Haiti’s newly appointed Prime Minister, Garry Conille, was hospitalized late Saturday in Port-au-Prince just days after his arrival, the government announced.
The reason for Conille’s hospitalization was not immediately disclosed.
A statement from the prime minister’s office indicated that Conille felt slightly unwell after a week of intense activities. The statement noted that he is stable and expressed his gratitude to visitors and well-wishers.
Louis Gérald Gilles, a member of the transitional presidential council that selected Conille, told The Associated Press that he was at the hospital but could not provide further details.
An anonymous source close to Conille mentioned that the prime minister, who is asthmatic and occasionally uses an inhaler, seemed to have trouble breathing, prompting a call to high-ranking officials to take him to the hospital.
A spokesperson for Conille did not respond to requests for comment.
Curious onlookers gathered outside the hospital, where authorities had blocked the street with tinted SUVs.
Conille was chosen as prime minister on May 28 after a complex selection process and arrived in Haiti on June 1, having recently served as UNICEF’s regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean since January 2023.
Previously, Conille was Haiti’s prime minister from October 2011 to May 2012 under then-President Michel Martelly. Since his arrival, he has been meeting officials and touring various parts of Port-au-Prince, including participating in a police patrol in an armored vehicle.
Earlier on Saturday, Conille visited Haiti’s main international airport, which recently reopened after being closed for nearly three months due to gang violence. During the visit, he remarked, “After a long period in which the airport could not be used, with my work and that of the police, the army, and the airport staff, we have been able to return to normal.”
