The announcement came hours after several Caribbean leaders and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met in Jamaica to urgently discuss a solution to halt Haiti’s spiraling crisis.
The Haitian Prime Minister, Ariel Henry, announced early on Tuesday that he will resign once a transitional presidential council is established, succumbing to international pressure aimed at saving the country overwhelmed by violent gangs that, according to some experts, have unleashed a low-scale civil war.
In a speech broadcasted early Tuesday morning, Henry acknowledged that the country needs “calm” and “peace.”
“Haiti needs peace. Haiti needs stability,” Henry quoted CNN.
“My government will step down immediately after the council’s inauguration. We will be a provisional government until they appoint a new prime minister and cabinet,” Henry said in his pre-recorded address.
Henry held the position of prime minister for a longer period since Haiti’s constitution was approved in 1987, a remarkable feat for a politically unstable country with a constant turnover of prime ministers.
The announcement came hours after several Caribbean leaders and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met in Jamaica to urgently discuss a solution to halt Haiti’s spiraling crisis.
Henry has been unable to enter Haiti as violence closed its main international airports. He arrived in Puerto Rico a week ago after being denied landing in the Dominican Republic, where authorities said he lacked the required flight plan. Dominican authorities also closed airspace to flights to and from Haiti.
It was unclear exactly who would pull Haiti out of the crisis, in which heavily armed gangs have burned police stations, attacked the main airport, and stormed two of the country’s largest prisons. Raids resulted in the release of over 4,000 inmates.
Dozens of people have died in the violent attacks, and more than 15,000 Haitians have been left homeless fleeing neighborhoods under fire.
Haiti is in a power vacuum, with no president or parliament, and has not held elections since 2016.
Earlier this month, gangs controlling much of the impoverished country launched a series of attacks on strategic locations in Port-au-Prince, such as the presidential palace, the airport, or prisons, while demanding Henry’s resignation.
“We are pleased to announce our commitment to a transitional government agreement that paves the way for a peaceful transition of power,” said Irfaan Ali, the president of Guyana and temporary president of the Caribbean Community (Caricom).
“To this end, we take note of Prime Minister Ariel Henry’s resignation,” he added at a press conference.
According to a US official, the Haitian leader also confirmed his resignation by phone to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who participated in Monday’s regional meeting held in Jamaica.
The embattled Haitian leader, stranded in Puerto Rico while his country suffers gang violence, will be welcomed if he decides to stay in that US Caribbean territory, the source added.
Caricom convened the meeting in Kingston after gangs plunged the poorest nation in the Americas into a chaos of murders and looting, raising fears of famine.
