SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Haiti’s Prime Minister Dr. Ariel Henry has arrived in Puerto Rico, ending speculation as to his whereabouts as his country remains gripped in an ongoing crisis that could lead to his removal from office.
US media, quoting Sheila Angleró Mojica, the spokesperson for the Governor of Puerto Rico, said that Henry, who came to power following the July 7, 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise, had landed there on Tuesday.
Mojica said she did not have additional details on the matter but added that “federal agents from the CBP [US Customs and Border Protection] are in charge,” without elaborating.
Henry had travelled from Kenya where he signed an agreement allowing for a United Nations Security Council sanctioned international force led by the African country to restore peace and security in his troubled country.
But the criminal gangs that have all, but taken over the capital, Port au Prince, said a new government would soon be installed with a judge, Durin Duret Jr., as chairman assisted by former rebel leader and former police commissioner Guy Philippe, and Francoise Saint-Vil Villier, from the religious sector, a close ally to Moise.
“PM Henry and all the other members of the government must resign or they will face the consequences,” the outspoken and leftist political leader, Jean-Charles Moise told journalists on Tuesday.
“Many ministers and other government officials have gone into hiding, because they are nowhere to be found,” Moise said, promising that members of government who would cooperate would have nothing to fear.
But, he warned “those who would remain faithful to Ariel Henry would have to face the population’s anger and would be sought after and chased.”
On Tuesday, in a brief video statement, Guyana’s President Dr. Irfaan Ali, who is also the CARICOM chairman, said the 15-member regional grouping is engaged in discussions with the various stakeholders in Haiti where the authorities have been forced to impose a curfew and state of emergency as they seek to regain control of the island following last weekend’s security situation that resulted in several inmates being freed by criminal gangs.
“CARICOM has been singularly focused on the events unfolding in Haiti over the last few days,” he said, adding “the expanded Bureau (of Heads) has been meeting separately with Prime Minister Henry, the stakeholders in Haiti and our international partners to bring resolution to this highly complex matter where persons lives and livelihood are at stake”.
Ali said that the “complexity requires us in these consultations to ensure that a Haitian led and Haitian owned solution may be achieved as soon as possible”.
“We remain deeply engaged and will update on the outcome our deliberations as soon as practicable,” Ali said in the video statement that made no specific reference or condemnation of last weekend’s criminal gang activities.
The criminal gangs are threatening to gun down any aircraft flying Prime Minister Henry back to the troubled Caribbean country.
Footage obtained by Haitian-Caribbean News Network (HCNN) shows a man standing on the roof of a sports utility vehicle and firing a machine gun towards the runway.
