Thousands of people have fled since the gangs began a coordinated campaign to oust Henry from power.
Jimmy Cherizier, the Haitian gang leader behind a violent attempt to overthrow Prime Minister Ariel Henry, has warned of civil war and “genocide” unless Henry resigns.
Armed criminal gangs, who control large areas of the country, launched a coordinated attack to remove the prime minister while he was out of the country last week.
Henry, who was due to resign in February, was reported to be in the US territory of Puerto Rico on Tuesday after the Dominican Republic denied him permission to land his plane. The Dominican Republic shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti.
“If Ariel Henry does not resign, if the international community continues to support him, we will head straight into a civil war that will lead to genocide,” said Cherizier, a 46-year-old former police officer who goes by the name Barbecue and is under United Nations sanctions. United Nations for human rights abuses, he told reporters in the capital, Port-au-Prince.
“Either Haiti becomes a paradise or a hell for all of us. “It is impossible for a small group of rich people who live in big hotels to decide the fate of people who live in popular neighborhoods,” she added.
Gangs opened fire on police on Monday night outside the Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince, as dozens of employees and other workers fled from the bullets. The airport remained closed on Tuesday, as did schools and banks.
Over the weekend, gangs raided Haiti's two largest prisons, allowing thousands of inmates to escape.
“Haiti is now under gang control. The government is not present,” said Michel St-Louis, 40, in front of a burned-out police station in the capital. “I hope they can keep Henry away so whoever takes power can restore order.”
Henry, who came to power under a deal agreed with the opposition following the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in 2021, was supposed to resign in February so elections could be held.
But in recent months, gangs have moved beyond the city and into rural areas, overwhelming security forces in one of the world's most impoverished countries.
Henry has said the situation remains too volatile for elections and has been urging the deployment of a U.N.-backed multinational police mission to help stabilize the country.
At least 15,000 people have recently evacuated the most affected areas of Port-au-Prince, said Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Human rights group Plan International said many were fleeing the capital for Artibonite, Haiti's traditionally agricultural region whose residents now face food shortages as fighting spreads north.
The government has declared a state of emergency and a nighttime curfew, while the UN Security Council has scheduled a closed-door meeting on the situation for later Wednesday.
Countries in the region have withdrawn staff from their embassies and advised their citizens to leave.
