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He then thanked Henry, a 74-year-old neurosurgeon who has held the prime ministership since the 2021 assassination of the country’s last president, for his service to Haiti.
“We acknowledge his resignation upon the establishment of transitional presidential council and naming an interim prime minister.”
Jimmy Chérizier, a former elite police officer known as Barbecue who now runs a gang, speaks to journalists in Port-au-Prince.Credit: AP
Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness earlier said the effort was a work in progress.
“It is clear that Haiti is now at a tipping point,” he said. “We are deeply distressed that it is already too late for too many who have lost far too much at the hands of criminal gangs.”
While leaders met behind closed doors, Jimmy Chérizier, considered Haiti’s most powerful gang leader, told reporters that if the international community continued down the current road, “it will plunge Haiti into further chaos”.
“We Haitians have to decide who is going to be the head of the country and what model of government we want,” said Chérizier, a former elite police officer known as Barbecue who leads a gang federation known as G9 Family and Allies. “We are also going to figure out how to get Haiti out of the misery it’s in now.”
Since February 29, gunmen have burnt police stations, closed the main international airports and raided the country’s two biggest prisons, releasing more than 4000 inmates.
Scores of people have been killed, and more than 15,000 are homeless after fleeing neighbourhoods raided by gangs. Food and water are dwindling as stands and stores selling to impoverished Haitians run out of goods. The main port in Port-au-Prince remains closed, stranding dozens of containers with critical supplies.
Late on Monday, the Haitian government announced it was extending a nighttime curfew until March 14 to prevent further attacks.
Henry could not be immediately reached for comment after the meeting.
The UN Security Council on Monday urged Haiti’s gangs “to immediately cease their destabilising actions,” including sexual violence and the recruitment of children, and said it expected that a multinational force will deploy as soon as possible to help end the violence.
Council members expressed concern at the limited political progress and urged all political actors to allow free and fair legislative and presidential elections.
AP, Reuters