Haitian-American leaders call on Biden to dump Prime Minister Ariel Henry

A group of Haitian-American elected officials is calling on President Biden to withdraw support for a Kenya-led peacekeeping mission in Haiti, which they say will bolster Prime Minister Ariel Henry’s grip on power.

The National Haitian-American Elected Officials Network and Family Action Network Movement on Friday wrote Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken with the request.

“Any military intervention supporting Haiti’s corrupt, repressive, unelected regime will likely exacerbate its current political crisis to a catastrophic one,” they wrote.

“If your Administration were to withdraw its support for Ariel, he would have been forced to negotiate with Haitian civil society and other groups toward a peaceful solution to Haiti’s current political crisis,” wrote the groups.

The groups also called for U.S. authorities to enhance their efforts to avoid weapons trafficking to Haiti.