Due to the surge in widespread insecurity across the country and the growing dominance of armed gangs that have progressively taken control of territories since 2021, it is not uncommon for the following question to surface in conversations, often charged with anger and indignation: “What exactly is the army doing?”

To this question, the current Minister of Defense, Jean-Michel Moïse, attempted to respond candidly in an interview with our newsroom. During the interview, the minister—himself a former soldier—spoke with clarity, asserting a solid understanding of the role of the Ministry of Defense amid the current crisis and took the opportunity to outline the ministry’s ongoing efforts to strengthen the Armed Forces of Haiti (FAD’H) for the first time since their remobilization in 2017 under the late President Jovenel Moïse.