Angie Bell, Cap-Haïtien’s young mayor, steps into Haiti’s political storm

CAP-HAÏTIEN —  Although Angie Bell was battling a stubborn cold in October, her spirit shone brightly inside the cream-and-gold room at Cap-Haïtien’s City Hall. She smiled often and chuckled between coughs — a softness that stood in sharp contrast to the weight of the job she holds.

“If the load gets too heavy, I’ll just drop everything on the floor,” Bell, 40, said, laughing during an interview with The Haitian Times.

However, Bell is now in the hot seat. As a new, young mayor in one of Haiti’s most politically turbulent periods, she faces the nearly impossible task of tackling Cap-Haïtien’s urgent problems—overcrowding, flooding and overflowing trash—without access to government funds. Haiti has not held local elections in years, and like many cities, Cap-Haïtien is being run by an unelected, government-appointed municipal cartel. The next general elections, including mayoral races, are scheduled for August 2026.

Bell has yet to sign the administrative documents that would unlock funding from the central government, forcing City Hall to operate on a fractured, unpredictable budget. That paralysis has left Haiti’s second-largest city—whose population has nearly tripled to 700,000 in the last 15 years due to the 2010 earthquake, gang displacement, and job migration—struggling with limited resources, even as residents demand basic municipal services like cleaner streets and better drainage.

“I’m not stressed out,” Bell said. “When I see a problem, I think of a solution… I will do what I can because I can’t do what I can’t do.”

When Bell took over as mayor in August 2025, she stepped into a city crumbling under its own weight: overcrowded streets, garbage-filled canals, constant flooding, and a population that had surged as people fled gang violence in Port-au-Prince. Bell says her focus now is simple: clean the city to attract more tourists.

“We’re going to sit down to see how we can solve the trash problem,” Bell said. 

“The materials that are broken we’re going to see how we can get them fixed. We’re going to give everything we have to see what we can do.”

Bell was appointed to the three‑person municipal cartel, replacing former mayor Yvrose Pierre, who had struggled to keep up with Cap‑Haïtien’s growing sanitation crisis. She now serves alongside Patrick Almonor, a holdover from the previous cartel, and Isaac Pierre‑Louis.

Bell’s early move to make Okap “bèl”

The young mayor is known for founding Poubèl Ayiti, an environmental movement promoting cleanliness in Cap-Haïtien, which is one reason why she was chosen to replace Pierre. She has also been an organizer of cultural events, a background some argue makes her a natural fit to lead Haiti’s historic northern city.

Bell’s cartel team has cleaned several areas previously known for accumulating large piles of trash. After the cleaning, Bell placed town hall guards in some of these areas to prevent residents from dumping garbage again.

Dozens of trash bins have been installed under Bell’s leadership. She also launched Samdi Sitwayen (Citizen Saturday), providing brooms, wheelbarrows and bags for residents to clean their neighborhoods on the last Saturday of each month.

Bell has injected a burst of youthful energy and urgency into City Hall, residents say, helping Cap‑Haïtien make early steps toward digging out of its long‑standing problems despite the wider political turmoil.

Because Bell still cannot receive funds from the capital’s financial governing body without the required administrative signature, she has relied on a konbit — Haiti’s tradition of communal labor. Groups and individuals have been contributing materials, support, and small funds.

Bell has also been covering expenses from her own pocket and often buys materials on credit, her mother, Youseline Bell, said.

In Haiti’s governing system, City Hall is supposed to receive 25% to 30% of local taxes from Port-au-Prince but has not received that money in recent years, Almonor told The Haitian Times, leaving Bell with the same limited budget constraints the previous cartel faced.

Support, pushback, and the politics around Bell

Despite the challenges, young adults strongly believe that Bell’s young energy can break barriers in Haiti’s second-largest city.

“I believe a lot in Angie’s creativity and leadership and I know that will bring a change,” added Emanuel Jacques Fils who goes by DJ Manito, a 31-year-old Cap-Haïtien native and artist Bell previously managed while also working as a writer before entering politics.

“It’s time to pass the torch to young, competent people who can add new progress,” added Fils. 

“We’ve been fighting to have young people in power; it’s our chance to show what we can do.” 

While the young generation is thrilled to have one of their own in office, older residents express cautious optimism.

“I hope she keeps this up but she needs help because there’s a lot to do in the city,” said Jean-Marie Gauthier, a 51-year-old construction worker. 

“Yvrose used to clean, but not at this level and not consistently. This new mayor is professional — she means business.”

But Bell’s sudden appointment has also fueled online attacks and political pressure. She has faced misinformation, doctored images, and allegations targeting her family and personal reputation — tactics her parents, both former officials, warned her were common in Haitian politics.

“Politics is dirty in Haiti. You will lose all your value as a person if you enter it,” said her mother, Youseline. “They’re denigrating my daughter. Haitian politics is very slippery. But we resigned ourselves to help out.”

Bell’s path back home and her rise as a mayor

Bell’s story began long before her appointment. Born and raised in Cap-Haïtien, she showed deep Haitian pride from an early age—chiding her parents for speaking French at home instead of Creole, Haiti’s native tongue. She grew up in a modest house with a large lakou, or courtyard, in Haut-du-Cap, spending her childhood visiting nearby farms, the local gildiv (sugar factory), and towns like Saint-Raphaël, her father’s hometown, and Plaisance, where her mother is from.

In 2001, political unrest forced her family to flee to the United States. They first settled in Long Island, then Miami, where Bell earned a degree in Business and Marketing. There, she organized cultural programs for Haitian American children and helped run “Big Night in Little Haiti,” a popular cultural festival.

In 2017, she founded Poubèl Ayiti and moved back to Cap-Haïtien permanently in 2018. Before becoming mayor, she served as vice-rector at Université des Atlantes, a school funded by her parents, and remained active in local cultural life.

Bell often turns to her politically seasoned parents for guidance. Her mother, Youseline Bell, is a former senator for the Northern Department; her father, Angelot Bell, a former Cap-Haïtien government delegate. Growing up, they urged her to avoid politics, warning her of the risks, betrayals and public attacks they endured while serving under the Fanmi Lavalas party.

She will remain in office until municipal elections in August 2026. When asked whether she’ll continue in politics, Bell said she’s unsure and might return to writing — she has already published three children’s books.

While trash collection remains her top priority, Bell also hopes to address Cap-Haïtien’s overcrowding and elevate its cultural profile to attract more tourism.

“Politics or not, I will always give my all to help solve the country’s problems,” Bell said. “Because that’s where I will stay — I have nowhere else to go.

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