Los Angeles Times

As Haiti falls toward anarchy, prime minister is missing

Since gang violence exploded last week, the nation’s people are all asking: Where is Ariel Henry?

- By Evens Sanon and Joshua Goodman Associated Press writers Sanon reported from Port-au-Prince and Goodman from Miami.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — It’s the one question on the minds of all Haitians ever since armed gangs plunged the long-suffering Caribbean nation into near anarchy: Where in the world is Prime Minister Ariel Henry?

The embattled leader, who assumed power after the 2021 assassinat­ion of President Jovenel Moise, has been notably absent since the country’s latest and most serious outbreak of violence started last week. Henry has stayed silent as he crisscross­es the world, from South America to Africa, with no announced date of return.

Meanwhile, armed groups have seized on the power void. They tried to take control of Haiti’s main internatio­nal airport on Monday and exchanged gunfire with police and soldiers. The explosion of violence also included a mass escape from the country’s two biggest prisons.

A decree declaring a state of emergency and curfew to restore order was signed not by Henry, but by his finance minister, who is serving as acting prime minister.

“It’s the million-dollar question,” said Jake Johnston, a research associate at the Washington-based Center for Economic and Policy Research. “Nobody knows

where he is or when he’ll return. The fact that he hasn’t even opened his mouth since the violence began has stoked all sorts of speculatio­n.”

Gangs opened fire on police late Monday outside the Toussaint Louverture Internatio­nal Airport, where Henry would probably land should he return home.

An armored truck could be seen on the tarmac shooting at gangs trying to enter the airport as scores of employees and other workers fled. The airport was closed when the attack occurred, with no planes operating and no passengers onsite. It remained closed Tuesday.

Schools and banks were also closed Tuesday, and public transport had ground to a standstill. The aid group Doctors Without Borders said it had to add 20 more beds to a trauma and burncare facility it runs in the capital, Port-au-Prince, to handle a surge in victims from the violence.

“Haiti is now under the control of the gangs. The government isn’t present,” said Michel St.-Louis, 40, standing in front of a

burned-down police station in the capital. “I’m hoping they can keep Henry out so whoever takes power can restore order.”

Haiti’s problems run deep and defy any quick fix, and Henry is increasing­ly unpopular. His inability to govern effectivel­y has stoked calls for him to step aside, even by the gangs, if only to advance their own criminal interests, Johnston said.

Henry’s exact whereabout­s are unknown. Dan Foote, who served as the Biden administra­tion’s special envoy to Haiti after Moise’s assassinat­ion, said he understand­s the prime minister is in New York weighing his next moves and whether it’s safe to fly home. The Associated Press was unable to verify that account.

“I don’t know if he’s going to make it home,” Foote said.

Henry was last seen Friday in Kenya on a mission to salvage a multinatio­nal security force the East African nation was set to lead under the auspices of the United Nations. He left Haiti more than a week ago to attend a meeting of Caribbean leaders in Guyana, where a deadline was announced — by others, not Henry — to delay repeatedly postponed elections yet again. The balloting was pushed back to mid-2025.

That announceme­nt is what appears to have triggered the latest explosion of violence. It began with a direct challenge from a powerful gang leader, Jimmy Cherizier, a former elite police officer known as Barbecue who portrays himself as a Robin Hood crusader. Cherizier said he would target government ministers in an effort to prevent Henry’s return and force his resignatio­n.

“With our guns and with the Haitian people, we will free the country,” he said in a video message announcing the offensive.

He appeared to make good on that threat over the next few days as gangs launched attacks on the central bank, the airport, even the national soccer stadium. The culminatio­n of the coordinate­d offensive came over the weekend when a jailbreak at the National Penitentia­ry and another prison released onto the streets of the capital more than 5,000 inmates, many of whom had been serving time for murder, kidnapping and other violent crimes.

The prime minister’s office did not respond to repeated requests for comment, nor has it said where the prime minister is or when he expects to return.

Henry, a soft-spoken neurosurge­on, positions himself as a transition­al figure and peacemaker who has the backing of the U.S. government — long Haiti’s dominant foreign ally and the key to any stabilizat­ion effort.

But the Biden administra­tion’s support has not translated into popularity at home, where Henry is reviled. Since he took power more than two years ago, the economy has been in free fall, food prices have skyrockete­d and gang violence has surged.

Last year, more than 8,400 people were reported killed, injured or kidnapped, more than double the number reported in 2022. The U.N. estimates that nearly half of Haiti’s 11 million people need humanitari­an assistance.

Additional­ly, Henry has been unable to bring Haiti’s disparate political actors into agreement on holding general elections, which have not taken place since 2015.

The recent surge in violence has renewed pressure on the U.S. and other foreign powers to quickly deploy a security force to prevent further bloodshed. The Biden administra­tion has pledged funding and logistical support for any multinatio­nal force but has steadfastl­y refused to commit U.S. troops.

Foote, who as the Biden envoy opposed calls for any American boots on the ground in Haiti, said a U.S.led military interventi­on can no longer be avoided.

“It’s an absolute necessity now,” Foote said in an interview. “We’ve let this slide from worse to worst, all the while abdicating our responsibi­lity to others. But nobody can argue that Haiti isn’t a failed state when the penitentia­ry gets emptied out.”

 ?? Odelyn Joseph Associated Press ?? IN PORT-AU-PRINCE, a man holds up a Haitian f lag at a protest against the prime minister Friday.
Odelyn Joseph Associated Press IN PORT-AU-PRINCE, a man holds up a Haitian f lag at a protest against the prime minister Friday.

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