Many observers are wondering about Leslie Voltaire’s presence at the 79th United Nations General Assembly. These questions, although legitimate, raise deeper concerns than the simple media hype surrounding Presidential Advisor (PA) Leslie Voltaire.
Very early in the morning of September 24, 2024, rumors circulated that Prime Minister Garry Conille would orchestrate a “diplomatic coup” in New York. In this context, PA Voltaire announced that “heads will roll”, a martial language that seems to belong to another era.
At the same time, an invitation letter addressed to the Presidential Transitional Council (PTC) appeared on social networks, as if by magic. Unless I am mistaken due to an illness that made him blind or illiterate during his stay in the Dominican Republic, Leslie Voltaire did not notice that this invitation was nominative. The name of the President of the Presidential Council, Mr. Edgard Leblanc Fils, clearly appears on it. One searches in vain for Voltaire’s name in this letter. Moreover, there is no mention that another member of the CPT could replace another in the event of his being unable to attend.
Some observers speak of chaos orchestrated by old figures of Haitian diplomacy, such as Harvel Jean-Baptiste, former chief of staff of Jean-Victor Généus, and Antonio Rodrigues, current ambassador of Haiti to the United Nations. This situation also reflects a persistent antagonism in post-1986 Haitian politics, that which opposes the OPL and Fanmi Lavalas. This conflict, which has deeply marked the Haitian political class for decades, is still palpable despite a certain lull compared to the 2000s. For many, Voltaire’s presence at the General Assembly was intended to show that Fanmi Lavalas is the only Haitian left-wing party capable of dialoguing with the Latin American left embodied by Lula. This recalls the old conflict between the late Professor Gérard Pierre-Charles and Jean-Bertrand Aristide for the leadership of the Haitian left, which is reflected today within the Presidential Transitional Council (CPT).
It is this failure that caused the crisis around Leslie Voltaire. By refusing him access to the meeting with Lula, he was also deprived of the opportunity to position himself as the leader of the Haitian left in the face of the Brazilian president. He thus missed the opportunity to reaffirm the supremacy of Fanmi Lavalas in the face of the OPL.
In the end, it was Leslie Voltaire who attempted to orchestrate a diplomatic coup during the 79th United Nations General Assembly. His determination was such that he boarded the plane of the President of Kenya without having been invited beforehand.
This affair reveals a hidden facet of the diplomatic play currently being played out in New York.
*Carl-Henri Roumain,* *Political scientist* *Boukan News*