Haiti’s Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils Aimé in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, February 7, 2026. FILDOR PQ EGEDER / REUTERS Haiti’s presidential transitional council, which has run the impoverished Caribbean nation for nearly two years, on Saturday handed power to US-backed Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, after failing to rein in rampant gang violence. The transfer of power between the nine-member council, created in April 2024, and 54-year-old businessman Fils-Aimé took place under tight security, given Haiti’s unstable political climate. “Our watchwords are clear: security, political dialogue, elections, stability. Mr Prime Minister, in this historic moment, I know that you are gauging the depth of the responsibility you are taking on for the country,” council president Laurent Saint-Cyr told Fils-Aimé. Fils-Aimé is now the country’s only politician with executive power. He faces the daunting task of organizing elections with the backing of a polarized political establishment. For years, Haiti – the poorest country in the Americas – has been in the throes of deadly gang violence, with frequent murders, rapes and kidnappings. Elections have not taken place …