(CNN) – Gang leader Jimmy Cherizier, also known as “Barbecue,” issued a stark warning Tuesday that if Haiti's Prime Minister Ariel Henry remains in power, “the country will suffer genocide.”
“If Ariel Henry does not resign and the international community continues to support Ariel Henry, they will lead us directly into a civil war that will end in genocide,” Cherizier told Portal in Port-au-Prince on Tuesday. “The international community, particularly the United States, Canada, France and the core group, will be responsible for everyone who dies in Haiti.”
Gang leader Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier and his men in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, March 5, 2024. (Credit: CLARENS SIFFROY/AFP via Getty Images)
Cherizier, a former police officer, said the gangs were fighting to remove Henry “as quickly as possible.”
“Then we will begin the fight against the current system to have the country we want, a Haiti with jobs for all, a Haiti with security, a Haiti with free education, a Haiti without social discrimination, where all people “We can position ourselves to achieve what they want,” he added.