Regional diplomacy pushes Haiti PM to leave

HAITI’S prime minister said yesterday that he would step aside, seeking to quell a spiraling crisis of gang violence that spurred a regional push for political transition in the impoverished Caribbean nation.

Caribbean nations secured Ariel Henry’s resignation at an emergency meeting in Jamaica where United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken offered another US$100 million to pave the way for the security force, which will be led by Kenya.

Gangs have taken over much of the

Western Hemisphere’s poorest country and in recent weeks the crisis has grown even more violent, with bodies strewn across the streets, armed bandits looting basic infrastructure and fears rising of a famine.

“The government I lead cannot remain insensitive to this situation. As I have always said, no sacrifice is too great for our homeland Haiti,” Henry said in a resignation address that he posted online.

Gang leaders had demanded the departure of Henry who, while saying he was a transitional figure, had been in power since 2021 when Haiti’s president was assassinated. Haiti has not held an election since 2016.

Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali, who chairs the Caribbean regional body CARICOM, announced after a weekend of diplomacy that Henry would leave once a new transitional authority is in place.

Ali saluted Henry, saying that the prime minister — stranded in Puerto Rico as Haiti’s main airport is no longer functioning — “has assured us in his actions, in his words, of his selfless intent. And that selfless intent was to see Haiti succeed.”

Blinken, who spent seven hours inside the talks in a Kingston hotel, confirmed Henry’s resignation in a telephone call initiated by the prime minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley.

A US official traveling with Blinken said that Henry had agreed to quit on Friday but was waiting for the Kingston conference to sort out details of the transition.

(AFP)