Haiti’s de facto president, Ariel Henry, announced his resignation Tuesday — the culmination of a political crisis at least two weeks in the making, but really three years or more.
Henry issued his resignation while stranded in Puerto Rico. A violent gang leader has cut off Haiti’s capital of Port-au-Prince from the rest of the country; blocked the main port, starving the country of food and fuel; and threatened “civil war that will lead to genocide.” But while it looks like the gang’s coup attempt was successful, that doesn’t mean its leaders have exactly wrested power from Henry. He has agreed to step down following the formation of a transitional presidential council — a long-sought but imperfect tool to hold elections and begin building Haiti’s governmental institutions.
The crisis has been unfolding, in some ways, for decades, as corrupt leaders who lack the support of the Haitian people have allied with gangs and other armed groups to protect their business interests or maintain political power. The US, France, and other powerful nations have also exacerbated the country’s instability for their material benefit or to suit their political interests — backing particular leaders at the cost of Haiti’s economic and democratic development.
Now, the country’s present political and security disaster — accelerating since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021 — is at a boiling point. Armed groups, particularly the G9 alliance of gangs operating under Jimmy “Barbecue” Chérizier, have been menacing the Haitian people with near-total impunity as the unelected Henry hollowed out what remained of the country’s institutions.
The Biden administration’s support for Henry in the wake of Moïse’s assassination, alleged to have been carried out by a group of mostly Colombian mercenaries, helped chart Haiti’s course to the current moment. Rather than working with the various Haitian-led civil society groups that…
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