By Sinan Dogan and Gizem Nisa Demir
BOGOTA, Colombia / ISTANBUL - Five of the seven voting members of Haiti’s Transitional Presidential Council signed a decision Thursday calling for the dismissal of Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils Aime, despite explicit warnings from the US against altering the country’s government structure during the transition period.
Haitian press reports said the five council members pressured council President Laurent Saint-Cyr to proceed with the prime minister’s removal. The reports added that the signatories have taken steps to publish the decision in the official gazette, a move that would formalize the dismissal.
The decision was signed by five of the council’s seven members who hold voting rights within the Transitional Presidential Council, which has been overseeing Haiti’s political transition.
The move came a day after the US warned Haiti’s Transitional Council against making changes to the country’s governmental structure during the transition. In a statement posted on the US social media platform X, the US Embassy in Haiti said restoring security and stability remains the primary objective.
“The US would regard any effort to change the composition of the government by the non-elected Transitional Presidential Council at this late stage in its tenure (set to expire on February 7) to be an effort to undermine that objective,” the embassy said.
It added that the US would consider anyone supporting such a move to be favoring gangs and acting contrary to the interests of the United States, the region and the Haitian people, and said it would act accordingly.
The US State Department later said on X that it maintains “unwavering support for Haiti’s stability and security” and described the announcement as illegal. It said Prime Minister Fils Aime’s tenure remains integral to efforts to combat terrorist gangs and stabilize the country.
“To the corrupt politicians supporting vicious gangs and who are wreaking terrorism on the country: the United States will ensure there is a steep cost,” the statement said. “The current violence caused by gangs can only be stopped with consistent, strong leadership, and with the full support of the Haitian people.”
Haiti, one of the poorest countries in the Americas, is facing a deepening crisis marked by a power vacuum and escalating violence driven by armed gangs. The country, long plagued by political, economic and security turmoil, is on the brink of economic collapse and faces the threat of famine among a population of more than 11 million.
More than 1.4 million people have been displaced nationwide due to gang violence. Between April and June 2025, at least 1,520 people were killed and more than 600 others were injured across the country. According to UN data, more than 60 percent of those deaths and injuries occurred during operations by security forces against armed gangs.
On May 2, 2025, the US State Department designated the Haitian gangs Viv Ansanm and Gran Grif as foreign terrorist organizations, citing escalating violence and Haiti’s worsening economic crisis.