Canada evacuates embassy in Haiti after gang boss 'Barbecue' issues threat against politicians

Canada evacuated its embassy in Haiti Thursday after gang boss Jimmy "Barbecue" Cherizier issued seemingly threatening statements directed at politicians planning to join a council that would oversee the transfer of power from former Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who stepped down earlier in the week.

"Don't you have any shame?" said Cherizier in a recorded audio message distributed on on WhatsApp Thursday morning. "You have taken the country where it is today. You have no idea what will happen."

"I'll know if your kids are in Haiti, if your wives are in Haiti ... if your husbands are in Haiti," he said in an apparent threat to their families. "If you're gonna run the country all your family ought to be there."

Reuters reports that Cherizier said the resignation of Henry was only "a first step in the battle" for Haiti.

This, along with another surge in gang violence in the middle of the week led Canada to announce a reduction to its embassy staff, leaving only essential employees in the country.

"This will allow us to maintain our presence in Haiti to support Canadians during this volatile situation," Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said in a statement, adding that the embassy was temporarily closed to the public.

A month-long state of emergency, as well as a curfew, was ordered in the country on March 3rd after violent gangs organized attacks in Port-Au-Prince and broke thousands of inmates out of the capital's main 2 prisons.