Haiti’s new prime minister hospitalized with ‘minor illness’

Garry Conille, the newly elected Prime Minister of Haiti, was hospitalized late June 8 for an unknown reason, a couple of days after arriving within the country.

“After a week of intensive activities, the Prime Minister… on the afternoon of Saturday, June 8, 2024, felt a slight illness and went to hospital for treatment” – Conille’s office – wrote within the statement– Reuters reported. “His situation is stable at this time.”

According to the Associated Press, a source near the prime minister, who spoke anonymously because he was not authorized to talk to the press, said he had difficulty respiratory before being taken to hospital. The source said Conille, who suffers from asthma, sometimes uses an inhaler.

Officers, including Frantz Elbé, Haiti’s national police director, and Bruno Maes, Haiti’s UNICEF representative, were seen entering the hospital. Additionally, several SUVs with tinted windows were observed blocking the road as spectators gathered.

After an advanced selection process, Conille was elected prime minister of Haiti and faces a difficult set of tasks, including addressing widespread violence initiated by gangs, whose members are increasingly advocating for a voice in decisions affecting the country. Although the arrival of a Kenya-led UN peacekeeping force is imminent, he reports this some are critical one other foreign power on Haitian soil.

Conille, former UNICEF regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean, was previously Prime Minister of Haiti from October 2011 to May 2012 and was a top advisor to former President Bill Clinton after the devastating 2010 Haiti earthquake.

Conille was elected Prime Minister of Haiti in late 2011 by the Haitian Parliament, but tensions with then-President Michel Martelly reportedly forced Conille to resign.