The United States says it is not pressuring Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry to resign amid a new wave of violence and growing instability in the Caribbean nation, where powerful gang leaders are demanding Henry's resignation.
During a press conference Wednesday afternoon, U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Washington “is not asking [Henry] or pressure him to resign.”
However, Miller told reporters that the United States is urging Henry “to accelerate the transition to an empowered and inclusive governance structure that will act with urgency to help the country prepare for a multinational security support mission.”
That mission, which is backed by the United Nations but has been stalled for months, will then “address the security situation and pave the way for free and fair elections” in Haiti, Miller said.
His comments come after the Miami Herald reported earlier Wednesday that the State Department had asked Henry to accept a new transitional government and resign amid the growing crisis in Haiti.
A surge in gang violence that began over the weekend – and included attacks on police stations and raids on two prisons in the capital of Port-au-Prince – has displaced tens of thousands of people and effectively paralyzed the city.
Henry, a 74-year-old neurosurgeon, was sworn in as Haiti's prime minister in July 2021, less than two weeks after the assassination of President Jovenel Moise. Moise had chosen Henry for the position shortly before his death.
The killing worsened months of political instability in Haiti and gang violence soared in the resulting power vacuum.
Meanwhile, Henry – who long enjoyed the backing of the United States and other Western powers, including the so-called Core Group of nations – faced a legitimacy crisis from the very beginning of his term.
Some Haitian civil society groups had urged him to hand over power to an inclusive transitional government, a move they said would help stop gang violence and widespread insecurity plaguing the country.
Henry rejected that demand, but said he sought unity and dialogue. He also repeatedly said that elections could not be held until it was safe to do so.
But that angered many people across Haiti, including armed gang leaders who in recent years have used pressure tactics – including blockades of fuel terminals – in an effort to force him to resign.
Current crisis
The situation escalated when Henry left Haiti last month to attend a four-day summit in the South American country of Guyana hosted by a regional trading bloc known as the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM).
While Henry did not speak to the media, Caribbean leaders said he promised to hold elections in mid-2025. A day later, coordinated gang attacks began in Haiti's capital and beyond.
Henry then left Guyana for Kenya last week to meet President William Ruto and press for the deployment of a UN-backed Kenyan police force, which a court in the East African country ruled was unconstitutional.
Officials never said when the prime minister would return to Haiti after his trip to Kenya, and his whereabouts were unknown for several days until he landed unexpectedly in Puerto Rico on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the Haitian government declared a state of emergency and imposed a curfew as the country's already overwhelmed and ill-equipped police force attempted to curb rising gang violence.
Schools and shops have closed in Port-au-Prince, where gangs are believed to control about 80 percent of the city, and 15,000 Haitians have been forced to flee their homes in recent days, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. from the ONU. (OCHA).
The head of a powerful alliance of Haitian gangs known as G9, Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier, also warned that “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.”
At U.N. headquarters in New York on Wednesday, U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield echoed Miller at the State Department when asked whether Washington had urged Henry to resign.
“What we have asked of the Haitian prime minister is to advance a political process that will lead to the establishment of a transitional presidential council” to allow elections to be held, Thomas-Greenfield told reporters.
“We believe it is urgent… to move in that direction and begin the process to return normality to the people of Haiti.”
“There is no quick solution”
Jake Johnston, a senior research associate at the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, D.C., and an expert on Haiti, said it is “not surprising” that the U.S. government denies reports that it is asking Henry to resign.
“But what they say they're asking Henry to do will probably result in his resignation, because no one is making a political deal that will keep him in power,” Johnston said. wrote in X.
Emmanuela Douyon, analyst and defender of Haitian rights, also wrote in a social media post that “there is no quick solution to such a deep and prolonged crisis.”
“It is urgent to act to save lives, protect the population, restore peace and reestablish democratic order. “This requires addressing not only gang activities, but also corruption and criminal activities, including collusion with gangs within political and economic elites,” he said.
“To guide this process efficiently and keep it as short as possible, we need capable and credible leaders, some political consensus, and a significant amount of political will. It is imperative to ensure that the next elections are inclusive, free, fair and credible.”
#Haiti.-There is no quick solution for such a deep and prolonged crisis. Choosing another “puppet” will not help. It is urgent to act to save lives, protect the population, restore peace and reestablish democratic order. This requires addressing not only gang activities but… pic.twitter.com/v4pE1jKMjH
— Emmanuela Douyon 杜鳶 🇭🇹 (@emmadouyon) March 6, 2024
