PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti 鈥� Ariel Henry resigned Thursday as prime minister of Haiti, leaving the way clear for a new government to be formed in the Caribbean country, which has been that killed or injured more than 2,500 people from January to March.
Henry presented his resignation in a letter signed in Los Angeles, dated April 24, and released on Thursday by his office on the same day that a council tasked with choosing a new prime minister and Cabinet for Haiti was sworn in.
Henry鈥檚 remaining Cabinet meanwhile chose Economy and Finance Minister Michel Patrick Boisvert as the interim prime minister. It was not immediately clear when the transitional council would select its own interim prime minister.
Addressing a crowded and sweaty room in the prime minister's office, Boisvert said that Haiti's crisis had gone on too long and that the country now found itself at a crossroads. The members of the transitional council stood behind him, as well as the country's top police and military officials.
鈥淎fter two long months of debate ... a solution has been found,鈥� Boisvert said. 鈥淭oday is an important day in the life of our dear republic.鈥�
He called the transitional council a 鈥淗aitian solution鈥� and directing his remarks toward them, Boisvert wished them success, adding 鈥淚 believe the determination is there.鈥�
After the speeches, the soft clink of glasses echoed in the room as attendees served champagne flutes toasted with a somber 鈥淭o Haiti.鈥�
READ MORE: Haitian-American activists bash Biden for resuming Haitian deportation flights
The council was installed earlier Thursday, more than a month after Caribbean leaders announced its creation following an emergency meeting to tackle . Gunfire could be heard as the council was sworn in at the National Palace.
The nine-member council, of which seven have voting powers, is also expected to help set the agenda of a new Cabinet. It will also appoint a provisional electoral commission, a requirement before elections can take place, and establish a national security council.
The council鈥檚 non-renewable mandate expires Feb. 7, 2026, at which date a new president is scheduled to be sworn in.
Smith Augustin, a voting member of the council, said that it was unclear if the council would decide to keep Boisvert on as interim prime minister or choose another. He said it would be discussed in the coming days. 鈥淭he crisis is unsustainable,鈥� he said.
Regine Abraham, a nonvoting member of the council, recalled the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Mo茂se, explaining that 鈥渢hat violence had a devastating impact.鈥�
Abraham said that gangs now controlled most of Port-au-Prince, tens of thousands of Haitians have been displaced by violence and more than 900 schools in the capital have been forced to close.
鈥淭he population of Port-au-Prince has literally been taken hostage,鈥� she said.
Gangs launched coordinated attacks that began on Feb. 29 in the capital, Port-au-Prince, and surrounding areas. They burned police stations and hospitals, opened fire on the main international airport that has remained closed since early March and stormed Haiti鈥檚 two biggest prisons, releasing more than 4,000 inmates. Gangs also have severed access to Haiti鈥檚 biggest port.
The onslaught began while Prime Minister Henry was on an official visit to Kenya to push for a from the East African country. He remains locked out of Haiti.
鈥淧ort-au-Prince is now almost completely sealed off because of air, sea and land blockades,鈥� Catherine Russell, UNICEF鈥檚 director, said earlier this week.
The international community has urged the council to prioritize Haiti鈥檚 widespread insecurity. Even before the attacks began, gangs already controlled 80% of Port-au-Prince. The number of people killed in early 2024 was up by more than 50% compared with the same period last year, according to a recent U.N. report.
鈥淚t is impossible to overstate the increase in gang activity across Port-au-Prince and beyond, the deterioration of the human rights situation and the deepening of the humanitarian crisis,鈥� Mar铆a Isabel Salvador, the U.N. special envoy for Haiti, said at a U.N. Security Council meeting on Monday.
Also in attendance at Boisvert's swearing in Thursday was Dennis Haskins, the newly installed U.S. ambassador. He said Thursday鈥檚 events were an important step for Haiti.
鈥淚n crisis, the Haitians are able to do tremendous things, so we鈥檙e here to help them,鈥� Haskins said. 鈥淲e won鈥檛 be the solution but hopefully we will be part of helping those finding the solution.鈥�
As part of that, he said the U.S. government was working to enforce export controls on weapons, many of which have found their way to Haiti, fueling the violence.
鈥淭he fact that many of the arms that come here are from the United States is indisputable and that has a direct impact,鈥� Haskins said. 鈥淚t is something we recognize is a contributing factor to instability.鈥�
Nearly 100,000 people have fled the capital in search of safer cities and towns since the attacks began. Tens of thousands of others left homeless after gangs torched their homes are now living in crowded, makeshift shelters across Port-au-Prince that only have one or two toilets for hundreds of residents.
鈥淎lthough I鈥檓 physically here, it feels like I鈥檓 dead,鈥� said Rachel Pierre, a 39-year-old mother of four children.
鈥淭here is no food or water. Sometimes I have nothing to give the kids,鈥� she said as her 14-month-old suckled on her deflated breast.
Many Haitians are angry and exhausted at what their lives have become and blame gangs for their situation.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e the ones who sent us here,鈥� said Chesnel Joseph, a 46-year-old math teacher whose school closed because of the violence and who has become the shelter鈥檚 informal director. 鈥淭hey mistreat us. They kill us. They burn our homes.鈥�
Want more stories about the Americas? Sign up for SA国际传谋鈥檚 Americas Report newsletter and we鈥檒l send a round up of the most important news and stories from the hemisphere, every Thursday morning.
