section_path: History (since 2023)/2024/Ousting of Ariel Henry
section_name: Ousting of Ariel Henry
paragraph_text: Ousting of Ariel Henry
  
  Starting in January 2024, after his deportation following release from a US prison, former senator Guy Philippe, with the support of an armed militia gone rogue—the Brigade de sécurité des aires protégées (BSAP) —led protests demanding the resignation of Ariel Henry.
  
  On 26 January, a judge from Kenya's High Court halted the deployment of Kenyan peace-keepers to Haiti, on the grounds that the National Security Council lacked authority to send police officers abroad. The Kenyan government said it would appeal the ruling, offering to circumvent the High Court's earlier ruling.
  
  On 25 February 2024, Michel Patrick Boisvert assumed interim leadership of the Haitian government while Prime Minister Henry traveled to Kenya to negotiate the deployment of Kenyan police forces to Haiti.
  
  On 29 February, a wave of violence broke out in Haiti —gunfire was directed at the main airport and many businesses in the area and two police stations were seized —fueling speculation that an alliance between rival gangs was forming to overthrow the government. Gang leader Jimmy Chérizier released a video saying that the goal of the operation was to prevent Henry from returning to Haiti. Chérizier was said to have the support of other gangs as part of a newly-formed "Viv Ansanm" ("live together") coalition; though that coalition was quick to dissolve, other gangs still launched attacks together with Chérizier's G9 gang. Gangs stormed jails after diversionary attacks on police stations, resulting in thousands of inmates being freed. As the security situation in Port-au-Prince deteriorated, on 3 March interim prime minister Boisvert issued a state of emergency. More than 160,000 people were displaced within the capital metropolitan area, which was effectively under siege by the gang alliance. Looting at the main port put at risk 300 containers filled with lifesaving foreign aid. On 5 March, with the Port-au-Prince airport shut down by gang attacks, Henry's chartered plane was also prevented from landing in Santo Domingo, and was diverted to San Juan, Puerto Rico. Over the next days US military airlifted out its embassy personnel and the European Union evacuated all diplomatic staff from Haiti. After the 8 March attack on the National Palace, schools and government offices remained closed in the capital amid continuing attacks on police stations, hospitals, and courthouses.
  
  On 11 March 2024 Henry announced that he would resign and that a transitional council (whose membership would be determined in Jamaica at an emergency CARICOM meeting) would select an interim prime minister. The Kenyan government suspended the deployment of peace-keepers until a new Haitian government was in place. Michel Patrick Boisvert was named interim prime minister by Henry and the Council of Ministers, and the Transitional Presidential Council began to assemble in Kingston.