In the middle of the night on July 7, a group of armed men stormed the home of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse and shot him dead. The reckless killing shocked Haitians. While it is not clear who identified the killers and why, there are already references to the Colombian military, the US security company and various Moïse opponents in the country.
The president was unpopular and during an undisclosed period, he tried to extend his term in office. In the coming weeks, the Haitian people will face a series of political upheavals, killings, and violence.
Meanwhile, international journalists have described this as another period of “chaos” in Haiti’s “troubled” politics, while foreign powers – the United States and the United Nations – will also seek to “stabilize” the country. The problem with this case is that it tells the story of a foreign security force, where Haitians are made to pay for their own rights, and spend more than good.
History of external intervention
It seems difficult to talk about Moïse’s assassination and its consequences unrelated to “chaos”, “chaos”, “poverty” and “corruption”. The editor of The New York Times described the event as follows: “A recent political crisis in Haiti threatened to escalate the unrest on Thursday when a power struggle between two rival ministers ended the dispute after the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.”
Such publications promote the idea that Haitians are incapable of governing themselves and that what is happening in the country is the result of corruption, inefficiency, and lack of self-control. Seeing the events unfold only through the “permanent unrest”, however, leaves a long history of foreign intervention that has severely disrupted the war on democracy in Haiti.
On August 22, 1791, an uprising against African slaves began in what is now known as the French colony of Saint-Domingue. For more than a decade, black reformers opposed colonial rule and on January 1, 1804, Haiti became the first black self-governing group of Americans in the United States.
But this did not please the defeated colonial rulers, France, who continued to try to restore colonial rule in Haiti. In 1825, under threat of another war in France, the Haitian government, led by President Jean-Pierre Boyer, agreed to reimburse France for its independence, resulting in further economic instability.
But it did not stop there, Haiti’s political regime was not fully respected by its powerful neighbor, the US, too.
For decades, Washington tried to establish a base in Haiti, trying to control its ports or market buildings but was opposed to Haiti. In the early 20th century, they regularly sent naval forces into Haiti’s waters, and in 1914, the US Marines landed in Haiti and forced them to move to Haiti National Bank, where they took $ 500,000 and shipped to New York. The following year, US envoys asked the Haitian government for “protection” of the US government, which was rejected.
After the assassination of Haitian President Jean Vilbrun Guillaume in July 1915, US President Woodrow Wilson sent U.S. troops into the country. They lived for 19 years, when the US government condemned racism under Jim Crow, restricted freedom of the press and violence against Haitians.
The foreign intervention, however, did not end when the US military withdrew from Haiti in 1934. In the 1980’s, the country changed from dictatorial to democratic, but in the next 30 years, the president changed 20 times.
In 1990, Jean-Bertrand Aristide became the first democratically elected President of Haiti. Less than a year later, he was acquitted, with the CIA taking part. In 1994, he returned to Haiti under the leadership of the US military. Aristide was re-elected in 2000, but was forced back after another coup, which he believes is controlled by foreign powers.
Aristide’s story is a good example of how US intervention disrupted democracy in Haiti. As Jemima Pierre, a professor of anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles, puts it: “The US is responsible for the collapse of Haiti’s democracy and the destruction of Haitian rule since 2004.”
After the revolt against Aristide, Haiti again became embroiled in a foreign war. Meanwhile the UN, which sent peacekeepers to the Caribbean, realized that “what is happening in Haiti [constituted] threats to international peace and security in the region “.
With a $ 200m budget, it sent thousands of foreign troops and police, who did nothing to solve the country’s problems and eventually led to a deadly cholera epidemic and many sexual crimes.
According to Mamyrah Prosper, a professor of Africana Study at Davidson College, the UN has also stepped up security: “United Nations has come [in Haiti] for 17 years but in those 17 years and those years we have more guns in the area than ever before. ”
Failure of support companies
The succession of unstable governments over the past few decades and the US economy have severely limited Haiti’s ability to provide services to its citizens. The 2010 earthquake, followed by the cholera epidemic, devastated the country and revived development projects. The government struggled to help with the massive destruction and seizure.
As a result, Haiti, which even before the earthquake was a relief center, found itself in the midst of a major humanitarian effort. More than $ 13bn in aid and donations were poured into the country, including development projects funded by US agencies and loans from neighboring Latin American countries.
Instead of helping to rebuild the country and provide opportunities for the people of Haiti, global development efforts have failed to change for the better.
In the aftermath of the quake, Bill and Hillary Clinton became the two leading leaders in development in Haiti, believing that the “solution” to the country’s crisis is attracting the investment of multinational corporations. He was involved in the establishment of Caracol, a parks park, aimed at promoting economic development through the design and development of infrastructure. Ten hundred million dollars later, the project is not as close to where it was sold; the port development section was left though.
Similarly, USAID lost $ 4.4bn after the quake, but the effects were not immediately clear. As reported by Jake Johnston, a researcher at the US-Center for Economic and Policy Research, only 2% of the funds went directly to Haitian agencies, with most of them going to US contractors.
Of course, this does not mean that Haitian authorities also did not participate in the squandering and waste of aid, which disrupted humanitarian and development activities.
For example, between 2008 and 2016, PetroCaribe, a Venezuelan program that paid for development funding across the Caribbean, accounted for nearly $ 4bn for more than 400 programs in Haiti. But much of the money was stolen, with no major development developments being achieved.
Restoring Haiti’s sovereignty
After Moïse’s assassination, the next prime minister, Claude Joseph, announced his resignation. However, he was vehemently opposed by Ariel Henry, who was appointed Prime Minister by the Moïse on July 5, to replace Joseph. Senate President Joseph Lambert has also demanded power.
Political tensions are exacerbated by the lack of a Labor Parliament – which ended after Moïse delayed elections last year, citing the COVID-19 epidemic – and the Supreme Court weakened by the recent death of their president.
Elections are set to take place in September and many Haitians are worried about the outcome of the vote. Violent perpetrators in Haiti want transparent and unfair decisions – without outside intervention.
The people of Haiti have the opportunity to lead their country in the right direction. Throughout history, they have walked the streets to judge their leaders, even when confronted by bullets and sticks. Demonstrations have been an integral part of democracy in Haiti. In recent years, the people of Haiti have been demonstrating their right to use their politics and live in dignity, demanding the abolition of the UN government and the Moïse independence movement.
The potential for social change in Haiti is immense, and despite widespread disregard for it, it has not gone unnoticed by black activists around the world. As Ajamu Baraka, a representative of the United States Alliance for Peace, told me in a recent interview: “The important thing is for the people of Haiti to be able to deal with their problems and to be able to deal with their problems once and for all.”
It is time to end the “chaotic” story of Haiti and talk about the past, the future and the future of the country. Foreign powers have been disrupting the country for a long time and have undermined its democratic development. Only by acknowledging this, supporting the Haitian regime and not interfering with the Haitian people in the fight for justice and respect will these regimes establish a reputation. Haiti has every potential to create a better future for itself.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editor of Al Jazeera.
