“Unfortunately, Barbecue is now the most powerful man in Haiti,” Judes Jonathas, an independent consultant based in Port-au-Prince told the Guardian on Sunday.

“He is a criminal businessman,” said Louis-Henri Mars, director of the Haitian non-profit Lakou Lape.

“In 2020 me and other peace-builders went to see him to ask him to stop his assaults on the Bel Air neighbourhood [in Port-au-Prince] and he made some promises,” Mars added. “But he still continued burning down people’s houses. He listens, but in the end he does what is in his best interest.”

“Given the current situation, the presence of the Haitian prime minister in the Dominican Republic is not considered appropriate,” Abinader said in a statement Saturday. “This decision reflects the firm position of the Dominican government to safeguard its national security and stability.”

Henry retracted his pledge to step down as prime minister in early February, saying that the security of Haiti needed to be re-established to ensure fair elections by 2025.