Haiti faces further turmoil as PM says only he can appoint leadership counci
Ariel Henry’s office said that, under Haiti’s constitution, it is down to him and his cabinet to appoint transitional leaders to steer the nation through the crisis
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Haiti is facing further turmoil as former Prime Minister Ariel Henry has said that only he can appoint the transitional council needed to take over leadership of the beleaguered Caribbean nation.
Ariel Henry’s office told CNN that, under Haiti’s constitution, it is down to him and his cabinet to appoint the transitional leaders – as he vowed to follow constitutional procedures.
“We will not deliver the country to just a group of people without following the procedure. We are in crisis as a country, but we must stay inside of the law and set a good example,” his office said.
This further state of flux comes after a state of emergency was declared in the nation last week, prompting Caribbean leaders and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to meet in Jamaica to urgently discuss the crisis on Monday.
On 11 March, Mr Henry agreed to resign once a transitional presidential council is created.
The violence, which began on 29 February, has seen gang members burn down police stations and raid prisons, releasing more than 4,000 inmates.
Heavily armed criminal gangs also attacked major government assets across the capital Port-au-Prince and took control of the main international airports.
Haiti’s crisis is prompting thousands of residents to flee to the Dominican Republic
Fifteen thousand people have been displaced in Haiti since the end of last month, when the gang attacks began, according to Le Monde. This has led to some of the country’s residents attempting to cross into neighbouring Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti.
Despite the ongoing crisis, border officials in the Dominican Republic have been filmed deporting some of the residents back into Haiti, according to Al Jazeera.
Last year, the Dominican Republic closed its border with the country over the construction of a canal on the Massacre River, which lies in between the two countries. In October, the Dominican Republic partially reopened the border but maintained a ban on issuing visas to Haitian migrants.
Diplomatic tensions continue. After the gang attacks, Haiti Prime Minister Ariel Henry was denied entry into the Dominican Republic, forcing him to take shelter in nearby Puerto Rico.
US forces deployed to protect US embassy in Haiti
Over the weekend, US military officials said they had flown in forces to Haiti to up security at the country’s Port-Au-Prince embassy. Authorities were careful to mention that no residents of the country were on the aircraft, amid rumours that senior Haitian officials might be attempting to flee the country as attacks worsen.
The aircraft landed at the embassy compound, meaning that helicopters were involved in the operation.
“This airlift of personnel into and out of the Embassy is consistent with our standard practice for Embassy security augmentation worldwide, and no Haitians were on board the military aircraft,” according to a statement released by the military. The military had previously ordered the departure of nonessential staff and all family members in July, according to the Associated Press.
ICYMI: PM Ariel Henry says ‘no sacrifice too big for country’
Prime minister Ariel Henry released a video statement to announce his resignation after the Caribbean leaders confirmed he is stepping down.
In a videotaped statement, Mr Henry said: “The government that I’m running cannot remain insensitive in front of this situation. There is no sacrifice that is too big for our country.”
“The government I’m running will remove itself immediately after the installation of the council,” he said.
US officials called emergency talks on Haiti ‘critical moment’
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters the meeting in Kingston, Jamaica was a “critical moment for Haiti and also all of us”. Meanwhile, he praised Jamaica for its “leadership in the hemisphere that we share.”
Guyanese President Mohamed Irfaan Ali, who chairs CARICOM, the trade bloc holding the talks, said the aim of the meeting was to bring “stability and normalcy” to Haiti, but that Haitian stakeholders “are not where they need to be,” according to AFP.
“Time is not on their side,” Ali warned in a video posted to social media, while describing reports out of Haiti as “dire.”
Ariel Henry: ‘Haiti needs peace’
The unelected prime minister of Haiti, Ariel Henry, annocuned he will step down amid growing gang violence and nearing total social collapse in the Caribbean nation.
Mr Henry informed the nation of his intents in a video he shared late on Monday.
“My government will leave immediately after the inauguration of the council. We will be a caretaker government until they name a prime minister and a new cabinet,” he said. “Haiti needs peace. Haiti needs stability.”
Haitian leadership reliance on gangs may have laid the groundwork for collapse
Haitian leaders using gangs to achieve their ends may have contributed to the current crisis facing the nation, according to one historian.
Michael Deibert, author of “Notes From the Last Testament: The Struggle for Haiti,” and “Haiti Will Not Perish: A Recent History” told the Associated Press that young, out of work men who organized into gangs were sometimes hired by the government as muscle.
“Now, you have these different politicians that have been collaborating with these gangs for years, and … it blew up in their face,” Mr Deibert said.
Kenya security mission on hold until a ‘sitting government’ is established in Haiti
The US pledged to spend $300m to help fund a Kenyan-led security mission to Haiti following increases in gang violence across the nation.
Prior to his resignation, Prime Minister Ariel Henry visited Kenya to ask for security assistance. That prompted a gang-led effort to remove him from office.
Hours after Mr Henry announced he was stepping down, Kenya announced it would not send a security team unless a “sitting government” was in place in Haiti.
“The deal they signed with the president [William Ruto] still stands although the deployment will not happen now because definitely we will require a sitting government to also collaborate with,” Salim Swaleh, Kenya’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, told The New York Times.
Ariel Henry was not allowed to return to Haiti after asking for Kenyan aid
Now-former Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry was not allowed to return to the nation after he left to ask for Kenya for help in the form of a security force to help stop gang uprisings.
Mr Henry took power in 2021 after the assassination of former President Jovenel Moïse, ostensibly as an interim until a new election could be called. However, he continually delayed elections, citing security issues in the country.
One of the demands of the gangs that organised and attacked government facilities and ransacked neighborhoods in recent days was that Mr Henry step down.
After his resignation, Kenya said it would not send its security force to Haiti until a sitting government is in place to coordinate their efforts.
US State Department warns Americans not to travel to Haiti
The US State Department is warning Americans not to travel to Haiti as the Caribbean nation continues to grapple with spiralling gang violence.
Haiti is listed as a Level 4: Do Not Travel destination – an advisory level that was in place even before the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021.
A state of emergency was declared in the nation last week, while the US Embassy in Haiti issued a security alert saying that the “current security situation in Haiti is unpredictable and dangerous”.
Haiti crisis: What we know about the gang takeover that has killed dozens and displaced 15,000
Haiti is spiralling further into chaos after armed gang members freed thousands of prisoners, burned government buildings, and forced the prime minister to resign after he fled the country to seek help.
Dozens of people are dead and roughly 15,000 have been forced to flee their homes due to gang raids, according to The Associated Press, with many now facing dwindling supplies of food and water.
The violence escalated on 29 February when Haiti’s powerful criminal gangs, which already controlled large parts of the economy and most of the capital city, Port-au-Prince, launched a series of attacks on police stations, prisons, and other government buildings.
After all the capital’s international airports were seized by gangs, prime minister Ariel Henry was trapped outside the country and faced both domestic and international pressure to resign.
On 5 March, the leader of the unified gangs Jimmy Chérizier — known by his childhood nickname, “Barbecue” — threatened continued violence if Mr Henry did not step down.
He said “if the international community continues to support [Mr Henry], we’ll be heading straight for a civil war that will lead to genocide.”
READ MORE:
Haiti crisis: What we know about the gang takeover that has paralysed the country
Haiti’s government has been paralysed by all-powerful street gangs that now control the capital city. But experts say it is Haitian politicians who created the monster, report Julia Reinstein and Io Dodds
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