PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Ariel Henry resigned as Haiti's prime minister on Thursday, clearing the best way for the formation of a brand new government within the Caribbean country rocked by gang violence that has killed or injured greater than 2,500 people were January to March.
Henry submitted his resignation in a letter signed in Los Angeles on April 24 and released by his office on Thursday, the identical day a council tasked with selecting a brand new prime minister and cabinet for Haiti was sworn in.
Henry's remaining cabinet, meanwhile, elected Economy and Finance Minister Michel Patrick Boisvert as interim prime minister. It was not immediately clear when the transitional council would select its own interim prime minister.
In a crowded and sweaty room within the prime minister's office, Boisvert said the crisis in Haiti had lasted too long and the country was now at a crossroads. Behind him stood the members of the Transitional Council in addition to the country's highest police and military officials.
“After two long months of debate … a solution has been found,” Boisvert said. “Today is an important day in the life of our dear republic.”
He called the Transitional Council a “Haitian solution” and addressed his remarks to them. Boisvert wished them success and added: “I think the determination is there.”
After the speeches, the gentle clink of glasses echoed through the room as attendees served glasses of champagne toasted with a somber “To Haiti.”
The council was arrange early Thursday, greater than a month after Caribbean leaders announced its creation following an emergency meeting to handle the worsening crisis in Haiti. Shots heard in the course of the swearing-in of the council on the National Palace sparked concerned looks.
The nine-member council, seven of which have voting rights, can also be expected to assist set the agenda of a brand new cabinet. It may even appoint an interim electoral commission, a prerequisite for holding elections, and establish a national security council.
The Council's non-renewable mandate expires on February 7, 2026. At this point, a brand new president is scheduled to be sworn in.
Smith Augustin, a voting member of the council, said it was unclear whether the council would determine to maintain Boisvert as interim prime minister or select another person. He said it will be discussed in the approaching days. “The crisis is untenable,” he said.
Regine Abraham, a non-voting member of the Council, recalled the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021, stating that “this violence had a devastating impact.”
Abraham said gangs now controlled most of Port-au-Prince, tens of hundreds of the capital's residents were displaced by violence and greater than 900 schools within the capital needed to be closed.
“The people of Port-au-Prince have literally been taken hostage,” she said.
Gangs launched coordinated attacks starting on February 29 within the capital Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas. They set fire to police stations and hospitals, opened fire on the most important international airport, which had been closed since early March, stormed Haiti's two largest prisons and released greater than 4,000 inmates. Gangs have also blocked access to Haiti's largest port.
The attack began as Prime Minister Henry was on an official visit to Kenya to push for a United Nations-backed deployment of a police force from the East African country. He stays excluded from Haiti.
“Port-au-Prince is now almost completely sealed off due to air, sea and land blockades,” Catherine Russell, UNICEF director, said earlier this week.
The international community has called on the Council to prioritize widespread insecurity in Haiti. Even before the attacks began, gangs controlled 80% of Port-au-Prince. According to a recent UN report, the number of individuals killed in early 2024 increased by greater than 50% in comparison with the identical period last 12 months.
“One cannot overstate the increase in gang activity in Port-au-Prince and beyond, the worsening human rights situation and the deepening humanitarian crisis,” María Isabel Salvador, the UN special envoy for Haiti, said at a press conference on the UN meeting Security Council on Monday.
Dennis Haskins, the newly installed US ambassador, was also present at Boisvert's swearing-in on Thursday. He said Thursday's events were a very important step for Haiti.
“In a crisis, Haitians can do great things, which is why we are here to help them,” Haskins said. “We won’t be the solution, but hopefully we will contribute to helping those find the solution.”
As a part of that, he said the U.S. government was working to implement export controls on weapons, lots of which had found their technique to Haiti, fueling the violence.
“The fact that many of the weapons that come here come from the United States is undeniable and that has a direct impact,” Haskins said. “We recognize that this is a contributing factor to instability.”
Since the attacks began, nearly 100,000 people have fled the capital in quest of safer cities and towns. Tens of hundreds of others were left homeless after gangs burned down their homes and are actually living in overcrowded, makeshift shelters across Port-au-Prince which have only one or two toilets for a whole bunch of residents.
Carl Skau, deputy executive director of the World Food Program, said on the United Nations on Thursday that Haiti is affected by a security, political and humanitarian crisis that’s causing acute food insecurity for about 5 million people, or about half of the population. The UN defines this as “when a person’s inability to consume sufficient food places his or her life or livelihood in imminent danger.”
Rachel Pierre, a 39-year-old mother of 4 living in one in every of the capital's temporary shelters, said: “Even though I'm physically here, I feel like I'm dead.”
“There is not any food or water. “Sometimes I don't have anything to give the children,” she said as her 14-month-old suckled on her empty breast.
Many Haitians are indignant and exhausted about what their lives have turn out to be and blame gangs for his or her situation.
“They are the ones who sent us here,” said Chesnel Joseph, a 46-year-old math teacher whose school was closed due to violence and who has turn out to be the shelter’s informal leader. “They mistreat us. They're killing us. They are burning down our houses.”
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