Haiti crisis An endless cycle of burning streets and vying elites

The announcement of a new transitional council to rule Haiti, as prime minister Ariel Henry announced his resignation amid a violent gang uprising, has brought a strong sense of deja vu.

- Peter Beaumont

Those tipped for seats on the council are familiar figures associated with political parties and coalitions which have been key players in the country's long-running crisis of political legitimacy.

Even the decision to include representatives of Haiti's tiny, oligarchic business elite is a reminder that although things change, they remain the same.

Haiti has been here before -repeatedly - in the turbulent decades since the 1986 fall of the Duvalier dictatorship, which have seen coups, transitional governments (sometimes military), ineffectual leaders and politicians who have cynically employed criminal gangs to pursue power.

The left-wing president JeanBertrand Aristide, a former parish priest and anti-poverty champion, employed armed gangs known as "chimères"-ghosts - establishing a template for political violence when conflict has flared up.

Henry's predecessor Jovenel Moïse, who was assassinated by Colombian mercenaries in 2021 reportedly had an alliance with the G9 gang alliance - which in turn played a key role in Henry's ousting. Figures seen as potentially influential in the new transitional council are also said to have their own gang links.