Creation of transitional council that will select Haiti's next prime minister is imminent, US says
The U.S. assistant secretary for Western Hemisphere affairs says the creation of a transitional council responsible for choosing Haiti’s next leaders is imminent
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The creation of a transitional council responsible for choosing Haiti’s next leaders is imminent, a U.S. diplomat said Wednesday during a heated forum about Haiti’s spiraling crisis.
The nine-member council could be formally established in Haiti as early as this week, Brian A. Nichols, U.S. assistant secretary for Western Hemisphere affairs, said at a New York-based event organized by the Council on Foreign Relations.
Officials are eager to see the council in place as Haiti staggers under a power vacuum, with the prime minister locked out of a country suffering relentless gang violence that has choked the Port-au-Prince capital and surrounding communities, forcing more than 53,000 people to flee the area in recent weeks.
Haiti’s main seaport and airport remain closed, cutting off critical aid as experts warn that hunger and illnesses are skyrocketing.
