Overview:
The Caribbean Community’s first mediation meeting on Friday aimed at shaping Haiti’s post–Feb. 7 governance ended without agreement, prompting a three-day postponement. Some groups boycotted the talks, criticized the regional organization’s past role and renewed calls for Haitian-led solutions amid worsening gang violence.
PORT-AU-PRINCE — The Caribbean Community’s (CARICOM) mediation meeting on Friday aimed at forging a political agreement to guide Haiti beyond Feb. 7 ended without a decision, underscoring deep divisions among Haitian actors and renewed criticism of the regional bloc’s role as gang violence continues to escalate.
The Jan. 30 meeting, convened by CARICOM’s Group of Eminent Persons, brought together several political parties and civil society groups to discuss proposals for a new governance arrangement to replace the Transitional Presidential Council (CPT), which the regional organization helped create two years ago. After hours of discussion, participants failed to reach a consensus, prompting a 72-hour postponement.
While most attendees agreed that Haiti’s crisis must ultimately be resolved by Haitians themselves, disagreements over how to achieve a Haitian-led solution quickly surfaced, derailing progress.
Several political groups participated, including Les Engagés pour le Développement ( EDE, led by former Prime Minister Claude Joseph; the Patriotic Consortium, composed of multiple political parties, including Louverturean reformist Force led by Emmanuel Ménard, a media personality and owner; the April 4 Initiative, represented by former Senator Jean-Renel Sénatus; the December 21 Accord; and the Civil Society Initiative, led by Rony Desroches.
But others stayed away.
The Montana Accord, a key political framework backed by several civil society actors, declined to attend. Economist Jacques Ted St. Dic, who represents the group, said discussions should take place among Haitian actors before any proposals are shared externally.
“It is crucial that stakeholders put aside differences to reach consensus. CARICOM calls on all Haitian stakeholders to put the future of their people and country above all else, and to act responsibly, and with urgency and patriotism.”
Caribbean Community
“We will not publish proposals,” St. Dic told The Haitian Times ahead of the meeting. “It is within a group of Haitian actors that we must first determine what needs to be done.”
CARICOM renewed its mediation offer in a Jan. 27 statement, urging Haitian stakeholders to put aside differences and reach a consensus before the CPT’s mandate expires Feb. 7. The regional body said it remains available to help reconcile competing proposals.
“It is crucial that stakeholders place the future of their people and country above all disagreements,” CARICOM said.
Yet, skepticism toward CARICOM’s role looms large
Several groups, including the G10 — a coalition of political parties, according to former Prime Minister Jean-Michel Lapin — boycotted the talks altogether. The G10 also refused to engage in earlier dialogue initiated by the CPT, calling on both CARICOM and the council to acknowledge what it described as a failed transition.
The political organization Lapè Pou Ayiti echoed that position, rejecting mediation by “eminent personalities” in a Jan. 29 statement. The group argued that the CPT, created through CARICOM-backed negotiations, failed to deliver security or political stability.
Similar criticism came from Fusion des Sociaux Démocrates Haïtiens, which accused CARICOM of imposing an ill-suited transition model and creating what it described as a dysfunctional structure that worsened insecurity.
“Any solution imposed from outside has failed,” the party said, calling instead for a process rooted in Haitian consensus.
As political talks stalled, violence surged.
On the morning of Jan. 30, gangs affiliated with Viv Ansanm coalition launched an attack in Kenscoff— a few miles uphill to the southeast of Port-au-Prince— killing at least seven people, including a baby, injuring several others and setting homes ablaze, according to local officials.
The attack added to an already grim toll. Nearly 6,000 people were killed in Haiti in 2025, including at least 1,523 in the final quarter alone, according to a Jan. 30 report from the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BUNIH).
With no agreement in sight and key actors rejecting the mediation process, Haitians remain caught between a political vacuum and a security crisis that continues to claim lives daily.
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