Haiti’s Prime Minister Ariel Henry has agreed to resign following weeks of mounting pressure and increasing violence in the impoverished country. This decision comes after regional leaders met in Jamaica on Monday to discuss a political transition in Haiti. Mr. Henry is currently stranded in Puerto Rico after being prevented by armed gangs from returning home. In a video address announcing his resignation, Mr. Henry urged Haitians to remain calm.
“The government that I am leading will resign immediately after the installation of [a transition] council,” Mr. Henry said. “I want to thank the Haitian people for the opportunity I had been granted. I’m asking all Haitians to remain calm and do everything they can for peace and stability to come back as fast as possible.”
Mr. Henry, who had been leading the country on an interim basis since July 2021 following former President Jovenel Moïse’s assassination, has repeatedly postponed elections, citing the need to restore security first. Many Haitians have questioned his governance of the country for such an extended period without an elected president.
Heavily armed gangs have been controlling the streets of the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, in recent days, demanding the resignation of the unelected prime minister. The capital and the surrounding region are under a month-long state of emergency, with an extended curfew in place.
Matthias Pierre, a former elections minister in Haiti, revealed Mr. Henry’s resignation to the BBC’s Newsday program before it was publicly confirmed. He described the current situation in the country as “very precarious,” highlighting the weakness of the police force, the destruction of over 40 police stations, the limited and unequipped state of the army, and the occupation of downtown Port-au-Prince and some government headquarters by gang members.
Pierre warned that essential resources such as food, medication, and medical support would soon be depleted. He also mentioned that the gangs were seeking inclusion in any new power-sharing arrangement, emphasizing that such a political resolution would be unattainable without the backing of an international armed force.
Mr. Henry’s presence in Kenya was supposedly to finalize a deal regarding the deployment of an international security force aimed at addressing the pervasive violence issues. However, during his visit, a coalition of gangs launched a brazen attack on police stations and managed to breach two of Haiti’s largest prisons.
The situation escalated to such an extent that the plane carrying Mr. Henry had to be diverted as Haiti’s international airport came under sustained attacks, preventing him from landing and adding more chaos to an already volatile scenario.
His resignation had been anticipated for several days. The Caricom group of Caribbean nations had made it clear that they viewed him as an obstacle to Haiti’s stability and that he needed to step down to pave the way for the transitional council. Initially, the White House had preferred Mr. Henry to oversee the transitional process in Haiti, but recent intense fighting in the country led to a change of heart in Washington.
With neither the support of the US State Department nor his neighboring countries, it became evident that Mr. Henry had no choice but to resign.
Mr. Henry has expressed a desire to return to Haiti, but the US stated that the security situation must improve before he can do so. A senior US official mentioned that Mr. Henry initially decided to step down on Friday but waited for an official announcement to facilitate talks.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken pledged an additional $100 million (£78 million) to the 1, 000-strong UN-backed security force, which Kenya is anticipated to lead in Haiti. With Mr. Blinken’s announcement, the proposed US contribution to the security force now totals $300 million, and an additional $33 million has been earmarked for humanitarian aid.
Following the meeting, the Chairman of the Caricom group and Guyana President, Irfaan Ali, stated, “We acknowledge his resignation upon the establishment of a transitional presidential council and the naming of an interim prime minister.” President Ali mentioned that the transitional presidential council would consist of two observers and seven voting members, including representatives from various coalitions, the private sector, civil society, and a religious leader.
He further added that the council has been tasked with promptly appointing an interim prime minister, and individuals intending to run in Haiti’s upcoming elections will not be eligible to participate. The council is expected to pave the way for Haiti’s first elections since 2016.
Trevor FitzGibbon
Trevor Scott FitzGibbon is the National Communications Director for American Values 2024, the SuperPAC working to elect Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. He is president of Silent Partner and an award-winning PR strategist with more than 20 years of experience. His work has primarily focused on defending human rights, whistleblowers, and exposing corruption throughout his career.
Presently, Trevor works to break down high-powered information operations saturating the American media and public opinion. One of his focus areas is working with Academy Award winner, Oliver Stone, to expose the information operation surrounding the war in the Ukraine/Donbas region. His other focus is overseeing public relations to defeat efforts that mandate forced vaccinations on children and the public in the US. Working with the Vaccine Safety Research Foundation and alongside eminent physicians including Robert Malone, MD and Dr. Peter McCullough, Trevor works to secure interviews and high-profile placements, including Joe Rogan, Tucker Carlson Tonight, CNN, the Wall Street Journal and the Today Show.
His clients have ranged from Google Foundation and Amnesty International to WikiLeaks, Julian Assange Legal Defense, Pearl Jam, the governments of Venezuela and Ecuador and its legal fight against Chevron for its destruction of the Ecuadoran rainforest.
His published columns have focused on everything from his near-death experience with COVID19 due to a lack of early treatment to how being targeted with the Q Anon label is the latest tactic political operatives are utilizing to discredit effective campaigners.
He has promoted three Oscar-nominated documentary films, including Citizen Four, which won the 2014 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
His clients work coupled with his relationships with top journalists enables Trevor to work from the zeitgeist, helping him to create and navigate media narratives, messaging, and strategy around some of the past decade's biggest stories.
He has secured media placements in A-list outlets worldwide, including 60 Minutes, Meet the Press, the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Economist, and the Financial Times.
In 2012, FitzGibbon Helps Take Down Backpage.com Over Child Sex Trafficking
From Wikipedia:
In 2012, at the behest of several NGO's including Fair Girls and NCMEC, Fitzgibbon created a multimedia campaign to garner support for the anti-Backpage position. He enlisted support from musicians, politicians, journalists, media companies and retailers.
The campaign created a greater public dialogue, both pro and con, regarding Backpage.[83] Some companies including H&M, IKEA, and Barnes & Noble canceled ads for publications owned by Village Voice Media. Over 230,000 people including 600 religious leaders, 51 attorneys general, 19 U.S. senators, over 50 non-governmental associations, musician Alicia Keys, and members of R.E.M., The Roots, and Alabama Shakes petitioned the website to remove sexual content.[68]
New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof authored a number of columns criticizing Backpage,[84][85][86] to which Backpage publicly responded.[87] In a March 17, 2012 column, "Where Pimps Peddle Their Goods," Kristof told the story of a young woman whose "street name" was Alissa. Kristof wrote that pimps had coerced Alissa into a life of prostitution and posted ads for her on Backpage while she was underage. He also urged mainstream advertisers to boycott Village Voice Media and linked to a Change.org petition asking VVM to stop allowing its users to post adult ads on Backpage.”
