UN development specialist Garry Conille arrives to Haiti to take up the post of prime minister

Audio By Carbonatix

MIAMI (AP) — A U.N. development specialist tasked with restoring order to Haiti arrived on Saturday to the Caribbean nation to take up his new post as prime minister.

A transitional council seeking to pave the way for an election in Haiti named Garry Conille this week. He replaces interim prime minister Michel Patrick Boisvert, who he met with upon arrival Saturday to the capital, Port-au-Prince, according to a government statement.

Conille has been UNICEF’s regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean since January 2023 and previously served as Haiti’s prime minister from October 2011 to May 2012 under then President Michel Martelly.

Gang violence is still surging in parts of Haiti’s capital and beyond as Conille takes over the helm of the troubled country awaiting the U.N.-backed deployment of a police force from Kenya and other countries.

Haiti shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic.