Haitian Rebel Leader Guy Philippe Declares Victory in Move to Oust Government of Prime Minister Ariel Henry

PORT AU-PRINCE, Haiti – The leader of the so-called peaceful “Revolution”, Guy Philippe, is calling for unity among all Haitians after declaring that the move to oust the “illegitimate and blood thirsty government” of Prime Minister Dr. Ariel Henry has been successful.

Soldier on guard in the Haitian capittal, Port au Prince“To all those who have been illegally and unjustly arrested and detained because they demand change in their country; to all those who have been injured and hospitalized, as a result of the actions of the bloodthirsty government, which unleashed its assassins, with a mission to massacre, to kill…, I ask you to hold on,” Philippe said in a statement published here.

According to the statement, a copy of which has been obtained by the Haitian-Caribbean News Network (HCNN), a partner of the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC), Philippe, who led the 2004 coup d’etat against then president Jean Bertrand Aristide, said “Justice will be done."

“The henchmen, the assassins, responsible for all the crimes and abuses, will pay! When the time comes, they will pay,” he insisted, saying that there are efforts to prevent the complete removal of the Henry government from office.

“The system panicked, it received a hard blow, but it is changing strategy. We must also change our strategy. We must monitor them. The system wants to resurrect, it wants to regenerate, but we will not allow that to happen. We will remain vigilant. We will watch them,” he said in the statement.

But the government in a statement on Thursday said it would extend a state of emergency in its Ouest Department, the seat of the capital city, for another month as it seeks to regain control of the troubled French-speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country.

A declaration published in the official Gazette said the state of emergency would extend until April 3, with a nightly curfew until March 11 and that this was in order to “reestablish order and take appropriate measures to retake control of the situation.”

The authorities had first announced the state of emergency and curfew on Sunday evening as fighting escalated and the criminal gangs allowed for thousands of inmates to be freed from two of the main prisons here.

Prime Minister Henry remains stranded in Puerto Rico after having travelled first to Guyana to attend the CARICOM summit and then Kenya where he signed an agreement allowing for the UN Security Council sanctioned international force led by the African country to restore peace and security in his troubled country.

CARICOM on Wednesday said it has not been “able to reach any form of consensus” regarding the situation in Haiti despite working on the issue over the past three days.

“Despite of many, many meetings we have not yet been able to reach any form of consensus between the government and respective stakeholders in the opposition, the private sector, civil society and religious organisations, CARICOM Chairman and Guyana’s President Dr. Irfaan Ali said in a video statement.

Meanwhile, the United States has denied reports that it is moving to “push” Henry into resigning.

“We are not we are definitely not pushing the prime minister to resign that is not what we’re doing but we have underscored that now is the time to finalize a political Accord to help set Haiti on a path to a better future and that is something that we’ve been working on for some time,” said White House Press Secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre.

“We’ve been working that on that with the CARICOM so that is nothing new we’ve had those conversations and also the Haitian Partners on the path to restoring Democratic order in Haiti through free and fair elections, inclusive governance and power sharing this will give the people the an opportunity to democratically elect their prime minister,” she added.

Philippe, 56, who served time in a US federal prison between 2017 to 2023, said the removal of the present regime under Henry, who came to power following the July  2021 assassination of President Jovennel Moise ,”is the only way to guarantee that we will have access to the fairer and more egalitarian Haiti that we demand.

“We must send a clear message, nationally and internationally, to tell them that we are tired. The break is over, the disorder is over!,” said Philippe, who was a presidential candidate in the 2006 Haitian general election, receiving nearly four per cent of the votes.

“It is high time that those who have really worked are rewarded. It should not be the other way around! All Haitians must be able to taste the sweetness of the country. If the country is paradise, it should be a paradise for all of us, ” he added.

Philippe, who has been taken over as the head of the so-called Presidential Council on Tuesday, said he believes that “all children must be able to live in peace, they must be able to go to school, eat their fill, everyone must be able to live with dignity, in all decency

“We are a small country, but we can live at home like human beings. To all Haitians struggling abroad, whether in Chile, Brazil, the United States, the Dominican Republic and elsewhere, I tell you to hold on. Be confident, one day Haiti will get better.

“Whether you are in Europe, Asia or America, you will soon find the Haiti we are looking for. However, we must remain vigilant. The mobilization must continue. We shouldn’t give up.

“They want to slow us down, put us to sleep, we will not let it happen. The movement must continue everywhere. All Haitians from disadvantaged neighborhoods, ghettos and advantaged areas, in Pétion-Ville and everywhere. Don’t give up, Philippe said in the statement, adding “the country needs all its children to come together to move forward, so that we can build the Haiti that we all dream of”.