As gangs largely rule Haiti's capital of Port-au-Prince, Prime Minister Ariel Henry tries to return home to an increasingly tumultuous situation that recently saw gangs stage a prison attack that resulted in the 4,000 inmates being freed and an attack on the country's international airport.
As of this week, Henry remained in Puerto Rico after being forbidden from landing in the neighboring Dominican Republic. Authorities in DR closed their airspace to all fights going to and from Haiti.
Henry left Haiti in February to attend a four-day summit in Guyana organized by Caricom, a regional trade bloc.
He then traveled to Kenya and spoke with President William Ruto, pressing the urgency for an international security force to be led by the country.
Henry appears to be stuck as various numbers of former allies in Haiti are now calling for his resignation. 74-year-old Ariel Henry was trained as a neurosurgeon in France got involved in politics in the early 2000s and joined the opposition against then-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
After the removal of the former president, Henry became a member of the council that was formed to help facilitate a transitional government. This council was sponsored by the United States.
In June 2006, he was named director-general of Haiti's Ministry of Health and later became its chief of staff, helping to manage the government's response to a devastating 2010 earthquake.
Haiti is currently in an extended state of emergency with night curfews meant to curtail and repel gang attacks.
Henry was installed as prime minister shortly after the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse's party likely thought Henry would bring credibility and some kind of constituency, said Brian Concannon, executive director of the U.S.-based nonprofit Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti.
"It seems to me he must have been a pretty big figure. Presidents don't just pick random people," he said.
The Prime Minister faced calls for his resignation ever since he was sworn in with international backing.
Among his political opponents are gangs vying for political power and Haitians who are angry that free general elections have not been held in nearly 10 years.
They also feel like he does not represent the people because he was not elected by the people. Concannon noted that Henry has served the longest single term of any Haitian prime minister since the country's 1987 constitution was established.
"He was not appointed through any recognized Haitian procedure," Concannon said. "He was basically installed by the Core Group."
The Core Group was established by a UN resolution and is comprised of diplomats from Germany, Brazil, Canada, Spain, the United States, France, and the European Union as well as representatives from the United Nations and the Organization of American States.
Last year, more than 8,400 people were reported killed, injured, or kidnapped, more than double the number reported in 2022.
