As Crisis Envelops Haiti, PM Steps Down

Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry announced early Tuesday that he would resign once a transitional presidential council is created, bowing to international pressure to save the country overwhelmed by violent gangs that some experts say have unleashed a low-scale civil war. Henry made the announcement hours after officials, including Caribbean leaders and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, met in Jamaica to urgently discuss a solution to halt Haiti's spiraling crisis and agreed to a joint proposal to establish a transitional council. "The government that I'm running cannot remain insensitive in front of this situation. There is no sacrifice that is too big for our country," Henry said in a video. "The government I'm running will remove itself immediately after the installation of the council." A look at the scene, via the AP:

• Stranded: Henry has been unable to enter Haiti because the violence closed its main international airports. He'd arrived in Puerto Rico a week ago after being barred from landing in the Dominican Republic, where officials said he lacked a required flight plan. Dominican officials also closed the airspace to flights to and from Haiti.
• A successor: Not clear. Henry was sworn in after the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise. Critics note he was never elected, and Haiti doesn't currently have a single elected official.
• The crisis: Heavily armed gangs have burned police stations, attacked the main airport, and raided two of the country's biggest prisons—releasing more than 4,000 inmates. Scores of people have been killed, and more than 15,000 are homeless after fleeing neighborhoods raided by gangs. Food and water are dwindling as stands and stores selling to impoverished Haitians run out of goods. The main port in Port-au-Prince remains closed.
• The gangs: "Even if you have a different kind of government, the reality is that you need to talk to the gangs," said Robert Fatton, a Haitian politics expert at the University of Virginia. "If they have that supremacy ... it's no longer a question if you want them at the table, they may just take the table."
• From a top gang leader: Jimmy Cherizier, who leads gang federation G9 Family and Allies, said that if the international community continues down the current road, "it will plunge Haiti into further chaos. We Haitians have to decide who is going to be the head of the country and what model of government we want. We are also going to figure out how to get Haiti out of the misery it's in now."
• Aid: Earlier Monday, Blinken announced an additional $100 million for the deployment of a multinational force to Haiti. Blinken also announced another $33 million in humanitarian aid.

(More Haiti stories.)