Crisis Chronology

HAITI

11/16/2023

Kenyan parliament approves sending police force to Haiti. However, the supreme court is still considering the legality of the mission. The force consists of just 1,000 Kenyan officers, who would be joined by promised deployments from other nations, bringing the total to 2,500. Combined with roughly 9,000 Haitian National Police officers, the proposed mission would still be outnumbered. Haiti’s roughly 200 gangs – estimated to have had at least 100 members each in 2021, totaling 20,000-plus — have merged into two large coalitions, fighting both each other and the police for control.

10/02/2023

UN approves Kenya-led security force for Haiti.

09/25/2023

US and Kenya sign security agreement that will provide Kenya with resources and support for deployment in Haiti as part of a multi-national force to control gang violence there.

08/30/2023

US Department of State urges all Americans to leave Haiti following a surge in violence in that country. The US continues to deport Haitians back to Haiti.

08/01/2023

Kenya offers to send police force to Haiti to lead a multinational force to restore order if given a UN mandate.

06/15/2023

Canada says it will lead a “joint security coordination cell” to coordinate aid to Haiti, mostly from the Dominican Republic. Critics point out that the Dominican Republic has deported tens of thousands of Haitians fleeing their country.

04/24/2023

Suspected gang members seized from police, beaten, and burned to death by civilians.

03/24/2023

US and Canada discuss military response to crisis in Haiti, as gangs continue to rule in much of the country. Moïse has asked for foreign intervention, but many Haitian leaders reject the idea.

02/16/2023

Canada will send two warships to Haiti to aid the Haitian police to deter gangs from using the waterways but stops short of direct military intervention.

02/15/2023

US arrests more suspects in the Moïse killing. There are reports that some of the conspirators met with the FBI, and some were FBI informants, before the assassination.

02/01/2023

Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness offers to send troops to Haiti to quell unrest.

01/26/2023

Police officers attack Prime Minister Henry’s residence and then riot through the streets of Port-au-Prine after a wave of grisly murders of police by the gang Gan Grif.

11/18/2022

Government appeals for help in fight against cholera and the disruption that the gangs are causing in treating those infected.

11/16/2022

Widespread cholera outbreak.

11/06/2022

Following increased international pressure, Haitian gang leader Jimmy Chérizier announces the end of a blockade that his gang had imposed on a key fuel station.

10/19/2022

Prime Minister of the Bahamas Philip Davis says that he is ready to send peacekeeping troops to Haiti if asked by the Caribbean Community, an intergovernmental regional association.

10/16/2022

US and Canada send “security equipment” to Haiti to aid in the current security crisis.

10/06/2022

UN calls for humanitarian corridor to allow fuel out of blockaded terminal.

10/05/2022

Henry calls for international help as blockade of fuel terminal creates dire shortages of diesel and gasoline and cholera breaks out. The G-9 gang strengthens its hold on the cities, causing shortages of food. Schools and health care in the cities are also disrupted. So far the gangs have not extended their power into the provinces.

09/12/2022

Gangs blockade key fuel terminal in response to government’s reduction in fuel subsidies.

09/11/2022

Government announces cut in fuel subsidies, saying it is an unsustainable expense.

08/30/2022

Protestors call for PM Henry to resign.

07/30/2022

The country descends further into lawlessness, as gangs, now funded by wealthy Haitians for their own ends, wreak havoc in neighborhoods they wish to control, killing citizens indiscriminately and even bulldozing entire neighborhoods.

05/20/2022

US charges former Haitian senator and member of Moïse’s Tet Kale party, in connection with the murder of Haitian president Moïse, saying he helped obtain vehicles and firearms for the assassins.

05/11/2022

US indicts Joly Germine, known as Yonyon, the leader of the 400 Mawozo gang, for conspiring to kidnap missionaries (see 12/16/17).

04/27/2022

New eruption of violence among gangs.

02/08/2022

News sources report that Henry met with leader of Moïse’s assassination plot after the assassination. Judge Garry Orélien, who was in charge of the case, is reported to have said this. Many have accused Henry of obstructing the investigation into the assassination in multiple ways.

02/07/2022

Moïse’s term officially comes to an end and government remains incomplete. Violence is feared as multiple groups argue that the current government is illegal. Henry has promised to appoint a council to lead ot elections, but little has happened. A group of civil society leaders led by economist Fritz Jean has presented a proposal for a two-year transition government.

01/20/2022

US charges Haitian-Chilean citizen, Rodolphe Jaar, in the murder of Haitian president Moïse.

01/05/2022

Panama extradites main suspect in Moïse’s murder, Colombian military officer Mario Palacios, to the US, where the FBI has become involved in the case because some US citizens are implicated, though none have been charged.

01/04/2022

US charges former member of Colombian military, Mario Antonio Palacios, in the murder of Haitian president Moïse.

01/01/2022

Fighting between police and gangs force Henry to seek shelter and cancel a speech for Haiti’s Independence Day celebrations. Police say the gangs were attempting to assassinate Henry.

12/16/2021

The remaining twelve missionaries kidnapped in Haiti are freed. It is later reported that they escaped from their captors at night and walked to safety.

12/13/2021

According to news reports Moïse was compiling a dossier on the powerful people involved in the drug trade, which he was planning to give to the US government. This is no doubt a factor in his assassination. Foremost among them are former president Michel Martelly and Charles Saint-Rémy (known as Kiko), a businessman and brother-in-law of Martelly. Both are said to have been hugely influential in Moïse’s regime and he gradually came to dislike them and fear them. Saint-Rémy says he used to sell drugs but now all his businesses are legitimate. He controls the eel trade, much of which goes to China and is suspected of being a money-laundering operation. Moïse also came to distrust Dimitri Hérard, who was forced on him by Martelly to be head of Moïse’s personal security team and is also suspected of drug trafficking. Some now believe that the February “coup” that was suppressed was a false-flag operation designed to make Moïse trust Hérard. Martelly is said to be considering a run for president.

12/06/2021

Two more missionaries released.

11/21/2021

Two of the kidnapped missionaries are released safely, with no word as to why or whether more will be released.

11/16/2021

Suspect in killing of Moïse is arrested in Turkey. He is said to be associated with Haitian living in Florida. More than forty suspects have been arrested and the belief now is that wealthy Haitians outside Haiti hired professionals to kill Moïse.

11/05/2021

Gang provides US with proof that hostages are still alive.

11/03/2021

The leader of the G9 Family and Allies, a federation of nine violent gangs that control much of Port-au-Prince, Jimmy Cherizier, known as “Barbecue,” calls on US and UN to break ties with the government. Cherizier is one of the most powerful figures in the current chaos of Haiti.

10/19/2021

General strike in Port-au-Prince in response to the deteriorating security situation. Gangs have become more and more brazen about kidnapping for ransom, including a recent kidnapping of sixteen American missionaries and one Canadian missionary, the first time Americans have been kidnapped. This kidnapping is blamed on the 400 Mawozo gang a particularly brutal one.

10/19/2021

Gang that kidnapped missionaries demands $1 million for each.

09/28/2021

Government postpones elections scheduled for November, dismissing the Provisional Electoral Council. Henry says he will appoint a new board. The situation with the electoral council began in 7/20, when all nine members resigned in protest over attempts by then-President Moïse to change the 1987 constitution to strengthen the role of the presidency and lessen that of parliament. President Moïse wanted to put those changes to the Haitian people in a referendum, which would have fallen to the electoral council to organize. The electoral council argued that the constitution did not all the use of a referendum and stepped down. Moïse appointed nine new members to the council but the Supreme Court refused to swear them in. The president installed his council members anyway.

09/17/2021

After massive surge in Haitians massing on the Mexican border with the US, the government begins airlifting them back to Haiti.

09/16/2021

Henry fires the justice minister, replacing him with the interior minister.

09/14/2021

Prosecutor investigates PM Henry over calls that Henry made to a suspect, Joseph Badio, in the assassination of Moïse. Henry calls the move “diversionary tactics.” Henry subsequently fires that prosecutor and names a new one.

08/18/2021

Deaths now more than 1900.

08/15/2021

Death toll now over seven hundred.

08/14/2021

Powerful earthquake hits the country. Hundred feared dead.

08/05/2021

Government asks for a UN commission to investigate Moïse's assassination.

08/03/2021

Investigation of Moïse already being corrupted. First witnesses and investigators are being threatened, and international police, which are equipped to investigate this kind of international conspiracy, are being blocked from all the evidence.

07/20/2021

Ariel Henry becomes interim prime minister

Henry is sworn in as interim prime minister. Joseph becomes again foreign minister.

07/19/2021

Joseph says he has agreed to step down in talks with Henry, perhaps transferring power to him as early as 7/20.

07/15/2021

Head of Security for the presidential palace is arrested.

07/11/2021

Police arrest Haitian living in Florida believed to be the organizer of the assassination.

07/08/2021

Joseph calls on the US and the UN to provide troops to quell any unrest in the streets 7/8/21. Police arrest more suspects, ultimately more than 20 in all, most of the Colombians, but some Americans as well.

07/07/2021

Moïse assassinated

Moïse killed in his home by unidentified gunmen who were described as speaking English and Spanish. His wife was also wounded. Prime Minister Claude Joseph assumes control of the government. The 6/27 constitutional referendum is postponed indefinitely due to organizing difficulties partly due to COVID-19 pandemic.

07/07/2021

Police kill four suspected assassins of Moïse and arrest two others in a shootout.

07/07/2021

Joseph declares a “state of siege” in Haiti. There is a dispute about who should be leading the country, given Moïse’s naming of Henri to take office soon. In addition, the president of the Senate, Joseph Lambert, was elected by the 10 remaining senators (of 30) to be the country’s provisional president. There are two constitutions with divergent rules about who should succeed the president. One says that the parliament should elect a new president; the other that the chief judge should do so.

07/05/2021

Moïse names a new prime minister, Ariel Henry, who is to take office later this week.

05/24/2021

Government declares a state of health emergency due to COVID-19 outbreaks.

04/14/2021

Prime Minister Claude Joseph and his cabinet resign after a wave of kidnappings for ransom and continuing political instability.

02/14/2021

Continued protests. The OAS has also supported Jovenal remaining in office.

02/08/2021

Opponents seeking to end the rule of President Jovenel Moïse declared Supreme Court Judge Joseph Mécène Jean-Louis as interim president. They dispute that Moïse is still president. Technically, his term ended on 2/7/21. Moïse says that during the first year of that term, an interim government was in place while election results were disputed and his term should continue for another year. The US has backed this interpretation.

02/07/2021

Moïse says twenty-three people linked to a failed coup to install a Supreme Court judge, Yvcikel Dabresil. Dabresil was arrested early Sunday.

10/18/2020

Rubber bullets and tear gas fired at protestors.

09/19/2020

Moïse appoints nine new members to the Provisional Electoral Council. The Supreme Court subsequently refuses to swear them in, arguing that their appointment had been “irregular.” Moïse installs them anyway.

04/15/2020

Government says that the COVID-19 outbreak is easing and that textile factories will be able to reopen next week. No decision on whether to lift the state of emergency. The government says there are forty cases and three deaths so far.

03/19/2020

Haiti confirms its first case of COVID-19.

03/10/2020

Protests, likely by the police continue. In an effort to quell the unrest, PM Jouthe announces that the government will allow the police to unionize

03/04/2020

Moïse appoints Joseph Jouthe prime minister without consulting legislature.

02/24/2020

Protesting police attack army headquarters in Port-au-Prince. They are repelled, but Moïse calls the attack a “coup attempt.” There are renewed questions about the PetroCarïbe contract that Moïse’s company had.

02/23/2020

Police and army exchange gunfire. Carnival celebration is canceled. The police have been demanding better pay and have also criticized a celebration when the country is in crisis.

02/07/2020

Moïse says he would accept an opposition prime minister and a shortened term in office, but only after adoption of a constitutional reform strengthening the presidency.

02/03/2020

After three days of negotiation between government and opposition, there is some slow progress.

01/13/2020

Moïse dissolves legislature except for ten Senators, effectively instituting one-man rule.

12/11/2019

Increasing violence in cities since the withdrawal of UN forces. The local police are underfunded and unable to control gangs.

12/02/2019

Schools reopen.

11/17/2019

Pres Moïse appeals for international humanitarian aid. He says he is holding talks with groups across the political spectrum to resolve the crisis.

11/12/2019

Protests decrease in numbers. The opposition cays it is caused by bribes of money and food and attacks on demonstrators, but vow to continue.

10/15/2019

UN ends its peacekeeping mission in Haiti. Mosïe continues to resist stepping down.

10/12/2019

Protestors prevented from marching on Moïse’s residence.

10/09/2019

The opposition rejects Moïse’s offer and demands that he resign, saying that demonstrations will continue.

10/08/2019

Moïse names seven people to lead a discussion about solving the crisis.

10/07/2019

Violent clashes between police and protestors in the fourth week of protests.

10/01/2019

Moïse, absent from public view for many days, finally reappears at the presidential palace. Fuel shortages, lack of water and lack of other services is disrupting medical care and schools.

09/25/2019

In a radio address released at 2 AM, Moïse says he will not resign, but that he would lead a government of national unity, signaling that he might reconsider his nominee for prime minister.

09/23/2019

Senator fires handgun outside parliament as legislators convene to elect a new prime minister, Fritz-William Michel. The senator says it was in self-defense and there was chaos in parliament. Michel’s nomination has been very controversial causing fistfights in parliament, but Moïse has pushed the nomination in an effort to attend the UN general session this week.

09/20/2019

Protests demanding that Moïse resign over fuel shortages and corruption allegations against him. The country’s political situation remains dismal.

07/15/2019

After fuel price increases required by the IMF result in riots in which four die, prime minister Jack Guy Lafontant resigns.

06/18/2019

Protests continue demanding Moise resign.

06/10/2019

Strike largely shuts down Haiti.

06/09/2019

New protests calling for the resignation of Jovenel Moise.

04/01/2019

Political parties that compose the “radical opposition” decline invitation to meet with Moïse. Among them are Ayiti An Aksyon, led by Youri Latortue, the Fanmi Lavalas party, the Ptit Dessalines party, led by Jean Charles, and the Democratic and Popular coalition.

03/06/2019

Opposition coalition Konbit oganizasyon politik, sendika ak popile announces protests for 3/7 and 3/8. They will be joined by the Pitit Dessalines party, which has fiercely opposition Moise’s government.

02/22/2019

Police fire rubber bullets and tear gas at protesters.

02/11/2019

Fifth day of protests, increasingly violent against Pres Moise for failing to combat corruption. The Superior Court of Auditors recently released a report saying that Petrocaribe, a Venezuelan-subsidized energy program had been mismanaged and funds may have been misappropriated. The government has not responded.

02/08/2019

Protests demanding Moïse resignation. The Superior Court of Auditors last week released a report linking former ministers and senior officials to economic mismanagement and the possible misappropriation of funds loaned to the country from Venezuela since 2008. The report also named a company that was formerly headed by Moïse as a recipient of funds from a road construction project that never had a signed contract.

10/18/2018

Protests over corruption

Protests have been spurred by a corruption scandal in which government officials are said to have embezzled $3.8 billion (€3.31 billion) in aid from PetroCaribe, an oil assistance program. It was set up 12 years ago by Hugo Chavez's Venezuelan government to help poor countries in the region. Protesters are demanding more transparency in the government's investigation.

08/05/2018

Haiti Pres Jovenal Moise picks former presidential candidate Jean-Henry Céant to be prime minister.

07/14/2018

PM Jack Guy Lafontant resigns. Demonstrations continue.

07/07/2018

Violent protests in Haiti in response to rise in gasoline prices.

11/29/2016

Moïse elected

With results largely complete, Moïse has won the election with about 55% of the vote, preventing a runoff. Opposition, including Celestin’s party, which won less that 20%, says it will protest.

11/20/2016

Main candidates for president are Jovenal Moïse, named by Martelly to head the Tet Kale Party ticket; and Jude Celestin, a distant second in polls. Moise is a businessman with no political experience.

10/05/2016

Amid widespread devastation from Hurricane Matthew, Haiti delays elections scheduled for 10/9.

05/30/2016

Special investigative panel recommends rejecting the outcome of the presidential elections of 10/25/15 due to voter fraud.

02/07/2016

Martelly resigns

Martelly leaves office amid demonstrations, but proposes a plan for transition in which the prime minister will govern until elections are held on 4/24 and a new president seated by 5/14.

01/24/2016

Protestors demand Martelly's resignation.