Latin America In Focus

Haiti has been without an elected leader since the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, and a spiraling security crisis threatens to derail plans to hold elections this August.   In this episode, Romain Le Cour-Grandmaison, director of the Haiti and Caribbean Observatory at the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime, covers bumpy governance transitions and “the triangular relationship between the political sector, economic sector, and violent actors” in Haiti, as well as the role U.S. government’s role in addressing the crisis. Bringing on-the-ground observations of Haiti’s turbulent security context, Le Cour traces the complicated—and uncertain—path to the country’s first election in a decade. And as for the long-term future of Haiti’s democracy, he stressed, “We need to address and dismantle the system that makes the gangs attractive to political and economic actors and vice versa. So basically, we need a justice component.” This episode was produced by Khalea Robertson. Carin Zis