Haiti PM Ariel Henry resigns amid escalating violence and looting

Haiti’s Prime Minister Ariel Henry has tendered his resignation to step down from his post after violence and looting loomed in the Caribbean nation, where gangs have been attacking government structures and social order is on the brink of collapse, Al Jazeera reported on Tuesday.

Haiti’s PM Ariel Henry, tendered his resignation following an emergency meeting of regional nations and appealed for calm as the country descends into chaos.

On Monday, in a video address, Henry said that his government would leave power after the establishment of a transitional council, adding, “Haiti needs peace. Haiti needs stability,” CNN reported.

“My government will leave immediately after the inauguration of the council. We will be a caretaker government until they name a prime minister and a new cabinet,” Henry said.

CNN reported quoting Haiti PM advisor Jean Junior Joseph, that Henry would remain in his role until the formation of a new interim government.

The Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM), meeting in Jamaica on Monday said it had agreed to set up a transitional council to lay the foundations for elections in Haiti.

“We are pleased to announce the commitment to transitional governance arrangement which paves the way for a peaceful transition of power, continuity of governance and action plan for near-term security and the road to free and fair elections. It further seeks to assure that Haiti will be governed by the rule of law,” said Guyana leader and CARICOM Chairman Irfaan Ali in a news conference, flanked by other Caribbean leaders.

When the worst of the violence erupted last week, Henry was in Kenya to sign an agreement to send 1,000 Kenyan police officers to the Caribbean nation to restore the security situation over which his government had lost control.

He was unable to return to Haiti as the security situation deteriorated around the airport in the capital, Port-au-Prince. A plan to travel via the neighboring Dominican Republic was abandoned after the government there refused permission for his plane to land. He has been in the US territory of Puerto Rico since last week.

Additionally, United States will contribute USD 300 million to the Kenyan-led multinational security mission, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said after attending the CARICOM meeting on Monday. He also announced an additional USD 33 million in “humanitarian assistance for the people of Haiti.”

Following Henry’s announced resignation and “the complete breakdown of law and order” in Haiti, Kenya has put its deployment of police to the country on hold, a Kenyan spokesperson told CNN.

“Without a political administration in Haiti, there is no anchor on which a police deployment can rest, hence the government will await the installation of a new constitutional authority in Haiti,” Kenya’s principal secretary for foreign affars, Koror Sing’Oei, said.

But despite the Kenyan official’s comment, the US believes the Kenyan peacekeeping mission to Haiti will move forward “without delay.”

“What the Kenyan government said in its statement is that they have to have a government with which to collaborate,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said at a press briefing. He said the appointment of a transitional council and a new government would happen “in the very near future,” clearing the way for Kenya to deploy its forces.

Henry was under pressure from the United States to secure a political settlement, but it is far from clear who will step in. One name touted is Guy Philippe, a rebel leader recently deported from the US to Haiti after serving a prison sentence for money laundering, as per the CNN report.

Henry, who came to power unelected in 2021 following the assassination of Haiti’s then-president, failed to hold elections last year, saying the country’s insecurity would compromise the vote. But his decision only further enraged protesters who had for months demanded he stand down as Haiti slid further into poverty and rampant gang violence.

Since Henry’s trip to Kenya, Port-au-Prince has been gripped by a wave of highly coordinated gang attacks on law enforcement and state institutions, which has forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes.

Haiti’s government has been under a state of emergency since groups attacked the country’s largest prison in Port-au-Prince earlier this month, killing and injuring police and prison staff and allowing some 3,500 inmates to escape, CNN reported.

One gang leader, Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier, took credit for the attack and said the jailbreak was an attempt to overthrow Henry’s government.

“If Ariel Henry doesn’t step down, if the international community continues to support Ariel Henry, they will lead us directly into a civil war that will end in genocide,” Cherizier told Reuters in Port-au-Prince last week.

Gangs now control 80 per cent of Haiti’s capital, according to United Nations estimates, and continue to fight for the rest. While Henry was out of the country, gangs laid siege to the country’s main airport to prevent his safe return. Looters and protesters also breached the key Caribbean Port Services terminal in Port-au-Prince, though it has since come back under the control of Haitian security forces, according to the National Port Authority CEO Jocelin Villier.

The chaos has forced tens of thousands to flee their homes, adding to the more than 300,000 already displaced by gang violence.