GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC) – The 15-member Caribbean Community (Caricom) grouping on Tuesday said that it has noted “with great concern” the “internal turmoil” taking place in its member state, Haiti, and is urging “stakeholders to put the future of their people and country above all else”.

In a statement, Caricom said that the internal turmoil was taking place “at this delicate point in time when stability and level-headedness in decision-making, and prioritisation of the well-being of the Haitian people, are urgently required of members of the Haitian executive”.

Last week, the National Conference of Actors for New Governance (NCANG) in Haiti wrote to Caricom Secretary General, Dr Carla Barnett, seeking the intervention of the grouping in “the immediate creation of the mediation and transfer of power committee,” amid efforts to remove Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime within 30 days.

The NCANG, in its January 23 letter to Barnett, a copy of which has been obtained by the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC), said that together with several Haitian civil society organisations, they wanted to alert Caricom “of the gravity of the national crisis and the rapid deterioration of the political and social situation” in the French-speaking member Caricom state.

“With the expiration of the mandate of the Presidential Transitional Council (CPT) approaching on February 7th, 2026, it has become imperative to establish a Mediation Committee. This committee must serve as an impartial and inclusive framework to initiate negotiations among Haiti’s various stakeholders, with the goal of reaching consensus on the new governmental structure that will replace the CPT,” the letter noted.

Haiti has been without an elected head of state since July 2021, when President Jovenel Moise was assassinated at his private residence overlooking the capital, Port-au-Prince. Since then, criminal gangs have been seeking to overthrow the provisional government and have taken control of a vast section of the capital.

The mandate of the CPT ends on February 7, this year, in accordance with the provisions of the Agreement of April 3, 2024.

Last week, a resolution for Fils-Aimé’s dismissal had the support of five members of the CPT, before advisor Smith Augustin finally reversed his decision and refused to sign.

Last Friday, two CPT members, Leslie Voltaire and Edgard Leblanc Fils, told a news conference that they intend to proceed with a plan to remove Prime Minister Fils-Aime within 30 days following established procedures, despite United States warnings that such a move would have consequences.

“We are the ones who appointed Didier Fils-Aime in November 2024. We are the ones who worked with him for a year, and it is up to us to issue a new decree naming a new prime minister, a new government and a new presidency,” Voltaire told reporters.

Prime Minister Fils-Aime, speaking at a police event in Port-au-Prince last Friday, warned that neither “criminals wearing ties or criminals wearing flip flops” would dictate the law and warned that anyone who stood against the police or the state would face a firm response “without weakness, without compromise”.

The US Charge d’Affaires, Henry Wooster, who was also at the police event, said it was “essential” that Fils-Aime stay on to safeguard the fight against gangs.

The CPT was appointed in 2024 to oversee a move towards Haiti’s first election in a decade, but this has been repeatedly pushed back due to a collapse in security amid a bloody conflict with powerful, heavily armed gangs.

In its statement, Caricom said in accordance with the provisions of the founding decree of the CPT, and of the April 3, 2024, Political Accord, the mandate of the CPT will end shortly on 7 February 2026.

“The current impasse within the Haitian Transitional Presidential Council, following the inconclusive efforts of some members to dismiss the
prime minister, renders more complex an already fraught governance transition process. Meanwhile, the people of Haiti continue to suffer unimaginable violence and deprivation.

“This is unacceptable. It is crucial that stakeholders put aside differences to reach consensus. The Caricom Eminent Persons Group (RPG) remains at the disposal of all stakeholders to facilitate agreement from the multiplicity of proposals which currently exist,” Caricom said.

Earlier this month, the EPG had warned that it is “vital that stakeholders, civil society and the people of Haiti reach a consensus before 7 February 2026,” adding that “a failure to do so could lead to unwanted repercussions”

The EPG, comprising the former prime ministers of St Lucia, Jamaica and the Bahamas, said time is, therefore, of the essence and that it has continued to render its good offices to Haitian stakeholders as they address “the myriad political, security and institutional challenges facing Haiti at this time”.

Caricom on Tuesday said that its “foremost hope is for a halt to current fragmentation, which works only for the benefit of the gangs, and for the restoration of lasting political stability, security and peace in Haiti, so that elections can be held, and attention re-focused on economic growth and sustainable development for the benefit of all Haitians.

“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,” it added.