Ariel Henry, the unelected prime minister of Haiti, announced on Monday that he will resign once a transition council and temporary successor have been named.
Henry has been in charge of the Caribbean nation since the assassination of its last president in 2021.
Under his leadership, armed gangs significantly expanded their resources, power, and reach, which is why Henry visited Kenya towards the end of February to obtain its backing for a security mission that supports law enforcement and is supported by the UN.
But while he was away, the dispute intensified dramatically, leaving the 74-year-old neurosurgeon isolated in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, even as local authorities demanded a swift handover.
In a late-night video speech, Henry declared, “The government that I am leading will resign immediately after the installation of (a transition) council.” “I want to thank the Haitian people for the opportunity I had been granted.”
“I’m asking all Haitians to remain calm and do everything they can for peace and stability to come back as fast as possible,” he stated.
Videos that surfaced on Haitian social media seemed to depict street parties, complete with people dancing to music in a festive setting and shooting fireworks into the night sky.
Henry was free to stay in Puerto Rico or go abroad, according to a senior U.S. official, but increased security in Haiti would be necessary before he felt safe enough to go back home. According to the official, a decision on the resignation was made on Friday.
The President’s Council
A presidential council, comprising of seven voting members, two observers, and representatives from various political alliances, business, civic society, and one religious leader, is expected to replace Henry.
The council’s task is to name an interim prime minister as soon as possible; candidates for the upcoming elections in Haiti will not be permitted to run.
The next elections in Haiti will be the first since 2016. The country has not had elected officials since early 2023. Many Haitians view Henry as corrupt, and he has frequently delayed elections, claiming that security needs to be restored first.
Leaders from the region gathered on Monday in neighboring Jamaica to talk about the parameters of a political shift that the United States had requested be “expedited” last week due to armed gangs attempting to overthrow his administration.
The council will be entrusted with addressing the “immediate needs” of Haitians, facilitating the deployment of the security mission, and establishing the security prerequisites for democratic elections, according to a statement made earlier on Monday by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Early this month, Jimmy “Barbeque” Cherizier, the head of an alliance of armed organizations, claimed they would band together and remove Henry, causing confrontations to disrupt communications and result in two prison breakouts. As a result, Haiti issued a state of emergency.
ADDITIONAL MISSION FUNDS
Henry’s departure coincides with regional negotiations on joining an international force, which he had asked for to support law enforcement in combating gangs whose violent turf fights have exacerbated a humanitarian catastrophe, disrupted food supply, and uprooted hundreds of thousands of people from their homes.
The United States has committed $300 million to this force in total, including an additional $100 million and $33 million for humanitarian supplies, according to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s earlier announcement on Monday.
However, it was unknown how long it would take for lawmakers to authorize and transfer the funding. Less than $11 million had been placed into the U.N.’s designated trust fund as of Monday, according to a U.N.
spokeswoman. No more funds had been added since Haiti declared a state of emergency on March 3.
The foreign minister of Mexico further stated that the nation has made an undisclosed financial contribution and urged further measures to stop the flow of weapons to Haiti.
According to the U.N., gangs in Haiti have accumulated substantial weaponry that has been smuggled primarily from the United States.
According to UN estimates, since 2021, there have been numerous instances of rape, torture, and kidnappings for ransom, resulting in around 362,000 internal displacements—of which half are children—and thousands of deaths from the fighting.
“A HORRIBLE REVOLUTION”
Gang leader Cherizier has vowed to attack hotel owners in Haiti who are either concealing politicians or working with Henry. He insisted that the next leader of the nation be elected by the people and take up residence in Haiti with their families.
Numerous prominent Haitian politicians are expatriates.
“This isn’t a nonviolent revolution. Because this system is an evil apartheid system, we are waging a terrible revolution in this country,” Cherizier declared.
Over the weekend, there was a lot of gunfire in the capital, as armed men surrounded the National Palace on Friday night. By Sunday, the US flew workers out of its embassy. The evening curfew was extended by the authorities on Monday until Thursday.
According to Washington, the planned security mission is intended to be deployed as soon as possible.
Henry made his initial request for a worldwide security force in 2022, but nations have been hesitant to back him, with some casting doubt on the validity of Henry’s unelected administration in the face of intense opposition.
Following severe cholera epidemics and sex abuse scandals from earlier U.N. missions—for which settlements were never made—many in Haitian communities and elsewhere are skeptical of international operations.
Mike Ballard, intelligence director at security company Global Guardian, stated that he did not think Kenyan authorities would effectively police or preserve calm, adding that gangs would restrict humanitarian aid to the country if they took control of ports and airports.
He pointed to the US, the Dominican Republic, and other CARICOM members and said, “Countries with actual stakes in the region will need to step up and help shore up security.”
Reporting from Kingston by Daphne Psaledakis; Port-au-Prince by Harold Isaac, Steven Aristil, and Ralph Tedy Erol; Kingstown by Robertson S. Henry; Mexico City by Brendan O’Boyle and Sarah Morland; Simon Lewis in Washington, Brendan O’Brien in Chicago, and Michelle Nichols in New York contributed additional reporting; Editing by Bill Berkrot, Richard Chang, Chizu Nomiyama, Aurora Ellis, Lincoln Feast, and Gerry Doyle
