On Friday, 800 young men and women dressed in official uniform graduated from the police academy in Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti.
The graduation ceremony for young officers takes place in a context of political unrest within the government.
Haiti's political crisis deepened Friday when the president of the country's transitional council announced that the majority of council members had voted in favor of the highly contested dismissal of Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé.
Edgard Leblanc Fils made the announcement during a press conference alongside council member Leslie Voltaire, defying calls from the U.S. government to maintain stability in power.
Leblanc said the council would replace Fils-Aimé within 30 days.
Fils-Aimé, as well as other members of the Council, including President Laurent Saint-Cyr, were present at the graduation ceremony.
Tensions within the Transitional Council
In his speech at the police academy, the prime minister did not discuss the decision of the Provisional Presidential Council to dismiss him and said he would continue to support the national police in their fight to restore security in the country.
Saint-Cyr, who said earlier this week that**he opposed any attempt to weaken the government**, said earlier this week that he opposed any attempt to undermine stability of the government before February 7 - the official date of the end of the Council's activity - also spoke at the graduation ceremony.
"We rallied behind the majority. The majority is not two, three, four or five people. The majority is the entire population, did he declare.
These infighting sparked an immediate reaction from the United States. A spokesperson said U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Fils-Aimé to reaffirm U.S. support for Haiti's stability and security and said gang violence does not could only be stopped by strong and consistent leadership, with the full support of the Haitian people.
Rubio also said that the council "had to be dissolved before February 7, without corrupt actors seeking to interfere in the Haitian electoral process for their own benefit", said Senior Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Pigott.
At the same time, the Haitian National Police are trying to quell gang violence with the help of a UN-backed mission led by the Kenyan police, which remain understaffed and underfunded.
More than 8,100 murders were reported across Haiti between January and November last year, "the figures are likely underestimated due to limited access to gang-controlled areas", according to the UN report.
