2026-01-13

The government inaugurated the rehabilitated National Route 3 section between Hinche and Saint-Raphael on January 13 including the Hinche bypass and launch of Saint-Raphael bypass construction, occurring twenty-five days before the CPT mandate expiration and one day after Secretary of State Andresol promised to reopen routes to the South and North before February 7. The timing demonstrates government capacity to execute infrastructure projects in secure zones of the Centre Department but exposes inability to address the primary territorial control challenge blocking national commerce and mobility. National Route 1 remains impassable at Montrouis since January 6 per OCHA reporting, and National Route 2 faces periodic gang blockages in Leogane and Artibonite checkpoints, meaning the two principal corridors connecting Port-au-Prince to the country's second and third largest cities remain outside government control. The disconnect between Route 3 inauguration in a secure area and Route 1 and Route 2 impassability in gang-controlled territories reveals the Andresol promise to reopen southern and northern routes by February 7 is operationally unrealistic given the twenty-five day timeframe. Route 3 between Hinche and Saint-Raphael does not constitute the route to the North, which requires passage through Montrouis on Route 1 where gang control persists. Clearing and securing Montrouis requires sustained January 13, 2026 security operations involving the Haitian National Police and the Multinational Security Support mission, establishment of permanent security posts to prevent gang return, and maintenance operations to ensure sustained access. Twenty-five days is insufficient to execute security clearance, establish permanent presence, and demonstrate sustained control necessary to reopen commercial traffic and civilian mobility on routes that have been blocked since early January. The Route 3 inauguration functions as symbolic demonstration of government activity ahead of the February 7 deadline but does not address the core territorial control deficit that prevents economic activity, humanitarian access, and population mobility across gang-controlled zones. The police reported seizing thirty-three weapons and twelve thousand rounds in recent operations during a January 12 press conference, but this quantitative metric does not translate to territorial recovery or route security. The government can host ribbon-cutting ceremonies in areas where it maintains control but cannot execute the military operations necessary to break gang territorial dominance in strategic corridors that determine whether Haiti functions as a unified national territory or a collection of disconnected enclaves.