Haiti PM Ariel Henry to resign, according to regional leader and US official

Haiti’s prime minister, Ariel Henry, has issued his resignation, Guyana president Irfaan Ali said on Monday, leaving an unelected role he has held since the 2021 assassination of the country’s previous president.

“We acknowledge his resignation upon the establishment of a transitional presidential council and naming of an interim prime minister,” said Ali, who is also the Caribbean Community chair, thanking Henry for his service to Haiti.

A senior US official said Henry remains in Puerto Rico, and that the decision for him to step down was made on Friday. Henry expressed a desire to return to Haiti in the future, the official said.

Henry’s resignation comes after regional leaders met earlier on Monday in nearby Jamaica to discuss a framework for a political transition, which the US called last week to be “expedited” with the creation of a presidential council.

Ali said the presidential council would have two observers and seven voting members, including representatives from several coalitions, the private sector, civil society and one religious leader.

Henry travelled to Kenya late last month to secure its leadership of a United Nations-backed international security mission to help police fight armed gangs in Haiti, but a drastic escalation of violence in the capital, Port-au-Prince, during his absence left him stranded in the US territory of Puerto Rico.

Haiti’s gangs began an offensive to topple the government on 29 February, storming and ransacking police stations, prisons and hospitals and laying siege to strategic locations, including the port and airport.

Henry, who was out of the country when the rebellion began, was stranded in Puerto Rico, with one US official warning last week that his unpopular government could fall “at any time”.

This is a developing news story, please check back for updates.

With Reuters