported that the strikes killed more than 970 people from March to December last year, including 39 civilians, 16 of them children, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.