Vatican newspaper: Haiti’s postponed elections are ‘symbol of a broken promise’
October 19, 2026
The Vatican newspaper published a front-page article lamenting the postponement of Haiti’s elections amid mounting gang violence.
“Haiti is a country balanced on the edge of an abyss, where fear has replaced normality and entire neighborhoods live under the control of armed groups,” Francesco Citterich wrote in the October 17 edition. “Criminal gangs are advancing, imposing their own rules, looting, kidnapping, and killing. The state struggles to protect its citizens, while the population remains trapped in a spiral of violence that seems to offer no way out.”
“Against this dramatic backdrop, the attempt to restore democracy to the country through the ballot box has also turned into a race against time,” Citterich continued. “The presidential and legislative elections, initially scheduled for December 13, 2026, were meant to be a historic milestone: Haiti has not elected a president since 2016 and has been without a popularly elected head of state since the assassination of Jovenel Moïse, who was killed in his residence in July 2021.”
Citterich concluded:
December 13, 2026, was supposed to mark a turning point for the exhausted Caribbean nation. For now, that date has become a symbol of a broken promise. And as violence continues to devour streets, neighborhoods, and hopes, Haiti is still waiting to be able to perform the simplest and most fundamental act of a democracy: to freely choose its own future.
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