© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Former police officer Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier, leader of the ‘G9’ gang alliance, is flanked by gang members after a press conference in Delmas 6, Port-au-Prince, Haiti March 5, 2024. REUTERS/Ralph Tedy Erol/File Photo
By Steven Aristil and Sarah Morland
PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) – The United States said on Wednesday it was pushing for progress on a long-awaited security mission to Haiti and a transition to new political leadership as the Haitian prime minister remains outside the country while armed gangs seek to oust him.
Prime Minister Ariel Henry landed on Tuesday in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico after traveling to Kenya to secure support for an international force the East African country is set to lead. During his trip, gang-led violence dramatically escalated in Haiti.
Jimmy Cherizier, alias Barbeque, who leads a broad alliance of criminal gangs in Port-au-Prince that has signaled it could fight the proposed mission as a united front, has warned the violence could escalate to a civil war if Henry does not step down.
“What we have asked the Haitian prime minister to do is move forward on a political process that will lead to the establishment of a presidential transitional council that will lead to elections, and we think that is urgent,” U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield told reporters.
She added the United States was working with Kenya on moving forwards with the force, composed of voluntary contributions that have so far fallen well beneath estimates, and she hoped “that action will take place quickly.”
Henry set up a transition council known as the HCT over a year ago, but opponents say they are being left out of the process. Himself unelected, Henry has postponed elections saying security must first be established for a free and fair vote.
Meanwhile, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk, called for the “urgent deployment, with no further delay” of the planned security force, which Henry first requested in October 2022.
“The reality is that, in the current context, there is no realistic alternative available to protect lives,” Turk said. “This situation is beyond untenable for the people of Haiti.”
According to the U.N., at least 313,000 have fled their homes inside Haiti while close to 1,200 have been killed and nearly 700 injured since the start of this year.
There are widespread reports of rape, torture and ransom kidnappings in gang-controlled areas, while the conflict has cut off access routes for food, medical services and humanitarian aid.
‘CIVIL WAR’
The Dominican Republic has upped its border security and on Wednesday said trade flows with neighboring Haiti were smaller than usual but operating normally under military surveillance. The country has deported tens of thousands of Haitian migrants and says it will not allow Haitian refugee camps in its territory.
According to flight tracker FlightRadar24, the plane Henry traveled on departed from New Jersey and was diverted near the Dominican Republic before landing in Puerto Rico on Tuesday.
Dominican authorities said the U.S. and Haiti had informally requested Henry’s plane make an “indefinite stopover” on their territory, and they had replied this was “impossible” without receiving a definite flight plan.
They said while they planned to cooperate to help restore normalcy to Haiti, “it is imperative that any action taken does not compromise our national security.”
Cherizier said he had doubled the number of gunmen near Port-au-Prince’s international airport.
“If Ariel Henry doesn’t step down, if the international community continues to support Ariel Henry, they will lead us directly into a civil war that will end in genocide,” Cherizier said in a press conference on Tuesday.
He added that a broad alliance of gangs known as Viv Ansanm (Living Together) were fighting to annex strategic areas to allow them to oust Henry “as quickly as possible,” adding his international backers would be to blame for Haitians who die.
Cherizier said he has doubled the number of gunmen guarding the capital’s international airport to eight. Gangs in Port-au-Prince, battling for turf, have signaled they could join together to fight an international force as a united front.
Meanwhile, Haitian news outlet Vant Bef reported that Guy Philippe, a former coup leader who recently returned from the United States where he served a prison term on drug trafficking charges, was seeking to become leader.
He is backed by a rogue environmental brigade that has evolved into a paramilitary group known as BSAP. Local media reported the group is staffed with former soldiers who fought with Philippe in 2004 to oust ex-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
The United Nations Security Council is due to meet behind closed doors on Haiti later on Wednesday.
(This story has been refiled to add Prime Minister Ariel Henry’s first name in, paragraph 2)