Haiti Prime Minister Ariel Henry announced Tuesday that he will resign, bowing to international pressure to do so amid turmoil that has overwhelmed the country.
In a statement released early Tuesday morning, Henry agreed to leave office once a transitional presidential council is created and an interim PM is named. The announcement came hours after officials, including Caribbean leaders and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, met in Jamaica to discuss Haiti’s spiraling crisis worsened by violent gangs burning police stations, attacking the main airport and raiding two of the country’s biggest prisons.
Some experts have described the current crisis as a low-scale civil war.
“The government that I’m running cannot remain insensitive in this situation. There is no sacrifice that is too big for our country,” Henry said in a recorded statement. “The government I’m running will remove itself immediately after the installation of the council.”
BLINKEN TO MEET WITH CARIBBEAN LEADERS AS HAITI’S VIOLENT CRISIS GROWS
Haiti Prime Minister Ariel Henry announced early Tuesday that he would be resigning from office hours after an emergency meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)
It is not immediately clear who will lead Haiti out of the crisis.
Scores of people have been killed amid the violence, and more than 15,000 residents are homeless after fleeing neighborhoods that were raided by gangs. The raids resulted in the release of more than 4,000 inmates.
Food and water are also dwindling as stands and stores selling to impoverished Haitians have run out of goods.
An armed member of the G9 and Family gang patrols a roadblock in the Delmas 6 neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Monday, March 11. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
The main port in Port-au-Prince remains closed, preventing containers with critical supplies from reaching those in need. Heavily armed gangs control about 80% of Port-au-Prince.
Earlier on Monday, Blinken announced an additional $100 million to finance the deployment of a multinational force to Haiti and another $33 million in humanitarian aid.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to Jamaica on Monday for emergency talks with Caribbean leaders on Haiti’s crisis. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds, Pool via AP)
During the private leadership meeting, Jimmy Chérizier, who is considered Haiti’s most powerful gang leader, said the international community would “plunge Haiti into further chaos” should it continue down its current road.
“We Haitians have to decide who is going to be the head of the country and what model of government we want,” said Chérizier, who leads the gang federation G9 Family and Allies. “We are also going to figure out how to get Haiti out of the misery it’s in now.”
Caricom, a regional trade bloc, organized the urgent meeting in Jamaica as it has pressed for months for a transitional government in Haiti.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken (right) is greeted by U.S. Ambassador to Jamaica, N. Nick Perry (left) at Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston, Jamaica on Monday. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via AP)
Guyana President Irfaan Ali said the transitional council would have seven voting members and two non-voting ones.
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Henry has served the longest single-term as prime minister since Haiti’s constitution was approved in 1987.
He was sworn in as prime minister following the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse on July 7, 2021.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
