Ariel Henry resigns as Haitian prime minister, clears way for new government

By Laura Gamba

BOGOTA, Colombia (AA) - Haiti's Prime Minister Ariel Henry announced his resignation Thursday after months of gang violence plunged the Caribbean nation into chaos.

“We have served the nation in difficult times. I thank everyone who had the courage to face such challenges with me,” Henry wrote in his resignation letter dated Wednesday and signed in Los Angeles.

Henry will hand power to a transitional council that will seek to gain control of the nation. The council was sworn in Thursday to appoint a new interim government to clear the way for the first elections since 2016.

Finance Minister Patrick Boisvert is to serve as provisional prime minister after being appointed by Henry's remaining Cabinet. Boisvert has been leading the government since Henry left for Kenya two months ago to sign a deal to push for the UN-backed deployment of a police force in Haiti. The council’s mandate expires Feb. 7, 2026, at which date a new president is scheduled to be sworn in.

Henry had promised to resign once the council was installed and a new prime minister selected.

The Caribbean nation has been without a president since Jovenel Moise was assassinated in 2021.

Since Feb. 29, armed men have burned police stations, attacked government offices, airports and raided the country’s two biggest prisons, releasing more than 4,000 inmates.

More than 2,500 people have been killed or injured from January to March and more than 95,000 have fled the nation’s capital since early March.