Haiti, in free fall

The Prime Minister of Haiti, Ariel Henry, announced his resignation on Monday night amid an unprecedented escalation of violence and deep institutional confusion.

The decision, encouraged by the United States, is intended to contain the emergency and appease a country dominated by gangs.

The first step is the creation of a transition council in charge of defining a medium-term electoral calendar and, in the immediate future, opening the door to an international support mission.

The alert, in any case, is maximum and the situation of instability has prevented the return of Henry himself, stranded in Puerto Rico after a trip to Kenya.

The crisis worsened in early March after the massive escape of more than 3,000 prisoners from several prisons in the country, which gave rise to a revolt led by former police officer Jimmy Chérizier, alias

.

Although he tries to present himself as a guerrilla or liberator, this gang member is de facto the most prominent boss of local organized crime and last week he threatened to unleash a “civil war” if the chief executive did not resign.

But the permanent upheaval suffered by Haitians and that has accelerated the exodus of thousands of people has its roots in the assassination, in July 2021, of President Jovenel Moïse.

The assassination ended up sinking the Caribbean country, which was already living in a very precarious balance.

Henry repeatedly promised to call elections, although he never set a date, hiding behind security problems.

The lack of legitimacy of the prime minister and social discontent, together with misery, paved the way for the advance of crime and armed groups.

Haiti, which shares a land border with the Dominican Republic, is increasingly isolated and disconnected from the world.

Last Friday a group of bandits tried to take over the National Palace and set fire to the headquarters of the Ministry of the Interior.

The assault failed, but that was probably a turning point, since the resignation of the prime minister began to take shape on Friday.

The scenario throws up, however, more unknowns than certainties.

A high-level meeting was held in Jamaica on Monday to address the crisis and smooth a transition.

But beyond the political panorama, the urgent dispatch of a military force supervised by the United Nations and coordinated by Kenya is on the table.

So far the mission has not been achieved and the criminal leader Barbecue has already assured that he will reject outside intervention.

In practice, Haiti is already mired in a low-intensity civil war.

It is the duty of the international community to work to immediately stop this drift.