Burning ambition… Jimmy Cherizier at a press conference in Port-au-Prince on Tuesday. He warned of escalating violence in Haiti if Ariel Henry did not resign. Photo: Ralph Tedi Erol/REUTERS
A Haitian military leader nicknamed «Barbecue» warned of genocide and civil war in Haiti if the prime minister does not step down.
Jimmy Cherizier's warning came amid ongoing shootings in the capital Port-au-Prince, where armed criminal groups under his command are trying to overthrow Prime Minister Ariel Henry.
«If Ariel Henry does not resign, if the international community continues to support him, we are heading straight towards a civil war that will lead to genocide,» said Cherizier, a former police officer whose nickname is said to have come from his habit of burning rivals' homes while they are inside.
“Either Haiti will be heaven or hell for all of us. There can be no question of a small group of rich people living in big hotels deciding the fate of people living in working-class neighborhoods.”
Mr Henry, who has also been acting president since the murder of Jovenel Moise in 2021, was unable to return to Haiti from a trip to Kenya last week after gangs attacked the country's largest airport.
Security forces pushed them away from Toussaint Louverture International Airport on Monday, but only after they cut a hole in the perimeter fence. The airport remains the scene of heavy fighting and international flights to Haiti have been cancelled.
Mr Henry has negotiated the deployment of 1,000 Kenyan police to his stricken Caribbean homeland as part of a UN operation. supported the peacekeeping forces. He reportedly landed in Puerto Rico on Wednesday.
He had previously been denied entry into the Dominican Republic, which occupies the other half of the island of Hispaniola, where Haiti is located.
The country, a major tourist destination famous for its golden sandy beaches, is in dire straits. trying not to get caught up in the chaos on the doorstep, and closed the 150-mile border.
In Mr. Henry's absence, Haitian authorities declared a three-day state of emergency on Monday and imposed a nightly curfew. in an attempt to calm the growing unrest.
Ariel Henry, Prime Minister of Haiti, after delivering a lecture on bilateral cooperation between Kenya and Haiti at the US International University in Africa in Nairobi, March 1 Photo: SIMON MAINA/AFP
The clashes left some 3,600 prisoners, many of them members gangs escaped from the country's largest prison on Sunday. Meanwhile, a prison riot was reported in the southern region of Jacmel on Tuesday.
Renata Segura, a Haiti expert with the International Crisis Group, called the prime minister «missing in action» since the fighting began last Thursday. “Will there come a time when the Haitian state completely collapses?” she asked.
The bloodshed has now forced some 15,000 people from their homes, many of whom are believed to be fleeing Port-au-Prince for the Artibonite countryside, north of the capital.
< p>Half of Haiti's 11 million citizens are currently dependent on food aid, and one in three are at risk of starvation, Segura warned: “The human cost is terrible. It's a grim situation.”
Burnt out cars in front of a police station in Port-au-Prince on Tuesday Photo: Clarens Siffroy/AFP
Meanwhile, the peacekeeping mission faces legal challenge in Kenya, where an opposition party has challenged an agreement to send Kenyan police on the grounds that Mr. Henry, who has postponed elections scheduled for February because of rising levels of violence, does not represent the legitimate interests of the Haitians.
But Segura warned that such outside help is the only solution. “The Haitian National Police is underequipped and underpowered, in part because of incredible levels of corruption,” she said.
“The idea that Haitians could defeat the gangs on their own seems unlikely. We think this will bring at least a little respite to Haitians living under the control of gangs and strengthen institutions that are practically non-existent.»
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