Haiti summons the French ambassador over Macron’s “unacceptable” statements

MADRID 22 Nov. () –

The Foreign Minister of Haiti, Jean Victor Harvel Jean-Baptiste, summoned the French ambassador, Antoine Michon, this Thursday to protest the “unacceptable” statements made by the French president, Emmanuel Macron, regarding the dismissal of the prime minister of the Caribbean country, Garry Conille.

The head of Haitian diplomacy has expressed “indignation” at what he considers a “hostile and inappropriate gesture that deserves to be rectified.” Thus, he delivered a letter of protest addressed to his French counterpart, Jean-Noel Barrot.

According to a statement from the ministry published on his profile on the social network Haitian people to help advance the transition agenda, including restoring security and holding elections.

Macron, within the framework of the G20 summit held this week in Brazil, accused the Haitian authorities who made the decision to dismiss Conille – the Haitian Transitional Council – of being “complete idiots.” He also rejected being responsible for the crisis the country is going through and maintained that it was “the Haitians themselves who have killed the country for allowing drug trafficking.”

“The prime minister was great, I defended him, and they fired him!” he expressed, denouncing that his dismissal is “illegal.” “It’s terrible. It’s terrible. And I can’t replace him. They are complete idiots, they should never have fired him, the prime minister was great,” he declared in a video recorded and picked up by the Europe 1 radio station.

Last week it was made public that the Presidential Council had decided to dismiss the head of Government after a month of growing tensions following the request of the highest authority to carry out a ministerial reorganization to which Conille opposed. He has denounced the decision as “illegal” and has warned that it “raises serious doubts about its legitimacy and its repercussions for the future” of the country.

Haiti has not had a president since a group of armed individuals broke into the official residence in early July 2021 and murdered Jovenel Moise. Shortly after, Ariel Henry ascended to the position of prime minister amid criticism and after several years of instability. In March of this year he resigned after a wave of violence that shook the Caribbean nation.

The deaths and injuries from the latest spiral of violence, which began on November 11, bring the number of victims so far this year to a total of 4,544 dead and 2,060 injured, although the toll could be higher. Nearly 20,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in recent weeks.