Haitian PM Ariel Henry resigns after violence at UN Antony Blinken leads Jamaica talks gang

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Haiti’s Prime Minister Ariel Henry resigned as head of the Caribbean nation on Monday after the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) held an emergency summit regarding the situation in Haiti, where gang-led violence has led to a lack of law and order. The system has gone wrong. Country.

Haiti has seen repeated postponements of elections. Current CARICOM chairperson and Guyana President Mohammed Irfan Ali thanked Henry, a 74-year-old neurosurgeon who has served in the unelected role since the assassination of the country’s last president, Jovenel Moise, in 2021, news agency Reuters reported.

The report quoted President Ali as saying, “We accept his resignation upon the establishment of a Transitional Presidential Council and the appointment of an interim Prime Minister.”

Ali said the Presidential Council would likely have seven voting members and two observers, including representatives of civil society, the private sector, several coalitions and a religious leader. He also said the council has been instructed to appoint an interim prime minister “rapidly” and that candidates who intend to run in Haiti’s next elections will not be allowed to run, Reuters reports. will be given.

In February, Henry traveled to Kenya to secure leadership of a security mission supported by the United Nations. The purpose of his visit was to help the police fight armed gangs and restore order so that elections could take place. But the capital has seen a sharp increase in violence during his absence, forcing him to strand in the US territory of Puerto Rico, Reuters reported.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was also present at the summit, where he pledged an additional $100 million for a UN-backed force to stabilize the country and $30 million in humanitarian aid, Al Jazeera reported.

Calling for the creation of a “broad-based, inclusive, independent presidential college,” Blinken had said earlier on Monday: “We all know that urgent action is needed at both the political and security levels.”

Henry’s resignation came after regional leaders met in Jamaica on Monday to discuss the contours of a political transition as armed gangs seek to topple his government. America had also last week urged the country to speed up this process in view of the situation.

According to Al Jazeera reporting, gangs led by Jimmy “Barbeque” Charizier were controlling the streets of Haiti, demanding Henry’s resignation and threatening civil war if he did not step down.

Henry was scheduled to tender his resignation in February and was forced out of Haiti as unrest grew in the country. However, he landed in Puerto Rico last week after being denied entry into the Dominican Republic.