CNN
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Haiti's embattled Prime Minister Ariel Henry has resigned after weeks of turmoil in the Caribbean country, where gangs have attacked government institutions and social order is on the brink of collapse.
“Haiti needs peace. Haiti needs stability,” Henry said in a video address late Monday, saying he would leave power after the establishment of a transitional council.
“My government will leave the council immediately after it is formed. We will be a caretaker government until they appoint a prime minister and a new cabinet,” Henry said.
Mr. Henry's adviser, Jean Junior Joseph, told CNN that Mr. Henry will remain in office until a new caretaker government is formed.
The Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM), held in Jamaica on Monday, announced that it had agreed to form a transitional council to lay the foundations for elections in Haiti.
“We are pleased to announce our commitment to a transitional governance agreement that paves the way for a peaceful transition of power, continuity of governance, a plan of action for short-term security and a path to free and fair elections. Furthermore, we aim to ensure that Haiti is governed by the rule of law,” Guyanese leader and CARICOM Chairman Irfaan Ali said, flanked by other Caribbean leaders. He said this at a press conference.
When the worst violence erupted last week, Henry was in Kenya to sign an agreement to send 1,000 Kenyan police officers to the Caribbean country to help the government restore a security situation that had spiraled out of control. .
Due to worsening security around the airport in the capital, Port-au-Prince, he was unable to return to Haiti. Plans to fly through the neighboring Dominican Republic were abandoned after the Dominican Republic government refused permission for the plane to land. He has been in the US territory of Puerto Rico since last week.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said after attending the CARICOM conference on Monday that the United States would contribute $300 million to the Kenya-led multinational security mission. He also announced an additional $33 million in “humanitarian assistance to the Haitian people.”
Henry was under pressure from the United States to secure a political solution, but it is not at all clear who will intervene. One of the names touted is Guy Philippe, a rebel leader who served a prison sentence for money laundering and was recently deported from the United States to Haiti. .
Mr. Henry, who came to power unelected in 2021 after the assassination of Haiti's then-president, did not hold an election last year, saying that instability in the country would jeopardize the vote. But his decision only further infuriated protesters who have been demanding his resignation for months as Haiti slides deeper into poverty and gang violence.
Since Henry's visit to Kenya, Port-au-Prince has been under a wave of highly organized gang attacks on law enforcement and state institutions, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee their homes.
Haiti's government has imposed a state of emergency after a group attacked the country's largest prison in Port-au-Prince earlier this month, killing and injuring police officers and prison staff and causing about 3,500 inmates to flee.
One of the gang's leaders, Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier, accepted responsibility for the attack and said the escape was an attempt to overthrow Henry's government.
“If Ariel Henry does not resign and the international community continues to support Ariel Henry, it will lead us directly to civil war and end in genocide,” Chéridier told Reuters in Port-au-Prince last week. Told.
Gangs now control 80% of Haiti's capital and are fighting for the rest, according to United Nations estimates. While Henry was out of the country, gangs laid siege to the country's main airport to prevent his safe return.
The chaos has forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes, adding to the more than 300,000 already displaced by gang violence.
While security has worsened in recent months, the country has long been plagued by chronic violence, political crisis and drought, with some 5.5 million Haitians, about half the population, in need of humanitarian assistance. .
The United Nations estimates that about 1 million Haitian children are out of school, and those living in gang-controlled areas are vulnerable to conscription. The country is also suffering from a cholera outbreak in 2022.
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UN human rights chief Volker Türk described the situation in Haiti as “untenable” and called for a multinational security mission to assist Haitian police. “There is no real alternative to saving lives,” he says.
Ahead of the latest incidents of violence, CNN teams on the ground have identified escalating cases of violence in the country, including a woman who was raped, a woman who watched her husband burnt to death and a teenager forced into forced labor. We spoke to several civilians caught up in the violence. gang.
One 14-year-old boy told CNN that he was scouted by the gang when he was 11 years old and was forced to burn the bodies of people killed by other members.
“I want to change the way I live,” she said while holding back tears.
This story has been updated with additional developments.
