Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry has agreed to resign and make way for a transitional authority, the president of Guyana said Monday after a regional meeting on a gang uprising that has plunged Haiti into violent chaos.
Henry, an unelected leader who took power right before Haiti's president was assassinated in 2021, was under acute pressure from parties including the United States to yield to some kind of new power arrangement as the already poor and unstable country fell further into bedlam. It has no president or parliament.
Gangs who have wreaked havoc in Haiti since last week were also demanding his resignation.
"We are pleased to announce a commitment to a transitional governance arrangement which paves the way for a peaceful transition of power," said Irfaan Ali, president of Guyana, which now chairs the regional body called CARICOM.
"To that end, we acknowledge the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry," Ali told a news conference.
CARICOM called the crisis meeting in Jamaica after armed gangs that already control much of Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince unleashed a campaign of violence, with the Western hemisphere's poorest nation plunging into an orgy of killing and looting and fears rising of famine.
Port-au-Prince and the surrounding region is under a month-long state of emergency, while a nighttime curfew has been extended through Thursday -- although it is unlikely overstretched police can enforce it.
CARICOM leaders consulted virtually with Henry and other Haitians throughout the meeting.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who attended the meeting, promised another $100 million to back an international stabilization force, bringing the total promised by the United States to $300 million since the crisis intensified several years ago.
Blinken also offered another $33 million in immediate humanitarian assistance.
