The Prime Minister of Haiti, Ariel Henry, announced on Monday that he will resign along with his Government as soon as there is a transitional presidential council because “no sacrifice is too great for our country.” “The Government that I lead accepts the installation of a transitional presidential council. The members of the council will be chosen after an agreement between different sectors of national life,” Henry said in a message to the nation posted on the Haitian Executive’s social networks. .

Until the appointment of a new cabinet, the Government will take care of pending matters. The prime minister indicated that his Executive cannot be “insensitive” to the increase in acts of violence, murders, attacks on law enforcement, systematic looting and the destruction of public and private buildings that the country is experiencing.

“Haiti needs peace, stability, lasting development,” stressed the prime minister, who asked the population to calm down and do everything necessary to recover peace and stability as soon as possible and rebuild democratic institutions.

Ariel Henry, who is in Puerto Rico after remaining missing for days, was grateful for being able to serve the country.

As announced shortly before by the current president of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) and leader of Guyana, Irfaan Ali, Henry will resign after the establishment of the transitional presidential council, which will appoint an interim prime minister and, together with the latter, will elect a Minister council. The council will consist of seven voting members and two observers, a decision made after a meeting on Monday in Jamaica with representatives of other international partners such as the United States and France, as well as the UN.

The council will have “presidential powers during the transition period”, until elections are held in Haiti, and must make decisions by majority. The Secretary of State of the United States, Antony Blinken, assured that the council would have the task of meeting the “immediate needs” of Haitians, allowing the deployment of the security mission, led by Kenya, and creating the necessary security conditions to free elections.

In recent days, both internal and external pressures have increased on Henry to accept a transition, following the escalation of violence in Haiti at the hands of armed gangs. The increase in violence began on February 28 after it was learned that Henry had committed to holding elections before the end of August 2025, although, under a 2022 agreement, he should have left power on February 7. Haiti ended up declaring a state of emergency when fighting damaged communications and led to two prison breaks after Jimmy “Barbeque” Cherizier, leader of an alliance of armed groups, said they would unite and overthrow Henry.

During these days, the gangs that control a large part of Port-au-Prince and other areas of the country and that demand Henry’s resignation have attacked institutions, public and private companies and prisons, which has allowed the escape of at least 3,000 prisoners, including members and leaders of these gangs. Last Friday they tried to take the National Palace, but were repelled by the security forces, and they also failed in their attempts to set fire to the Ministry of the Interior.

The Government of Kenya is prepared to deploy about a thousand Kenyan police officers who will lead a multinational mission to tackle the security crisis in Haiti. , whose Prime Minister, Ariel Henry, agreed in the last few hours to resign from office, local media indicated this Tuesday. Kenyan Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki recalled that “Kenya is the leading nation of the multinational mission in Haiti, but other countries have also committed to sending troops and this came from the United Nations Security Council.”