Haiti's Prime Minister, Ariel Henry, has agreed to leave his post.
This was announced by the president of the Caribbean Community (Caricom), Irfaan Ali, during a press conference organized after a meeting in Jamaica on the country tormented by gang violence and in the midst of a government crisis.
"We take note of the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry," said Mohamed Irfaan Ali, announcing an "agreement for a transitional government that will pave the way for a peaceful transition of power."
The international community is aware of the gravity of the crisis in Haiti, but knows that a definitive solution to it "cannot come from outside, but from an agreement between all Haitians".
At the end of an intense day of work in Kingston, the summit convened by Caricom, with the presence of the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, agreed that the Haitian parties must conceive and manage a project that leads to political and institutional reconstruction of the country.
For this reason, in addition to Blinken and the Caribbean leaders, representatives of countries in the region, the UN, Canada, Brazil, France and Mexico participated in the summit.
The proceedings were also followed online by the prime ministers of Canada and Kenya and the president of Benin, a country that will contribute to the multinational security support mission (MMAS) for Haiti.
In the final press conference, where Prime Minister Henry, stuck in Puerto Rico, Irfaan Ali, was never mentioned, he confirmed that a long-term plan for the reconstruction of Haiti had been evoked.
with ideas that will be presented to Haitians.
For his part, the Prime Minister of Jamaica, Andrew Holness, indicated that "this meeting has brought us closer to action to help Haiti".
The summary of the work was outlined by Blinken who, after having encrypted the allocations for the Haitian future at 300 million US dollars, recalled the three points on which everyone is called to work for the transition: 1) The establishment of a council presidential: 2) The intervention of the multinational mission led by Kenya, and 3) A strengthening of the police, a prerequisite for holding general elections.
A Presidential Council will have power until the vote
The resignation announced by Prime Minister Ariel Henry paved the way for the establishment of a Transitional Presidential Council in Haiti, made up of seven voting members and two observers representing the country's political, social and religious forces.
This body, enjoying constitutional powers, will have the main task of organizing presidential and legislative elections as soon as possible.
The creation of the Council, which has been examined for some time, was made official at the end of the summit organized in Kingston by Caricom, in the presence of the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who considered it fundamental in the process of returning to
institutional normality in Haiti.
Sources at the summit have indicated that the names of the personalities who will join the Council, an "independent and inclusive" body, will be announced "in the next 48 hours", by the parties called to be part of it.
He is, the newspaper Le Nouvelliste writes today, "a representative of the following political organisations: the Collective of 30 January; the Montana Agreement; Fanmi Lavalas; the related structures EDE, RED and Historical Compromise; the Agreement of 21 December which supports the current outgoing government; Pitit Desalin of Moïse Jean-Charles, and a representative of the
private business sector.
The religious community and Haitian civil society organizations are also invited to participate, each having a representative with a consultative or observer capacity.
Henry, 'We need peace and stability'
In a recorded speech broadcast overnight, after resigning, Prime Minister Henry acknowledged that the
country needs "stability" and "peace".
"My government will leave immediately after the inauguration of the Council. We will be a caretaker government until they appoint
a prime minister and a new Cabinet," he said.
Henry has been prime minister for the longest period since
Haiti's Constitution was adopted in 1987. The politician, who has been in Puerto Rico for a week, has been unable to return to the country because criminal gangs have closed major airports of Haiti and was banned from landing in the Dominican Republic.
Haiti has no president or parliament and has not held elections since 2016. Earlier this month, the gangs that control much of the country launched a series of attacks on strategic sites in the capital, Port-au-Prince, such as the headquarters of the Presidency, the airport and the prisons, demanding Henry's resignation.
For his part, official sources close to Blinken said that Henry is welcome on the American territory of Puerto Rico, where he has been since the country fell into chaos.
'Barbecue' the leader of the criminal gangs, rejects Kingston's plan
After the diffusion of the project of a transitional presidential council and the intervention of a multinational mission, as it was defined at the Kingston summit, the head of the Haitian criminal gangs, Jimmy Chérizier, rejected it, reiterating that he was engaged in a "bloody revolution".
In a press conference in which he presented himself in military uniform and with a submachine gun Chérizier, leader of the alliance called "Vivre Ensemble' (Living Together) known as Barbecue, confirmed that his is a battle "to free Haiti from the politicians traditional and corrupt oligarchs". If the international community continues on the path (undertaken in Jamaica), he indicated, "it will plunge Haiti into chaos", leading a small group of traditional politicians to elect a president and a model of government for the country .
After clarifying that "it is the inhabitants of the popular neighborhoods and the Haitian people (...) who must take destiny into their own hands and choose their own leaders", Chérizier issued a warning to the multinational security support mission (MMAS).
"No one can scare us - he underlined - nor make us believe that we will be hunted in our own country. We are the children of
Jean-Jacques Dessalines", leader of the Haitian independence of 1804. "When our ancestors fought for independence
they called us terrorists , like today".
"We didn't come here to lie to the people," he concluded, adding: "We are not making a peaceful revolution.
We are making a bloody revolution in the country."
The night curfew has been extended until Thursday
In Haiti the night curfew has been extended until Thursday, while the state of emergency will remain in force until at least April 3.
The announcement was made by the interim prime minister, Patrick Michel Boivert, who replaces the resigning Ariel Henry,
currently in Puerto Rico.
Between 6pm and 5am, only the police, firefighters, emergency and health services and journalists are allowed on the streets, it was specified in a statement.
Due to the state of emergency, all demonstrations on public roads in the
Western department are also prohibited, both day and night, the statement added.
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