By: Insight Crime
March 15, 2024
Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry has announced his resignation, underscoring how gangs have become the dominant power in Haiti.
Henry announced his resignation in a March 11 video address from Puerto Rico, where he has effectively been exiled.
“The government I am running will remove itself immediately after the establishment of the transitional council,” he said, referring to a seven-person body whose membership has not yet been decided.
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Over the last two weeks, gangs launched coordinated attacks in an attempt to topple the government. Police stations were left ransacked, and police struggled to maintain control of Champ de Mars, a key government district where the presidential palace is located.
As the crisis worsened over the weekend, the US military airlifted all non-essential staff from its embassy and added US forces to bolster the security of the compound. The German Foreign Ministry also evacuated European Union representatives to the neighboring Dominican Republic.
The wave of violence followed the signing of an agreement in Kenya by Prime Minister Henry that would bring up to 1,000 Kenyan police officers to Haiti in a bid to tackle the country’s long-growing insecurity. That agreement now appears to be on hold.
Haiti has been in a state of emergency since March 3 after gang members attacked two penitentiaries in the capital, Port-au-Prince, freeing as many as 4,000 inmates.
Jimmy Chérizier, alias “Barbecue,” a former police officer and leader of the powerful gang alliance, G9 and Family, took credit for the attack and claimed that his ultimate goal was to overthrow the government.
“If Ariel Henry doesn’t resign, if the international community continues to support him, we’re heading straight for a civil war,” the gang leader told reporters on March 5.
InSight Crime Analysis
Prime Minister Henry’s resignation underscores how, for the first time, street gangs that once answered to political and economic elites have now emerged as Haiti’s dominant power brokers, posing a significant challenge to the proposed transitional government and any foreign security force that may follow.
Haiti has long suffered political unrest and violence. However, there is little precedent for the current situation. The government has abdicated power, and no foreign national security force or multilateral body has filled the void.
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Instead, the country has been left to street gangs, which have proliferated in recent years under the auspices of ambitious politicians and unscrupulous businesspeople. These paymasters have now been shunted aside.
Gangs are now reportedly in firm control of the capital, controlling 80% of Port-au-Prince, according to the United Nations (UN). What’s more, the Director of the State Water and Sanitation Agency (DINEPA) has said that 90% of pumping sites and water sources are now managed by criminal groups.
Shortages of water, food, and basic medicines have crippled the capital, prompting a humanitarian crisis and fears of a renewed cholera outbreak. Criminal groups control key transport routes, and 5.5 million are in need of humanitarian assistance, according to the UN.
Regional leaders speaking at CARICOM, an assembly of Caribbean countries, in Kingston, Jamaica said they supported Henry’s resignation and would set up a transitional council to lay the foundations for elections. A statement from the group specified that no one charged or convicted would be eligible to serve on the council, effectively barring Haiti’s gang leaders from taking part in the process.
“It is unclear if the new government will do anything to appease the disparate armed groups that have come together in recent weeks,” wrote researcher Jake Johnston for the Center for Economic and Policy Research. “What is clear is that the announcement in Kingston late last night is unlikely to lead to a solution to the current crisis by itself.”
Barbecue has already said that his gang alliance “would not recognize” any transitional government put in place by CARICOM.