Haiti’s new prime minister hospitalized days after being sworn in

Haiti’s new prime minister, Garry Conille, was hospitalized late Saturday in the capital of Port-au-Prince, according to The Associated Press.

It wasn’t immediately known why Conille was hospitalized.

Louis Gérald Gilles, a member of the transitional presidential council that recently choose Conille as leader of the troubled Caribbean country, said he was en route to the hospital and did not have further information.

A spokesman for Conille did not immediately return a message for comment.

Conille was chosen as prime minister on May 28 after a convoluted selection process. He arrived in Haiti on June 1, having worked outside the country until recently as UNICEF’s regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean, a post he assumed in January 2023. He previously served as Haiti’s prime minister from October 2011 to May 2012 under then-President Michel Martelly.

He faces the monumental task of alleviating the crises devastating the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and preparing for the first elections since 2016.

Conille has been meeting with multiple officials and visiting various parts of Port-au-Prince since arriving, including climbing into an armored vehicle to go along on a patrol with officers from Haiti’s National Police.

Earlier Saturday, Conille toured Haiti’s main international airport, which recently reopened after gang violence forced it to close for nearly three months.

Read: New Haitian prime minister sworn in