As violence grows, Haiti’s leader agrees to resign
Haiti's embattled Prime Minister Ariel Henry agreed to resign late Monday following days of mounting pressure, as the last vestiges of law and order in the Caribbean country collapsed.
Henry, who is stranded in Puerto Rico, made the announcement via video.
“I want to thank the Haitian people for the opportunity I had been granted,” he said in his address. “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 said he would stay in his post until a transitional council is created and an interim premier named. An advisor to the prime minister did not return a message for comment on how long that might take.
The resignation had been expected for several days as violence intensified while Henry was on a visit to Kenya. He had been pushing for a U.N.-backed deployment of a police force from the East African country to help fight the powerful gangs who control large parts of the Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince and the surrounding region.
Heavily armed gangs have taken control of and attacked the country's infrastructure, including Haiti's only international airport. Henry's government declared a state of emergency more than a week ago after gangs attacked the country's largest prison, allowing about 3,500 inmates to escape, burned down police stations and sought to take control of the airport.
Henry's tenure as prime minister was only meant to be temporary. Henry assumed the position with U.S. backing in the wake of the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse. However, Henry repeatedly postponed elections, saying restoring security to Haiti was a higher priority.
Henry's resignation came as regional leaders, as well as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, met in Jamaica on Monday to discuss a political transition in Haiti and how to halt spiraling violence and a humanitarian crisis. Blinken announced an additional $100 million to finance the deployment of a multinational force to Haiti.
Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the Americas. Several years of unrest and gang violence in Haiti have displaced tens of thousands of Haitians. The U.N. estimates that about 1 million Haitian children are not attending school. Murders, kidnappings and sexual violence have skyrocketed.