Haiti Prime Minister Ariel Henry has been asked to resign by Barbecue , Haitian powerful gang leader on Tuesday.
Jimmy Cherizier, also known as Barbecue warned that failure by the Prime Minister to step down would see the chaos engulfing the capital Port-au-Prince lead to civil war and genocide.
“If Ariel Henry doesn’t resign, if the international community continues to support him, we’ll be heading straight for a civil war that will lead to genocide,” Cherizier, said.
Barbecue’s remarks came after attempts to fly home appeared difficult as the gangs had taken over the main airport while the neighbouring Dominican Republic refused to grant the stranded head of government permission to land on their soil.
“Either Haiti becomes a paradise or a hell for all of us. It’s out of the question for a small group of rich people living in big hotels to decide the fate of people living in working-class neighbourhoods,” said Barbecue.
The violence erupted while Henry was in Kenya, where he signed an agreement underpinning a Kenyan-led mission of 1,000 police officers to Haiti to restore security in the Caribbean country. The prime minister’s last appearance in public was in Kenya on Friday, before arriving today in Puerto Rico, per Mojica.
President Ruto and Haiti PM Ariel Henry witnessed the signing of the Kenya and Haiti agreement on the deployment of 1,000 police officers to the Multi-National Security Support Mission in Haiti at State House, Nairobi. pic.twitter.com/P4MNCujkGA
— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) March 1, 2024
Henry was however able to land at Puerto Rico in The Dominican Republic according Sheila Anglero the governor’s office spokesperson.
She however says she has no additional information on what happened after the Prime Minister landed.
“I don’t know if he’s still in Puerto Rico,” Sheila Anglero said.
Cherizer is a former police officer who is under UN sanctions for human rights abuse.