It is disappointing and infuriating to watch external diplomatic efforts to once again ‘deal with’ Haiti, knowing its history of failed interventions that have hindered its autonomy in the past. Not just for Haitians, but for everyone steeped in the history of Haiti's repeated punishment for daring to become the first symbol of the emancipation of black people.
It is a revolution. yet You pay the price.
This week, headlines about Kenyan soldiers heading to the Western Hemisphere's poorest country once again denounce “Haiti in crisis” and “thugs roam the streets,” while unelected Prime Minister Ariel Henry is in his third year in office. It has arrived. USA
Notably, no elections have been held since the assassination of Prime Minister Jovenel Moïse in July 2021, which brought Henry to the throne.
caribbean problem This is a weekly series from Daily Kos. If you're unfamiliar with the region, see Caribbean Matters: Getting to Know the Caribbean Countries.
In 2022 i wrote “The Caribbean Problem: Intervention or No Intervention? That is the Haiti problem.”
As the world watches, Haiti is in crisis. The country of nearly 11.5 million people is currently experiencing ongoing political unrest, protests against the unelected incumbent Prime Minister Ariel Henry and the PHTK party, protests against the US-backed government, labor strikes, cholera outbreaks, gangs and many more. You are facing a situation. War, food shortage.
Certain sectors of Haiti and the American mainstream media are calling for UN and US intervention. Political scientists, historians, and Haitians who have long observed the country are making compelling arguments warning that outside intervention will not solve the situation and will in fact make it worse.
This week, Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry attended the CARICOM meeting in Guyana.
From the Sunday Associated Press report:
Caribbean leaders met Haiti's embattled Prime Minister Ariel Henry on Sunday to talk about the country's relentless gang violence, with one senior official noting his continued presence as head of government remains a major obstacle to progress.
Bahamas Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell told The Associated Press that Haiti's opposition leaders and other groups oppose Mr. Henry even as the regional trade bloc known as Caricom continues to work to help change the situation in the country.
Mitchell said the international community was also questioning how the country would function if Haiti's prime minister resigned or was removed, adding that “a political solution is needed.”
The Guardian produced a short film last year about the gang situation in Haiti and its history. It's an episode of the outlet's aptly named “It's Complicated” series.
The other perspective is much more critical of America's continued role. Consider the thoughts of Dr. Jemima Pierre, a Haitian-born professor at the University of British Columbia's Institute for Social Justice and a researcher at the Center for the Study of Race, Gender and Class at the University of Johannesburg.
Haiti — Was there a betrayal by CARICOM on behalf of the United States?
If your knowledge of Haiti is derived entirely from stories produced by Western media outlets, you could be forgiven for believing the following statements to be true.
- Haiti, a 'failed state' rife with 'gangster violence', can only regain stability through invasion by foreign troops.
- Haiti has a sovereign government with the legal authority to request a military invasion of the country to 'fight gangs.'
- The United States is acting with the best intentions in Haiti in pushing Kenya and the CARICOM countries to lead a foreign armed invasion of Haiti and is committed to ensuring peace and stability in Haiti and the Caribbean region.
- CARICOM acts in solidarity with the Haitian people and supports Haitian sovereignty.
Neither of these statements are true. And indeed, such statements help obscure not only the motivations for recent calls for foreign intervention in Haiti, but also the nature of Haiti's current political and economic reality and the history of how the country arrived at this moment. But even in the Caribbean, such claims have been repeated and oversaturated in the media, causing much of the world to cheer foreign military intervention in Haiti. The truth is that under the guise of helping Haiti, Haiti's sovereignty and independence are actually being destroyed.
[…]
To understand what is happening in Haiti is to understand how consistent the Western imperial assault on the Haitian people and Haitian sovereignty has been. These attacks reflect the reality that Haiti is currently under foreign occupation and has been for 20 years. This is not an exaggeration.
The only solution to the current crisis in Haiti is to end the current foreign occupation.
Views like Dr. Pierre's are not of much interest here because they are highly critical of the role of the United States and other countries in the chaos in Haiti. Another example is:
“Why is America paying Kenya to clean up the mess we made in Haiti?” Amy Wilentz, a contributing editor at The Nation, recently wrote a scathing examination of the “coercion” for intervention.
I certainly never imagined that Kenya, a country whose name has never exactly been on the lips of every Haitian, would be called upon by the international community to save Haiti from its current predicament. What I wrote is “called up”, but what I really mean is “hired as a mercenary.” This will prevent America from shedding blood in the coming battles.
But in fact, at Haiti's request and with the approval of the United States, Canada and the UN Security Council, Kenya has been asked to send about 1,000 police officers in the coming weeks. The troops, along with 2,000 additional troops from several smaller Caribbean countries, are meant to tame Haiti's 200 gangs, about 95 of which are based in the capital. So once every country joins, 15 people will control each gang.
As my Haitian friend said when discussing the Kenyan plan, there's no fucking chance.
One of the largest of the 200 or so gangs, Mawozo 400 itself has more than 1,000 members.
The Biden administration has pledged to provide $200 million for these pacification efforts, half of which will be appropriated through the Department of Defense and the other half (eventually, probably) by Congress. Kenya's highest court has twice ruled against sending police on various procedural grounds, but Kenyan President William Ruto said this week he plans to send a contingent to Haiti in the coming weeks, if not days.
Supporters of intervention also made their case. The following is Christopher Schell's opinion essay on the Carnegie Endowment from last October.
There is only one viable way forward for Haiti.
The Kenya-led UN peacekeeping mission has many detractors, but there is no alternative that can guarantee the security needed to rebuild the island.
More than two years after the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse, Haiti has lost any semblance of a functional democracy, or even a working nation. Violence is rampant, and Port-au-Prince is rife with murders, kidnappings and feuding gangs that disrupt the flow of humanitarian aid to the island. Under these conditions, which existed even before Moïse's death, progress on economic and political fronts is almost impossible. Moïse has ruled by decree since postponing the 2019 presidential election, and Henry has followed suit. Earlier this year, Haiti's 10 remaining senators left office. There are currently no elected officials in this country.
The UN's multinational security force will be led by Kenya, which has volunteered to send about 1,000 police officers, including officers from Jamaica, the Bahamas and Antigua and Barbuda. The United States has pledged $100 million in logistics support. Although the UN's approval has been derided by some, in part due to the fact that Kenyan police have a history of using excessive force, if done correctly, it could set Haiti in a better direction. Moreover, this iteration of a specialized military has the potential to elevate the status of African states as global mediators and potentially deepen the relationship between the African Union and the African diaspora.
Below is a 5-minute video from France 24 released on February 15th.
From the France 24 video notes:
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said more than 800 people were killed, injured or kidnapped across Haiti in January, more than three times as many as in the same month in 2023. Another approximately 300 gang members were also killed or kidnapped. He suffered the injury last month, he said. He said the intensity of gang clashes, which sometimes last for hours, “may indicate that some gangs have recently received new ammunition.”
Haiti is also recovering from a recent flood of violent protests demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry. Turks say at least 16 people have been killed and about 30 injured in confrontations with police during protests. Meanwhile, group violence is not decreasing. For a deeper dive and deeper perspective on the unprecedented gang violence in Haiti that is decimating the poor Caribbean nation, FRANCE 24 joined Renata Segura, Deputy Director of Latin America and the Caribbean Program at The Crisis Group.
As Reuters reported on the 30th, Kenya appears to be pushing ahead with sending troops despite the Kenyan court's ruling.
Kenyan president continues Haiti mission despite court ruling
Kenya will go ahead with plans to lead a UN-approved security mission to Haiti despite a ban on the deployment by a Nairobi court last week, Kenyan President William Ruto told Reuters on Tuesday.The international force aims to stamp out rampant gang violence in the Caribbean country, which claimed nearly 5,000 lives last year, and will initially be funded by the United States.
Reuters also shared an interview with President Ruto, in which he said the mission could get underway “as early as next week”.
As mentioned above, Henry headed to the CARICOM conference before heading to Kenya. His response at CARICOM was not all-encompassing.
The Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda wants Haiti's interim leader steps forward beside
Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Brown said Monday that Haiti's interim leader, Dr. Ariel Henry, needs to step aside and continue unhindered efforts to find a solution to the country's socioeconomic and political situation.
Browne was one of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders attending the 46th meeting. A regular summit of regional leaders in Guyana, where the Haiti issue has so far dominated the four-day meeting. In a telephone interview with Caribbean Media Corporation, Prime Minister Brown said Henry's presence in the government was “part of the problem” as various stakeholders seek a lasting solution to Haiti's problems, which have grown in the wake of the assassination. He said he believed that. The inauguration of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021 and the emergence of criminal organizations threatening citizens.
“Disrespectfully, my dear friend Henry is part of the problem. “I think there are many people in Haiti who believe that the intervention planned by the stakeholder group is aimed at supporting Henry,” he said.
Haiti's future remains in limbo and there is no immediate solution in sight. Henry was scheduled to arrive in Kenya to finalize the situation. tuesday. We hope that armed intervention will not make the situation worse than it is now.
Join us in the comments for updates and a weekly roundup of Caribbean news.