As leader resigns, Haitian politicians rush to form new government

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Haitian leaders scrambled Tuesday to meet a 24-hour deadline to set up a panel that will lead the deteriorating country to new elections following the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry.

Kenyan officials, meanwhile, said they were putting the deployment of a U.N.-approved multinational security force to the beleaguered Caribbean nation on pause until a new government is in place, according to media reports. A senior U.S. State Department official said the transitional presidential council would select an interim prime minister and government in “the very near future” and the mission should “go forward without delay.”

Henry, under intense pressure from U.S. officials, the international community and the gangs that control much of Haiti’s capital, said late Monday that he would step down once the council appointed an interim replacement.

The hours that followed were marked by uncertainty about what would happen next — and how quickly. Perhaps the greatest question: Would the gangs that helped push Henry allow the transition to a new authority?

“Ariel Henry is leaving thanks to armed men,” said Alex Dominique, a 38-year-old jurist and teacher in the southwestern city of Jeremie. “They will want to be in power. How can we share power with thugs?”

Henry’s resignation followed an hours-long meeting of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Haitian politicians and others working to bring political stability to the country of more than 11 million that is consumed by its worst violence in decades.

The council will be empowered to perform the duties of the presidency, an office that has been vacant since the still-unsolved 2021 assassination of Jovenel Moïse. It will consist of seven voting members representing seven sectors of Haitian society, including Henry’s political party, and nonvoting members from civil society and the interfaith community, Caricom said.

U.S. officials said the goal was to name an interim prime minister as quickly as possible, but it was unclear how soon the transitional government would be in place and whether it would be able to quell the violent armed gangs that control an estimated 80 percent of Port-au-Prince.

Over the past week, the gangs have ramped up their reign of terror in the capital, attacking the international airport, the main seaport and at least a dozen of the city’s police stations. The United States has airlifted embassy staff out of the country.

Henry, who was in Kenya to rally support for the security mission as the crisis deepened, was unable to return last week to Haiti. He landed instead in Puerto Rico, where he remained Tuesday, uncertain of when he might be able to get home.
 

Haiti’s most powerful gang leader, the former national police officer Jimmy “Barbecue” Chérizier, had threatened civil war unless Henry resigned. On Monday, before the announcement of Henry’s resignation, Chérizier said his coalition of gangs would oppose the new council, too, and he threatened to attack hotels where “the traditional politicians” typically stay. He said a new government should be chosen by his coalition and “the Haitian people.”

“If the international community continues down this path, it will plunge Haiti into chaos,” Chérizier said. “We are having a bloody revolution in the country.”

What’s happening in Haiti? Leader resigns as gang-led violence worsens.

Henry, who has led Haiti since July 2021, drew criticism for failing to restore security or hold elections.

The United States was open to Henry remaining in power to assist in the creation of the council, a senior State Department official told The Washington Post last week, but he showed an unwillingness in recent weeks to hand over power. Washington reversed course, urging him to step down to make way for the interim replacement and council.

“The government I lead cannot remain indifferent to this situation,” Henry said in a video address Monday night from Puerto Rico. “Haiti needs peace, stability, sustainable development and to rebuild its democratic institutions.”
 

Blinken spent much of his time at the Caricom meeting working out who, exactly, would join the transitional council, according to a senior administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive negotiations. At one point, Blinken huddled with other leaders in a corner marking down names on a piece of scrap paper.

It became clear to Henry on Monday that there was overwhelming international support for his ouster, the official said. A wide range of international officials took part in the talks. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called a member of his country’s delegation and was put on speakerphone to address the gathering.

Anyone who is under indictment or U.N. sanctions, has been convicted of a crime or opposes the U.N. security mission will be barred from participating in the council.

The security force deployment remains a work in progress, the senior State Department official said, with the details of U.S. assistance still under discussion. The State Department is vetting the Kenyan police units involved to make sure they have not been involved in human rights violations.

Blinken announced Monday that the United States would commit another $100 million to the mission, bringing total U.S. support to $300 million. That sum will fund equipment, training and logistics for the force that will go into Haiti, the official said. But there is no plan to increase the U.S. security presence on the ground in the country beyond the force stationed permanently to protect the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince.

Republican lawmakers on Tuesday pressed the Biden administration to do more to rescue U.S. citizens trapped in Haiti. Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) said he had evacuated a group of Americans from an orphanage in Haiti on Monday night.

The State Department has long warned Americans against traveling to Haiti. In recent months, it has urged those in the country to leave.

The senior State Department official acknowledged challenges in coaxing allies to contribute to the mission amid a “time of unprecedented global crises” — the war in Ukraine and humanitarian calamity in Gaza, among them — that have left donors stretched. “That being said, the humanitarian crisis and the security crisis in Haiti is as great as any other crisis around the world,” he said.

Gen. Laura Richardson, the head of U.S. Southern Command, told lawmakers Tuesday that more than 300 gangs with a combined 7,200 members have “consolidated and conducted simultaneous” attacks, taking advantage of Henry’s absence from the country to force his ouster.

Claude Joseph, a former interim prime minister involved in Monday’s discussions, said the security mission should arrive as soon as possible, but he believes the transitional council should be able to govern before then.

Joseph, a fierce critic of Henry’s, argued for a transition of “reconciliation” and not of vengeance. He encouraged Henry to return to Haiti if he wishes.

“This is not time for victory, to celebrate the resignation of prime minister Henry,” he said.

Joseph described the council as inclusive, representing diverse groups and political ideologies. But another representative in the Caricom discussions said the proposal made many participants uneasy.

“A council consisting of seven members is too unwieldy when it comes to making decisions,” said the representative, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive issues.

The 24-hour deadline is an attempt to “hasten this process,” after weeks of delays in establishing the council, said Ronald Sanders, the ambassador of Antigua and Barbuda to the United States.

Georges Michel, a Haitian historian, said Henry “allowed things to linger.”

“As our grandparents used to say, anything left lingering gets dirty,” Michel said. “This presidential council must pacify the country. If they can’t, they’ll be overthrown after four months. With seven members, they’ll likely end up fighting amongst themselves.”

Robert Fatton Jr., a professor of government and foreign affairs at the University of Virginia, said the long history of the international community setting up governments in Haiti that ultimately failed to bring long-term stability has left him “pessimistic” about the current effort.

“Even if you have a government, even if they agree on basic things,” Fatton said, “how are they going to reinforce order in the country when the people with the guns are threatening to destroy the country if they are not included in the dispensation itself?”

Schmidt reported from Bogotá, Colombia, Birnbaum from Washington and Coletta from Toronto. Dan Lamothe in Washington and Rael Ombuor in Nairobi contributed to this report.

By Widlore Mérancourt, Samantha Schmidt, Michael Birnbaum and Amanda Coletta