By Steven Aristil and Sarah Morland
PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) -The United States said on Wednesday it was calling on Haiti Prime Minister Ariel Henry to expedite a political transition as armed gangs seek his ouster amid a collapse in security and a humanitarian crisis.
Henry, Haiti's unelected interim leader, has been in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico since Tuesday, apparently unwilling or unable to return to his country.
"We are not calling on him or pushing for him to resign, but we are urging him to expedite the transition," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters.
Miller said the U.S. was seeking "an empowered and inclusive governance structure that will move with urgency to help the country prepare for a multinational security support mission," and pave the way for free elections.
The long-delayed security mission was first requested by Henry in 2022 to help fight the increasingly powerful gangs and was ratified by the United Nations last year.
There is no set deployment date for the mission, but the U.S. ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said on Wednesday that Washington hoped "that action will take place quickly." Financial contributions for the force have fallen well below what the UN had estimated was needed.
Jimmy Cherizier, alias Barbeque, who leads a broad alliance of criminal gangs in Port-au-Prince, has signaled the gangs could fight the proposed mission as a united front.
He said he had doubled the number of gunmen near Port-au-Prince's international airport.
"If Ariel Henry doesn't step down, if the international community continues to support Ariel Henry, they will lead us directly into a civil war that will end in genocide," Cherizier said at a press conference on Tuesday.
He added that a broad alliance of gangs known as Viv Ansanm (Living Together) were fighting to annex strategic areas to allow them to oust Henry "as quickly as possible," and that his international backers would be to blame for Haitians who die.
Henry, in power but unelected since the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in 2021, has postponed promised elections, saying security must first be established for a free and fair vote. He set up a political transition council known as the HCT over a year ago, but opponents say they are being left out of the process.
The Miami Herald reported on Wednesday that Henry's resignation had been discussed by Caribbean leaders in a call on Tuesday with figures from Haiti's opposition, prompting mixed reactions.
The Caribbean Community's (CARICOM) secretary general did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
'BEYOND UNTENABLE'
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk called for the "urgent deployment, with no further delay" of the planned security force.
"The reality is that, in the current context, there is no realistic alternative available to protect lives," Turk said. "This situation is beyond untenable for the people of Haiti."
According to the U.N., some 36,000 have fled their homes inside Haiti while close to 1,200 have been killed and nearly 700 injured since the start of this year.
There are widespread reports of rape, torture and ransom kidnappings in gang-controlled areas, while the conflict has cut off access routes for food, medical services and humanitarian aid.
"Each passing day brings new deprivations and horrors to the people of Haiti," the head of the U.N.'s children agency Catherine Russell said, pointing to collapsing social services and a crippled aid response.
"The Haitian population is caught in the crossfire," she said.
The Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, has upped its border security and on Wednesday said trade flows were smaller than usual but operating normally under military surveillance. The country last year deported tens of thousands of Haitian migrants and has said it will not allow Haitian refugee camps in its territory.
According to flight tracking data, the plane Henry traveled on departed from New Jersey and was diverted near the Dominican Republic before landing in Puerto Rico on Tuesday.
Dominican authorities said the U.S. and Haiti had informally requested Henry's plane make an "indefinite stopover" in their territory, and they had replied this was "impossible" without receiving a definite flight plan.
They said while they planned to cooperate to help restore normalcy to Haiti, "it is imperative that any action taken does not compromise our national security."
Haitian news outlet Vant Bef reported that Guy Philippe, a former coup leader who was recently deported from the United States after serving a prison term on drug trafficking charges, was seeking to become leader.
He is backed by a rogue environmental brigade that has evolved into a paramilitary group known as BSAP. Local media reported the group is staffed with former soldiers who fought with Philippe in 2004 to oust ex-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
The United Nations Security Council is due to meet behind closed doors on Haiti later on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Harold Isaac and Steven Aristil in Port-au-Prince, Sarah Morland in Mexico City, Ricardo Aruengo and Ivelisse Rivera in San Juan, Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber in Geneva, Humeyra Pamuk in Washington and Michelle Nichols at the United Nations; Editing by Will Dunham and Rosalba O'Brien)
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