According to the Caribbean community of states Caricom, the interim prime minister of the crisis state of Haiti, Ariel Henry, who is stuck abroad, has agreed to resign. A seven-member presidential council will be established for the transition to elections in Haiti, which will appoint a new interim prime minister, Guyana’s President Mohamed Irfaan Ali announced on Monday (local time) after a meeting of the heads of government of Caribbean states in Jamaica. Powerful criminal gangs that control large parts of Haiti had previously called for Henry’s resignation.
The violence of the brutal gangs, which, according to the UN, already control around 80 percent of Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince, has escalated since the end of February. The two most powerful gangs joined forces and demanded Henry’s resignation. Henry had ruled since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse on July 7, 2021. There had been no elections since then.
The German ambassador and diplomats from the EU and the USA left Haiti at the weekend. The violence also exacerbated an already precarious humanitarian situation. According to UN figures, almost half of the Caribbean country’s approximately eleven million inhabitants suffer from acute hunger. According to the UN, around 362,000 Haitians are displaced within the country, more than half of them children. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the situation untenable for the people of Haiti.
At the meeting in Jamaica’s capital Kingston, the USA had previously increased its financial commitment for a multinational security mission in the crisis state of Haiti by 100 million to 300 million dollars (around 274 million euros). Blinken also pledged $33 million in humanitarian aid to Haiti.