Coup Atlas Research Database
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04103042024SuccessfulDissident coup

Haiti, 2024 — dissident coup

Haiti (HTI)Caribbean, AmericasMarch 4, 2024

Event Summary

In early March 2024 a coordinated uprising by an alliance of powerful armed gangs in Haiti seized control of much of the capital Port-au-Prince and forced Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who was stranded abroad, to agree to resign. Henry, a neurosurgeon, had become acting prime minister after the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise and had governed unelected, repeatedly delaying elections while gangs expanded until they controlled an estimated 80 percent of the capital. The trigger came while Henry was in Kenya finalizing a deal for a UN-backed multinational police force: a gang coalition calling itself Viv Ansanm, led by former police officer Jimmy Cherizier, known as Barbecue, launched a wave of attacks on state institutions, storming police stations, torching buildings, assaulting the main airport and seaport, and breaking open the two largest prisons, freeing several thousand inmates.

Cherizier openly said the aim was to overthrow Henry's government. With the airport paralyzed, Henry could not return, and a plan to land via the Dominican Republic was refused. Under intense pressure, on 11 to 12 March he announced from Puerto Rico that he would resign once a transitional council was installed.

A nine member Transitional Presidential Council was formed to name a new prime minister and steer toward elections. Henry never returned.

Researched Details

Researched

Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.

Target identified in Coup Atlas research: PM Ariel Henry, forced to resign while stranded abroad as a gang uprising seized the capital; he could not return and remained in exile
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Ariel Henry (prime minister forced out)
Jimmy Cherizier / Barbecue (gang alliance leader)
the Viv Ansanm gang coalition

Sources

Prime Minister Ariel Henry said he would resign after weeks of mounting chaos in which gangs attacked government structures, saying his government would leave power after the establishment of a transitional council, while gangs controlled 80 percent of Haiti's capital according to UN estimates.
SOURCE REVIEWED CNN open source ↗
The Viv Ansanm gang coalition announced itself by besieging the Haitian capital in early 2024, triggering former Prime Minister Ariel Henry's resignation; an initial wave of attacks targeted the airport, presidential palace, prisons, seaports, and police stations, and with Henry blocked from returning, political groups and foreign diplomats convened to create a new transitional government.
SOURCE REVIEWED International Crisis Group open source ↗
One gang leader, Jimmy Barbecue Cherizier, took credit for an attack on Haiti's largest prison that freed some 3,500 inmates and said the jailbreak was an attempt to overthrow Henry's government, warning that if Henry did not step down it would lead to civil war.
SOURCE REVIEWED CNN open source ↗
Henry, who came to power unelected in 2021 following the assassination of President Jovenel Moise and failed to hold elections, was in Kenya to sign an agreement for Kenyan police officers when the violence erupted, was unable to return to Haiti as the security situation deteriorated around the Port-au-Prince airport, and abandoned a plan to travel via the Dominican Republic after it refused his plane permission to land.
SOURCE REVIEWED CNN open source ↗

Editorial Note

Coded fate fled the country is verified: Henry was stranded abroad (Kenya, then Puerto Rico), could not return, and resigned in exile. The dataset codes this a dissident coup on 03-04 (the date the gang assault, including the prison breaks around 03-02 to 03-03, decisively trapped Henry abroad; his resignation announcement came 03-11 to 03-12). The dissident coup label is apt and unusual: this was not a military or palace coup but an armed non-state gang alliance (Viv Ansanm) overthrowing the government by seizing the capital. Handled carefully given that framing. Ties to Haiti's chronic instability already in the dataset (2004 and earlier records) and to the unresolved aftermath of Moise's 2021 assassination.

Cross-Reference

Only one dataset carries it. One of the three reference datasets we check against carries this event; the others do not list it. That is not a contradiction — the datasets cover different periods and use different thresholds — but it means the record has had less outside corroboration.

Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:

Cline Center id
04103042024

How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.

Outcome and Target

Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: PM Ariel Henry, forced to resign while stranded abroad as a gang uprising seized the capital; he could not return and remained in exile.

Baseline coding: Incumbent executive removed from power. Recorded leader fate: deposed; fled the country. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.

Baseline Dataset Citation
Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset, v2.2.2
Peyton, Buddy, Joseph Bajjalieh, Michael Martin, and Andrea Gerald. 2026. Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset. Cline Center for Advanced Social Research. V.2.2.2. February 17. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. doi: 10.13012/B2IDB-9651987_V10
Open dataset DOI ↗
⚑ This citation establishes the coded baseline record; use the claim-level sources above for the researched narrative.

Baseline Source-Document Entries

ABC News

“It’s Not Just Gang Violence Surging in Haiti. It’s a Rebellion: Analysis,” March 6, 2024

The Guardian

“Haiti’s Weekend of Violence Puts Government Future in Doubt,” March 4, 2024

USA Today

“Haiti in State of Emergency as Gangs Overtake Prisons, PM Struggles to Get UN Peacekeepers,” March 4, 2024

This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →

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Related Records

Haiti — Dissident coup, 20212021-02-07ConspiracyCaribbeanHaiti — Dissident coup, 20012001-12-17AttemptedCaribbeanHaiti — Dissident coup, 20002000-10-16AttemptedCaribbean