By Sushil Kutty
A fresh spate of headlines kicked in during the last 24 hours, but ‘Haiti on the brink of collapse’ said it all. Some would say the brink had already fallen off the cliff. At least Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry thought so as his aircraft circled the sky above the tarmac and armed gangs waited below to get hold of him. Henry was chosen interim Prime Minister in 2021, but clung on and wouldn’t make way for a duly elected leader.
Now, a surge of gang violence has led to Henry’s offer to resign the minute another interim Prime Minister is appointed. The United States has offered a fat aid package to aid the transfer of power but the fact remains that the “heavy-handed use of foreign aid” has been the bane of Haitian politics, for which the United States is squarely to blame. It wouldn’t be wrong to stress that Haiti’s ongoing crisis is the United States’ doing.
Recall that the 2010 earthquake devastated Haiti when 200,000 people died, 1.5 million became homeless, and more than $7 billion in damages. The destruction was met with foreign aid. Nearly half the United States’ population donated. But whether the money served its purpose was questioned. Much of the money donated wasn’t for “feeding, sheltering, and supporting the financial recovery” of common Haitians.
Again, Haitian farmers did not ask for foreign seeds but were nevertheless saddled with them. The farmers needed money. Also, the generous foreign dollar donors could have purchased Haitian rice and helped revive the Haitian economy. A reading of the century-long history of foreign aid and Haiti is an eye-opener on how foreign interference has played havoc with Haiti.
The Haitian earthquake turned the course of Haiti’s history. It was from then on that occupation and foreign interference has aided the takeover of Haiti’s destiny. The “US-style intervention” meant Haitian people had lost control of Haiti. The US had taken over Haiti’s “self-determination” out of Haitian hands — the gang violence and the “resignation” of Prime Minister Ariel Henry should be looked at from that prism.
The current crisis draws a fine line between aid and occupation, says an expert. And if Henry’s wilful reluctance was also a reason why Haiti went down the tube, it would be debated if and when he resigns. What’s clear is that in the absence of Henry doing the right thing, cutthroat gangs thrived and Port-au-Prince is now a hellhole with some horrible videos to prove the case.
The Prime Minister said he “would step down” even as there was no end to gang violence. Ariel Henry would recognize some of the gang leaders and there are claims that common Haitians lost faith in Henry shortly after he took charge. Fortunately, Henry was abroad when this latest crisis engulfed the “tiny” Caribbean nation of 11 million inhabitants.
Henry is stranded in Puerto Rico, well out of AK-47 range. Monday night he pledged to resign the minute a “transition council” and a “temporary leader” were in place. Henry forgot that he too was a “temporary leader” at one time. The USA, which maintains an embassy in Port-au-Prince, can only tighten security around the embassy.
Meanwhile, there are reports that temporary council members could be appointed by Thursday. Some Caribbean leaders and United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken held talks in Jamaica and an additional USD 133 million was promised as security and humanitarian aid. Blinken was told that Prime Minister Ariel Henry would ensure an “orderly transfer” of power.
Is it Ariel Henry at his duplicitous best, or the United States talking aid and “occupation” in the same breath? Michel Boisvert, acting Prime Minister, says “No”. Tuesday and Wednesday an uneasy calm prevailed in Port-au-Prince. Streets were quiet. Government offices and police stations were not under attack. The main cargo port reopened and a couple of newspapers dropped editions at doorsteps.
But the airport remained out of orbit although the armed thugs who had taken control of the ATC were gone. Haitian gangs look brutally thuggish and it is not because of the colour of their skin. Gang rebel leader Jimmy ‘Barbecue’ Chérizier told international media Ariel Henry has to resign, period.
The heavily armed gangs now control the country which has no army to call it a force to reckon with. Matthias Pierre, a former minister, was quoted as saying that the police force was weak, and more than 40 police stations were destroyed by the roaming gangs. Currently, gangs occupy most of the Port-au-Prince downtown and some government office complexes.
Pierre said very soon, common citizens will run out of food and medications. Radio Television Caraibes, Haiti’s main news-dispenser, closed broadcast and telecast citing insecurity. Every institution in Haiti has been outgunned and the lucky ones among the inhabitants are finding berths for evacuation, among them United Nations personnel. Haiti is the West’s poorest nation.
Meanwhile, the world was told that Prime Minister Ariel Henry is a neurosurgeon of some note and has been in control of Haiti since 2021 after the assassination of President Jovenel Moise. The 74-year-old Henry was not elected and has been studiously postponing elections, always with the excuse that the country’s security came first and then only his resignation. The United States wants Henry to “accelerate plans for free and fair elections.” Common Haitians are attributing Henry’s decision to resign to “God”. In one statement on ‘X’, a prominent Haitian musician said, “Now I pray for the people of Haiti, let’s show the world that we can take destiny into our own hands.” That is, if the United States stops taking Haiti’s destiny in its hands. (IPA Service)
