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Gangster attacks mean Haiti's main international airport is closed. As a result, PM Ariel Henry, who was abroad, could not return to his country. Photo/REUTERS
PORT AU PRINCE – An attack by armed gangsters has closed Haiti's main international airport. As a result, Prime Minister (PM) Ariel Henry, who was visiting abroad, could not return to his country.
Apart from serving as PM, Henry has also served as Acting President (Plt) since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021—which sparked major unrest in the country.
Gangsters had previously attacked Haiti's main prison and freed nearly 4,000 inmates.
As of midday Wednesday, PM Henry remained in Puerto Rico, where he landed the day before after he was barred from landing in the neighboring country; Dominican Republic, as officials there closed airspace to flights to and from Haiti.
Locked abroad for now, Henry appears to be facing impasse as more and more officials call for his resignation.
Who is Ariel Henry?
PM Henry is a 74 year old neurosurgeon who trained and worked in the south of France. He became involved in Haitian politics in the early 2000s, when he became a leader of the movement opposing President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
After Aristide was overthrown, Henry became a member of the United States-backed council that helped select a transitional government.
In June 2006, he was named director general of Haiti's Ministry of Health and later chief of staff, helping manage the government's response to the devastating earthquake in 2010.
In 2015, he was appointed minister of the interior and territorial communities and was responsible for overseeing Haiti's security and domestic policy.