Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry surfaced in Puerto Rico on Tuesday, having disappeared from public view after his meeting in Kenya on Friday with President William Ruto to secure a pledge for police intervention.
Henry is reportedly unable to return to Haiti because the security situation has deteriorated so dramatically in his absence.
Haiti’s Le Nouvelliste on Tuesday cited sources that said Henry spent some time in the continental United States before alighting in Puerto Rico, where he seems to be stuck for the time being.
The Miami Herald expanded that story on Wednesday, saying Henry was flying home from Kenya when he reportedly received a “message in midair from the U.S. State Department” asking him to resign immediately and agree to a “new transitional government.”
Henry refused to step down in February, claiming Haiti was too unstable to hold elections. Instead, he issued a statement through the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) promising to hold elections by August 2025.
Henry assumed power after the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise. Many Haitians regard him as an illegitimate leader, little better than the gangsters seeking to topple his government – although the gangsters are currently making a spirited effort to prove they are, in fact, much worse.
When Henry departed last week for trips to South America and Africa, seeking to drum up support for an international military intervention, the gangs plunged Haiti into bloody chaos with a string of attacks on police stations, government offices, prisons, and the international airport. Massive prison breaks put thousands of dangerous criminals back on the streets and added more muscle to the gangs.
Finance Minister Michel Patrick Boisvert has been acting as prime minister in Henry’s absence. He issued a 72-hour curfew order on Sunday, but it has done little to stem gang violence.
According to the Miami Herald, CARICOM has joined the United States in pressuring Henry to resign.
Henry allegedly spent the past few days in the United States, attempting to negotiate a stealthy helicopter flight home with officials from the Dominican Republic:
Everyone privy to the plan knew that Henry’s charter plane, a 13-seat Gulfstream, could not land directly in Port-au-Prince, where gangs had encircled the main airport, part of a broad and unprecedented assault on the country’s core institutions.
But after Henry and his delegation departed Newark, N.J., on Tuesday, Santo Domingo unexpectedly reversed course, refusing clearance to allow his plane to land. Henry faced a choice whether to detour to Puerto Rico or to one of a number of neighboring Caribbean countries whose leaders have been pushing for his resignation.
He chose the U.S. territory. While en route, he received the U.S. proposal. Henry’s plane landed in San Juan, where it was immediately met by U.S. Secret Service agents and created confusion at the White House.
While the Biden administration struggled to decide whether to let Henry get off his plane or not, CARICOM spoke with Haitian opposition leaders and decided Henry should not return to Haiti until he had a solid plan for stabilizing the country, which may or may not require his prompt resignation. Some Haitian leaders think Henry can no longer govern in any meaningful sense, while others fear the gangs and their political allies would grow even bolder if they collect his political (or literal) scalp.
The top Haitian gang boss, Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier, did indeed grow more boisterous with the news that Henry was unable to return home. On Tuesday, he warned Haiti will plunge into an even more brutal civil war if Henry remains in power.
“If Ariel Henry doesn’t resign, if the international community continues to support him, we’ll be heading straight for a civil war that will lead to genocide,” Cherizier said.
“Either Haiti becomes a paradise or a hell for all of us. It’s out of the question for a small group of rich people living in big hotels to decide the fate of people living in working-class neighborhoods,” he said.
Jimmy Cherizier, better known as Barbecue (Matias Delacroix, File/AP)
Haiti’s already dire situation continued to deteriorate rapidly on Wednesday. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) announced it was temporarily suspending its mobile clinics, fearing that it will “run out of medicines and medical supplies.”
On Tuesday, a heavily armed gang attacked a police academy where over 800 cadets were training. The gang was driven back when reinforcements arrived.
A group of Cubans stranded in Port-au-Prince due to gang attacks on the airport told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Wednesday their flight was canceled because the crew found a bullet hole in the airplane.
