Haiti Prime Minister Ariel Henry has resigned as the head of the Caribbean nation. The 74-year-old neurosurgeon has been in power with US backing since 2021 following the assassination of the then president Jovenel Moïse.
Henry’s resignation will be effective upon the creation of a transitional council that will appoint an interim prime minister and prepare for elections, according to Guyana President Irfaan Ali.
“We acknowledge his resignation upon the establishment of transitional presidential council and naming an interim prime minister,” said Caribbean Community (CARICOM) chair and Guyanese President Ali added.
Last month, Henry had travelled to Kenya to secure its leadership of a United Nations -backed international security mission to help police fight armed gangs, but a drastic escalation of violence in the capital, Port-au-Prince, during his absence left him stranded in the US territory of Puerto Rico. He had since not been able to enter the country.
The Biden administration has called on Henry to support a transition of power as the situation deteriorates. Last weekend, gangs set the Interior Ministry ablaze overnight and attacked police stations and government offices in the capital.
Representatives from Canada, France, the UN and Caribbean nations attended the meeting in Kingston convened by the Caribbean community, or CariCom, to discuss the worsening violence in Haiti.
The gangs are led by Jimmy Chérizier, a police officer turned gang lord nicknamed “Barbecue”, who has threatened a civil war and genocide if Prime Minister Ariel Henry does not step down.”If Ariel Henry doesn’t step down and the international community continues to support him,” he said last week, “they will lead us directly to a civil war which will end in genocide.”.The gangs have raided prisons, targeted police stations, and unleashed chaos on the streets.
On March 3, almost 4,000 inmates fled during the jailbreak, leaving the normally overcrowded facility empty. A second Port-au-Prince prison containing about 1,400 inmates was also overrun.
