On July 20, longtime Haitian politician Ariel Henry was sworn in as the nation’s prime minister. Henry’s appointment ended a brief power struggle between himself and interim prime minister Claude Joseph, who assumed the post following the assassination of Haitian president Jovenel Moïse by foreign mercenaries earlier this month.

Henry enters not only a political crisis, but a potentially revolutionary one. Prior to his assassination, Moïse’s administration had been buffeted by demonstrations against state corruption and repression. Now, supporters of the former president accuse opposition “oligarchs” of being responsible for Moïse’s death. Meanwhile, long-simmering unrest in Haiti’s vast shanty towns threatens to upend the state altogether.

Kim Ives, the English-language editor of Haiti Liberté, believes that Henry was advanced by the United States and its allies for two reasons: first, to fast-track elections, sidelining the opposition; and second, to unleash police violence to quell the would-be revolutionaries in the shanty towns. Jacobin contributor Arvind Dilawar spoke with Ives about Haiti’s new prime minister and his relationship with the previous president, opposition groups, and US imperialism. Their conversation has been edited for clarity and brevity.