Local January 26, 2025 | 12:00 pm

Haitian leader says Trump administration’s plans will be ‘catastrophic’ for his country

Leslie Voltaire, president of Haiti's Transitional Council, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Rome, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025. (AP)

Rome — The chairman of Haiti’s transitional presidential council has said the Trump administration’s decisions to freeze aid programs, deport migrants, and block refugees will be “catastrophic” for Haiti.

Leslie Voltaire commented in an interview with The Associated Press in Rome on Saturday, following a meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican. He visited the pope to ask for help for Haiti.

“I am knocking on the doors of people who love Haiti. The pope loves Haiti and is eager to help,” Haiti’s interim president said.

The pontiff and Voltaire discussed the dire situation in Haiti, where gangs have killed civilians and operate across the Caribbean nation with impunity. According to Voltaire, half of Haiti’s 11.4 million people are already hungry, and the loss of humanitarian assistance will dramatically worsen the situation.

Trump said Haiti is a ‘shithole,’ so I don’t think he cares about Haiti,” Voltaire said, noting that thousands of people are already being repatriated from the Dominican Republic every week, and gangs are terrorizing the population. With the new U.S. policies, “the situation will be catastrophic.”

During his first administration, President Donald Trump used vulgarly explicit language to question why the United States would accept migrants from Haiti and “shithole countries” in Africa. At the time, the White House did not deny his comment but said that Trump supports immigration policies that welcome “those who can contribute to our society.”

Voltaire said there are about 1.5 million Haitians in the U.S., and about 150,000 were accepted under a program called Temporary Protected Status (TPS).

Trump says he will expel them all,” Voltaire added, noting that Haiti, which is already struggling with hunger and internally displaced people, cannot handle the arrival of deportees.

In a report released this month, the UN migration agency said internal displacement in Haiti has tripled over the past year and now exceeds 1 million people. The situation has been caused in large part by gang violence in the Caribbean country. The new figure provided by the International Organization for Migration represents a record for Haiti.

IOM said “relentless gang violence” in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, has led to a near doubling of displacement in the city, as well as the collapse of health care and other services and worsening food insecurity. Nearly 200,000 people have been forcibly returned to Haiti over the past year, mainly from the Dominican Republic.

Voltaire and his transitional government have been tasked with leading the country to a general election, an elusive goal. Still, he is convinced that they will be able to achieve it by next November despite the powerful gangs that rule 85% of the capital and are gaining ground in the surrounding areas.

However, Voltaire is convinced that elections can be held this year if Haiti’s multinational police force is increased by several thousand more officers.

Gang

Kenya is leading the multinational police force with a total deployment of more than 600 officers, down from the 1,000 the president promised. 150 Guatemalans and an advance team of eight Salvadoran troops have also arrived, but the force remains well below its anticipated strength of 2,500 officers. Voltaire said Benin had pledged an additional 2,000 troops.

“We have to hold a referendum on a new constitution and also elections at the end of November. I say that we can hold the elections because we have about eight departments, about 80% of the country. We can hold the elections.”

Gang power in Haiti has grown since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021. Some gangs have even indicated wanting to be part of the political process. Voltaire excluded that possibility, “I don’t think they should be around the table. I think they are criminals.”

More than 5,600 people were reported killed in Haiti last year, according to the United Nations. The number of killings increased by more than 20% compared to all of 2023, according to the UN Human Rights Office.

Warning

  • Last week, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that gangs could soon take control of the capital, Port-au-Prince, leading to a complete collapse of government authority without additional international support for the national police.
  • Voltaire asked the pontiff to organize an international solidarity conference for Haiti. Voltaire said that the pope had written an “international conference” on paper, and Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin later told him that the Vatican would try to convince Mexico and Canada to participate in funding a conference on Haiti.
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222
January 26, 2025 12:51 pm

Figure it out on your own No more useless handouts, they do more harm than good. Close the border let em figure it out!

222
January 26, 2025 12:52 pm

It is a shithole. I second that.

Alberto Gomez
January 26, 2025 2:19 pm

Well , the main problem of this land called Haiti, is there’s to many people on it to feed and they reproduce like rabbits. The second main problem is no one wants them anywhere even Haiti . The third main problem is none of their neighbors speak that dialect called creole. The first help they need is not food but send them CONDOMS.

Dave C.
January 27, 2025 12:48 am
Reply to  Alberto Gomez

They need condoms for sure. Not only do they reproduce like rabbits but HIV is rampant in Haiti.

mari cohen
January 27, 2025 2:50 pm

Savage animals destroying their own Country.

Dave Lopes
January 28, 2025 12:59 am

The Haitian president is wrong. Full closure of the border to all movement of people and goods is where Haiti should start. Move the gangs to the border to turn it into a danger zone.

Paul Tierney
January 28, 2025 11:01 am

This country should look into its own mirror to see what is more catastrophic. If there is aid or not, the country still wallows in its own mismanagement and theft of aids. Trumps plans at this time is smoke in the present chaos.