The President's Daily Brief - PDB Afternoon Bulletin | March 12th, 2024: Haiti's Leader Resigns Amid Violent Uprising & Ukraine Hits Russian Oil

Episode Date: March 12, 2024

In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin:     As his country plunges further into anarchy, Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry has announced he will resign in favor of a transitional government. We’ll discuss what this means for the ongoing violence gripping the nation. We’ll discuss Ukraine’s latest attempt to disrupt Moscow’s energy infrastructure, launching a wave of drone attacks inside Russia along with their largest cross-border raid into Russian territory since the war began. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President’s Daily Brief by visiting PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin.  Email: [e-mail] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's Tuesday, 12 March. Welcome to the PDB afternoon bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed. First, as his country plunges further into anarchy, Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henri has announced that he will resign in favor of a transitional government, not to mention in favor of staying alive.

We'll discuss what this means for the ongoing violence currently gripping the nation. Also, we'll discuss Ukraine's latest attempt to disrupt Moscow's energy infrastructure, launching a wave of drone attacks inside Russia, along with their largest cross-border raid into Russian territory since the war began. But first, our afternoon spotlight. Let's start today with further coverage of the chaos in Haiti, where violent gangs have all but taken control of the country.

With his country under siege and, frankly, no end in sight, Haitian Prime Minister Arial Henri has announced that he will tender his resignation in favor of a transitional governing council that he hopes can bring some stability back to the troubled nation. Ulri made the announcement on Tuesday from San Juan Puerto Rico, where he's been marooned for more than a week since the violence began, unable to fly back into the now gang-controlled international airport in his country. Ulri said, quote, Haiti needs peace, Haiti needs stability. My government will leave immediately after the inauguration of the council. We will be a caretaker government until they name a prime minister and a new cabinet, end quote.

His remarks came in the wake of an emergency meeting in Jamaica on Monday between Caribbean leaders and U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken geared at finding solutions to the rapidly spiraling crisis. As we discussed this morning on the PDB, the situation in Haiti has crumbled into anarchy since the gang rebellion began just a little over a week ago with attacks continuing across the capital of Port. a prince. Caribbean leaders and U.S. officials said Tuesday that they reached an agreement to set up a transitional council to govern Haiti with the hope that it could eventually pave the way for elections, which have not been held in the country since 2016. A spokesman for the coalition of Caribbean leaders said, quote, we are pleased to announce the commitment to a transitional governance arrangement,

which paves the way for a peaceful transition of power, continuity of governance, and action plan for near-term security and the road to free and fair elections. Well, that's quite a lot, isn't it? End quote. U.S. diplomats had been pushing Henri to resign and make way for a transitional government since last week, fearing that any delay would embolden the gangs currently tearing through the country, but Henri was reluctant to step aside. Between his exile in Puerto Rico and the fact that gangs now control at least 80% of the capital, however, he had basically already lost his grip on power. Now, in addition to plans for a transitional government, and frankly, more important in the short term, U.S. officials and Caribbean leaders announced they would move forward

with plans for a Kenyan-led multinational U.N. security mission to Haiti to help the heavily outnumbered Haitian police force fight the gangs and try to reestablish order in the country. The U.S. as part of this effort will contribute $300 million to the mission, along with an additional $33 million in humanitarian assistance for the people of Haiti. The future of Haiti, however, remains uncertain with no clear picture yet of who may step in to lead the nation out of the current anarchy. Currently, as we discussed earlier on the PDB, notorious crime boss Jimmy Barbecue Cherisei, who reportedly organized the violence, is the most powerful man in Haiti now. Barbecue, who commands a coalition of 12 gangs across Port-au-Prince, had been calling for Omri to

and he promised a brief truce if he did. Now, if you can't take the word of a crime boss named Barbecue, I don't know what the world's come to. But he's also sworn to continuous fight against the current governing system of what he calls, quote, corrupt oligarchs and corrupt traditional politicians. It's likely, frankly, if Barbecue gets his way, corrupt oligarchs and corrupt traditional politicians will simply be replaced by a corrupt crime boss. There's little reason to think that barbecue will relinquish his grip over Haiti anytime soon, regardless of international plans to reestablish order inside the country. Coming up after the break, we'll discuss Ukraine's latest offensive actions against the Putin regime, including a wave of drone attacks inside

Russia and their largest cross-border raid into Russian territory since the war began. I'll be right back. Starting a business can seem like a daunting task, unless you have a partner like Shopify. They have the tools you need to start and grow your business. From designing a website to marketing to selling and beyond, Shopify can help with everything you need. There's a reason millions of companies like Mattel, Heinz, and all birds continue to trust and use them. With Shopify on your side, turn your big business idea into... Sign up for your $1 per month trial at Shopify.com slash special offer. Welcome back to the afternoon bulletin.

As Russians prepared a vote in their presidential election this week, and really it's anybody's guess as to who might win, Ukraine is launching strikes inside Russian territory, in part to remind voters that there's still a war going on. Ukraine launched a wave of long-range drone attacks on Tuesday, largely aimed at disrupting Russian oil refineries. Now, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense, all of the attacks were thwarted with air defenses intercepting 25 drones in seven different regions, including Moscow. However, and this could come as a shock, the Russian Ministry of Defense may not have been telling the full story. At least a few of those drones made it to their intended destinations.

At least one drone succeeded in striking a major luke oil refinery in Russia's Nigerian Novgorod region, which is nearly 500 miles from the Ukrainian border. Sources told Reuters that the facility's main crew distillation unit was damaged in the attack, which means that at least half of the refinery's production would have been halted. In addition to the latest wave of drone attacks, there was also a rare incursion into Russian territory by forces allied with Kiev. The cross-border raid, the largest since the war began, was carried out by three paramilitary groups made up of Russian expats, the so-called Russian Freedom Legion, the Russian Volunteer Corps, and the Siberian battalion. In a post-to-telegram,

the Russian Freedom Legion referred directly to Russia's upcoming elections, declaring, quote, the people will vote for whom they want, not for whom they have to. Russians will live freely, end quote. Okay, good luck with that. Ukraine's military denied any involvement in the cross-border raids, saying that the groups are acting independently. Now, the Russian Defense Ministry acknowledged the incursion, saying, quote, Ukrainian terrorist formations supported by tanks and armored combat vehicles, attempted to invade the territory of the Russian Federation simultaneously, end quote. They added that the raid was thwarted and claimed that they killed 100 people, destroyed six tanks, and 20 armored vehicles as they were attempting to penetrate the border.

Ukraine's latest actions might be somewhat embarrassing for Putin, but it's unlikely to affect the outcome of this weekend's election. All of the serious opposition leaders were kicked off the ballot, not to mention outspoken critic Alexei Navalny, who was kicked off the planet. And so Putin is only facing token resistance at best in the presidential race. He's expected to win in a landslide, which would keep him in power then at least until 2030, although a rewritten rule would allow him to run again in 2030 and not leave until 2036. He's like, I guessed that just won't go home. Putin is already the longest serving Russian leader since Joseph Stalin, who held onto the

reins for 29 years. Putin currently is at 24 years and counting at the helm. If he wins on 17 March, or rather when he wins on 17 March, he'll be in a position to eventually snatch the longest-running despot trophy from Stalin's kung-foo-like death grip. And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Tuesday, 12 March. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at PDB at thefirsttv.com. and be sure to check out our new premium membership at PDBpremium.com.

I'm Mike Baker. Now be back tomorrow. Until then, stay informed. Stay safe. Stay cool.