KINGSTON, Jamaica (NEWSnet/AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is scheduled to meet with Caribbean leaders Monday in Jamaica as part of an effort to solve Haiti’s spiraling crisis.

Monday’s meeting was organized by members of a regional trade bloc known as Caricom, who for months have pressed for a transitional government in Haiti as protests demanded Prime Minister Ariel Henry’s resignation.

Henry has been locked out of his own country amid the surging violence at home; and pressure has been increasing on him to resign or agree to a transitional council.

“The international community must work together with Haitians towards a peaceful political transition,” U.S. Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian Nichols wrote on X, formerly Twitter. Nichols is among those who will attend the meeting.

“Whilst we are making considerable progress, the stakeholders are not yet where they need to be,” Caricom said in a statement Friday announcing the urgent meeting in Jamaica.

Attacks by powerful gangs on key government targets began Feb. 29 across Haiti's capital of Port-au-Prince. Gunmen have burned police stations, closed the main international airports and raided the country's two biggest prisons, releasing more than 4,000 inmates.

Scores of people have been killed, and more than 15,000 people are homeless after fleeing neighborhoods raided by gangs. Food and water are dwindling as stands and stores selling to impoverished Haitians run out of goods. The main port in Port-au-Prince remains closed, stranding dozens of containers with critical supplies.

Henry arrived in Puerto Rico last week after being denied entry into the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti.

When the attacks began, Henry was in Kenya pushing for the U.N.-backed deployment of a police force from the East African country that has been delayed by a court ruling.

A growing number of people are demanding the resignation of Henry, who has not issued any public comment since the attacks began.

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