By The Associated Press From npr

Laurent Saint-Cyr (left) attends the ceremony for his appointment as president of the Transitional Council in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday.Odelyn Joseph/AP

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — A wealthy businessman on Thursday became the head of Haiti’s transitional presidential council tasked with restoring order in the troubled country as a top gang leader underscored the challenges facing the nation by vowing to overthrow the government.

Laurent Saint-Cyr’s appointment at the council’s heavily guarded office in the capital, Port-au-Prince, where criminal gangs control 90% of the neighborhoods, marked the first time that members of Haiti’s private sector serve in both the rotating presidency and the post of prime minister, two positions that share the country’s executive duties.

aint-Cyr had his start at a local insurance company while Haiti’s current prime minister once ran an internet firm.

“Our country is going through one of the greatest crises in all its history,” Saint-Cyr said as he was sworn in. “It’s not the time for beautiful speeches. It’s time to act.”

Gang leader issues a warning

Hours earlier, a powerful gang federation that has long denounced Haiti’s oligarchs threatened to overthrow the government, and gunfire erupted in parts of the capital.

In a video posted on social media, Viv Ansanm gang leader Jimmy Chérizier — better known as “Barbecue” — warns residents to give his armed group free passage through neighborhoods to reach the council’s office.

“People of Haiti, take care of yourselves and help us … in the battle to free the country,” Chérizier says, wearing a bulletproof vest and with an automatic rifle slung around his shoulder.

A U.N.-backed mission led by Kenyan police said in a statement that officers thwarted potential attacks by around-the-clock patrols and by boosting the number of armed forces in certain neighborhoods and around critical infrastructure.

“Armed gangs had plotted to disrupt national stability and render the country ungovernable,” it said.

A call for order

Saint-Cyr thanked all national and international actors who have helped Haiti, as well as the private sector, which he called the engine of the country’s economy. He noted that while he’s from the private sector, he would serve all people equally.

Saint-Cyr previously served as president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Haiti and of the country’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He’ll be working with Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, a one-time president of an internet company in Haiti and also a former president of the country’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The U.N.-backed mission said it lost two armored vehicles after they became trapped in trenches dug out by gangs. It said Kenyan policemen came under an attack with Molotov cocktails but “courageously held their ground, inflicting significant damage on the assailants.” Three officers received minor injuries.

Videos posted on social media show suspected gang members laughing and cheering as they surrounded one of the armored vehicles that was later set on fire.

“Come get it back if you can!” one gunman is heard jeering.

A plea for more officers

In a report released Thursday, the U.N.-backed mission noted that it has 991 personnel, far less than the 2,500 envisioned, and some $112 million in its trust fund — about 14% of the estimated $800 million needed a year.

The mission said it has no air support for operations and that only 200 officers can be deployed at a time because of insufficient equipment, including vehicles.

The mission also noted that the government remains fragile: “Partisan infighting within the transitional government has had the effect of paralyzing the government and emboldening the gangs.”

Gangs in Kenscoff recently kidnapped eight people from an orphanage, including an Irish missionary and a 3-year-old child. They remain missing.

Violence surged in the aftermath of the July 2021 killing of President Jovenel Moïse, and ongoing violence has displaced more than 1.3 million people in recent years.

At least 1,520 people were killed and more than 600 injured from April to the end of June across Haiti. More than 60% of the killings and injuries occurred during operations by security forces against gangs, with another 12% blamed on self-defense groups, according to the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti.

To view the complete article go to: n.p.r.