Haitis newly elected Prime MinisterGarry Conille was hospitalized late Saturday in the capital Port-au-Prince, just days after arriving in the country, his office announced.
It was not immediately known why Conille was hospitalized.
In a statement posted on social media on Saturday evening, the prime minister’s office said Conille was taken to a hospital on Saturday afternoon after feeling unwell following a week of “intense activities”, during which he was described as being in stable condition.
Louis Gérald Gilles, a member of the presidential transition council that recently elected Conille as leader of the troubled Caribbean country, told the Associated Press he was in hospital but had no further information.
AP journalists saw senior officials enter the hospital, including Frantz Elbé, director of Haiti’s National Police. Also present was Bruno Maes, UNICEF representative in Haiti. Both declined comment.
A handful of curious onlookers gathered outside the hospital as authorities blocked the street with SUVs with tinted glass.
Guerinault Louis/Anadolu via Getty Images
Conille was elected Prime Minister on May 28 after a complicated selection process. He faces a tough task as Haiti’s newest leader suppressing widespread gang violence as the country prepares for the U.N.-backed deployment of a Kenyan police force, a move that was postponed in part because Haiti was without a prime minister after former Prime Minister Ariel Henry resigned on April 25.
Henry was on an official visit to Kenya when gangs launched coordinated attacks on February 29, burning police stations, shooting at the country’s main international airport and storming Haiti’s two largest prisons, freeing more than 4,000 prisoners. The violence had Henry locked out of the country and ultimately led to his dismissal.
Conille arrived in Haiti on June 1, after most recently working outside the country as UNICEF Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, a position he assumed in January 2023. He previously served as Prime Minister of Haiti from October 2011 to May 2012 under the then president. Michel Martelly.
Conille has met with several officials and visited different parts of Port-au-Prince since his arrival, including climbing into an armored vehicle wearing a helmet and anti-aircraft guns to go on patrol with officers from Haiti’s National Police.
Earlier Saturday, Conille toured Haiti’s main international airport, which recently reopened after gang violence closed the airport for nearly three months. On Friday, he met with private business leaders and the country’s two telecommunications companies.
Conille had also met regularly with the transitional council as they discussed who should be appointed to Haiti’s new cabinet.
