The Prime Minister of the troubled Haiti – Ariel Henry has resigned, according to Mohamed Irfaan Ali, Guyana’s president who doubles as the current chair of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
Africa Today News, New York reports that the 74-year-old Henry tendered his resignation after CARICOM leaders held an emergency summit on the situation in Haiti where gang-led violence amid repeatedly postponed elections has caused chaos.
“We acknowledge his resignation upon the establishment of a transitional presidential council and naming of an interim prime minister,” Ali said, thanking Henry for his service.
The alliance of gangs which is currently led by Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier, had earlier warned of civil war if Henry, who became prime minister after the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise, refuses to step down as he has been told to.
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Cherizier’s gangs went on the rampage when Henry was out of the country last week seeking to rally support for a Kenya-led foreign police intervention that his government had argued was necessary to restore order so elections could be held.
Henry, who was supposed to step down in February, has since been effectively locked out of the country and landed in Puerto Rico last week after being denied entry into the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti.
CARICOM’s Ali said the emergency talks, which took place in Jamaica, were seeking to bring “stability and normalcy” to Haiti, the poorest country in the region.
Africa Today News, New York reports that United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken was also at the summit and promised an additional $100m for a United Nations-backed force to stabilise the country, as well as $30m in humanitarian assistance.
Blinken said the meeting was “critical” for Haiti and the region.