Haiti's recent national collapse.
Unrest in Haiti - (NPR, 2024)
Today, the Caribbean island of Haiti is known for its beauty, Creole culture, and historic levels of humanitarian crises. Haiti is a nation that, in the last two decades, has been plagued by continuous economic and political crises. Alongside the often dangerous and unstable situation, Haiti has been hit by continuous deadly storms and hurricanes that devastate the nation every few years. These factors have resulted in a nation broken, divided, and destroyed from within.
Since its independence from France in 1804, Haiti has struggled with successive unstable governments ranging from monarchies to revolutionary republics. France and various other colonial nations attempted many times to stabilize the country but to no avail. In particular, French involvement in the country was often seen as hostile and racist, resulting in staunch resistance from the people of Haiti. This resistance would continue until the United States occupied the nation from 1915 to 1934. Under American influence, Haiti did develop but also experienced enormous political oppression. Following this, Duvalier would swiftly take control of the country well into the 80s. This period of dictatorship in Haiti was one of the most violent and oppressive, and the following years after his rule would prompt international outrage.
In the early 90s, the UN founded UNMIH. UNMIH was a stabilization and peacekeeping mission in Haiti that sought to stabilize the country after decades of violence and instability. A successive amount of defeats and UN failures in Haiti prompted the founding of MINUSTAH in 2004. The UN, the USA, and other nations have attempted to build up the country, but very few tactics have succeeded. Haiti's unique diversity and cultural divisions have caused combatting a significant amount of gang violence, corruption, and democratic backsliding nearly impossible. These issues have resulted in a weakened economy, no capability to prevent natural disasters from destroying the nation, and a tense and often violent relationship with the Dominican Republic.
These factors have led up to today, where Haiti is facing a state of emergency due to mass gang violence spreading in order to take over the nation and overthrow the current government. "This time, he says, the gangs in Haiti have forged an alliance and at least one of the big gang leaders, Jimmy Chérizier, who is nicknamed Barbecue, has said explicitly that the point of this violence is to overthrow the government." (NPR, 2024). This situation is worsened by a Prime Minister (Ariel Henry) not currently present in the tiny island nation. He recently attended a discussion with Kenyan politicians regarding a multination UN force being sent to Haiti to stabilize the country. This timing has meant that the Kenyan UN position is now pressured to send the force immediately, despite solid skepticism.
UN success in the country has been minimal due to a lack of funding, lack of personnel, and weak military strategies being employed. With this in mind, there is little hope for the Kenyan force in Haiti despite it still being the best option. With no Western interest in military action on the island. The UN's position with Kenya remains the sole likely response, although this recent increase in violence doubts this. A lack of democratic strength, a weak army, and a massive amount of corruption have meant the response to the gang violence has been uncoordinated. This all brings back memories of the 2021 Haitian President's (Jovenel Moïse) assassination, which threw the nation into turmoil back in 2021-2022.
Haiti is a story of international failure to respond, post-colonial mismanagement, American and French oppression, cultural violence, and a massive amount of democratic backsliding issues. These problems, combined with mass humanitarian issues and environmental dangers, have left little room for the nation to develop. Haiti's situation today is a complex set of historical issues culminating in the nation's collapse. As the future looks highly uncertain for Haiti and the Prime Minister's whereabouts are unclear, the Haitian nation looks onward through an uncertain lens as the world waits for the UN and Kenya to decide on military action.
Bibliography
Al Jazeera. 2024. “Wyclef Jean Sings Haiti’s Prime Minister ‘Ariel’s Gotta Go’’.” Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/program/newsfeed/2024/3/5/wyclef-jean-sings-haitis-prime-minister-ariels-gotta (March 5, 2024).
COTO, DÁNICA. 2024. “There’s Chaos in Haiti. Powerful Gangs Are Attacking Key Targets like Prisons as Alliances Shift.” AP News. https://apnews.com/article/haiti-violence-prison-break-curfew-6341d1cda5f02f6c66d351ad2d206e7b (March 5, 2024).
Coupeau, Steeve. 2008. The History of Haiti. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
Dash, J. Michael. 2008. Culture and Customs of Haiti. Greenwood Pub Group.
Dubois, Laurent. 2013. Haiti: The Aftershocks of History. New York: Picador.
Haitian prime minister’s whereabouts unknown amid plunge into chaos. https://www.ft.com/content/503019d1-b28b-4de4-9c6c-9a0a6bed124a (March 5, 2024).
“MINUSTAH Peacekeeping.” United Nations. https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/mission/minustah (March 5, 2024).
Peralta, Eyder. 2024. “3 Things to Know about the Current Crisis in Haiti.” NPR. https://www.npr.org/2024/03/05/1235903704/haiti-crisis (March 5, 2024).
Trouillot, Michel-Rolph. 1990. Haiti, State Against Nation: The Origins and Legacy of Duvalierism. New York: Monthly Review Press.
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