Hoorays as Henry falls on his sword
PORT-AU-PRINCE: Unpopular Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry has agreed to resign and make way for a transitional government after armed gangs demanding his ouster plunged the country into anarchy.
Mr Henry made the announcement in a video statement to an emergency summit in Jamaica, at which US Secretary of State Antony Blinken offered $100m to establish a security force led by Kenya.
While the embattled PM travelled to Kenya last month to secure support for an international mission to fight Haiti’s powerful gangs, the violence escalated, making it too dangerous to return and leaving him stranded in the US territory of Puerto Rico.
Mr Henry had been in power since president Jovenel Moise was assassinated in 2021 by foreign mercenaries.
The former neurosurgeon called on Haitians to “remain calm and do everything they can for peace and stability to come back as fast as possible”.
He has been told by Washington he is free to remain in the US for his safety.
Haitian social media showed people dancing in the streets and setting off fireworks after the decision by Mr Henry, whose government was largely unpopular.
Armed groups, which already control much of the capital, Port-au-Prince, have unleashed havoc in recent days as they tried to oust the Prime Minister. The airport was shut and hospitals and other buildings looted, while 400 prisoners escaped the city’s main jail after gangs broke in.
Haiti declared a state of emergency this month after Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier, leader of an alliance of armed gangs, threatened to overthrow Mr Henry. The UN believes Haitian gangs have amassed arsenals of weapons largely trafficked from the US.
Mr Cherizier demanded the country’s next leader be chosen by the people – Haiti has had no general election since 2016 – and live in Haiti.