The threat was made in front of journalists.

An influential Haitian gang leader assured, Tuesday March 5, that a “civil war” would take place if the contested Prime Minister Ariel Henry did not resign.

The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Wednesday.

Criminal gangs, who control the majority of the capital Port-au-Prince as well as the roads leading to the rest of the territory, have attacked strategic sites in the poor Caribbean country in recent days: the police academy, the airport and several prisons, from which thousands of inmates were able to escape.

“If Ariel Henry does not resign, if the international community continues to support him, we are heading straight towards a civil war which will lead to genocide,” the influential Haitian gang leader threatened Tuesday during a press interview. Jimmy Chérizier – nicknamed “Barbecue” –, surrounded by armed and hooded men.

“Either Haiti becomes a paradise for us all, or a hell for us all,” continued this 46-year-old former police officer, placed under UN sanctions and considered one of the most influential gang leaders.

Also read: In Haiti, “Port-au-Prince is like a city at war”

Armed groups say they want to overthrow the Prime Minister in power since the assassination in 2021 of President Jovenel Moïse and who should have left office at the beginning of February.

Absent for several days from Haiti after a trip to Kenya, Ariel Henry landed in Puerto Rico on Tuesday, the spokesperson for the governor of this American Caribbean territory told AFP.

State of emergency and curfew

The US State Department announced on Monday that the Prime Minister was on his way back to Port-au-Prince.

But according to the Haitian media Radio Télé Métronome, he was unable to land in the capital due to the security situation at the airport.

In response to the violence, the government declared a state of emergency and a three-day nighttime curfew, renewable until Wednesday inclusive.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called this week for “urgent action”, in particular to finance the multinational mission which must “prevent the country from plunging even further into chaos”.

Its representative in the country, Maria Isabel Salvador, will provide an update on the situation by videoconference on Wednesday during the closed meeting of the Security Council.

No date for the arrival of the multinational mission

Due to violence, political crisis and years of drought, 5.5 million Haitians, almost half the population, are in need of humanitarian assistance.

But the UN appeal for donations, for an amount of $674 million for 2024, is only 2.5% funded.

And the new escalation in recent days has forced 15,000 people to flee their homes in Port-au-Prince, according to the UN, which has started to distribute food and basic necessities to them.

After months of procrastination, the UN Security Council finally gave its agreement in October to send a multinational mission to Haiti led by Kenya, which wants to send 1,000 police officers.

But its deployment is still pending, in particular due to a decision by the Kenyan courts.

Read alsoBy taking the lead of an international force in Haiti, Kenya “plays a card”

To speed up implementation, Nairobi and Port-au-Prince signed a bilateral agreement on Friday, but no date has been given for the arrival of the mission.

At the end of February, five other countries, including Benin with more than 1,500 men, had officially notified their intention to participate in the field mission.

With AFP

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