Port-au-Prince, March 4 (RHC)-- Haiti has declared a 72-hour state of emergency after armed groups stormed two of the country’s largest prisons, freeing as many as 4,000 inmates.  

The jailbreak came as Haiti’s unelected and deeply unpopular Prime Minister Ariel Henry was visiting Kenya to sign an agreement that would allow the deployment of 1,000 Kenyan police officers to Haiti as part of a U.S.-backed security plan. 

One of the most powerful gang leaders in Haiti, Jimmy Chérizier, who is known as "Barbecue," has openly threatened to topple Ariel Henry, who has ruled Haiti with the backing of the U.S. since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021.