Haiti is gripped by a nervous countdown. The country is approaching the end of a botched political-transition process. What was supposed to put Haiti on a path back to security after a coalition of gangs seized control of Port-au-Prince, the capital, in 2024, has plunged it further into lawlessness. As The Economist went to press, it was unclear who would run Haiti after February 7th, when the transitional arrangement ends.

