Haiti Then…
On the island of Hispaniola, which includes the present-day nations of Haiti and the
Dominican Republic, Spanish settlers first arrived in 1492 where Christopher Columbus
claimed the north coast for Spain. The Indigenous Taino population was wiped out by
diseases brought by the Europeans, including smallpox and measles.
For the following three centuries, hundreds of thousands of West and Central Africans were
brought from Europe as slave laborers to work on the estates producing sugar, coffee, and
timber. French traders established an outpost on the western third of the island in the early
1600s. The French annexed Saint-Domingue after the Spanish handed over colonial control
of Haiti to them in 1697. Toussaint L'Ouverture and Jean-Jacques Dessalines, both former
slaves, led the Haitian revolution on August 21, 1971. This uprising is regarded as the most
successful slave revolt in modern history. The 12-year-long Haitian Revolution was a brutal
and politically nuanced conflict. In 1804 the slaves won their freedom from France the island
was given the new name of Haiti on January 1st.
For over more than 100 years, the colony of St. Domingue, also known as the Pearl of the
Antilles, was France’s most pivotal overseas territory. This was mainly since the St.
Domingue territory produced a surplus of sugar, rum, coffee, cotton, indigo, exotic wood and
lumber. Therefore, when slavery reached its pinnacle, close to the end of the 18 th century,
about 500,000 people, mostly western Africans, were enslaved by the French. Forging ahead
to the years 1791–1803, a slave insurrection was launched by a Jamaican-born Boukman.
He led a prolonged 13-year war of emancipation against the St. Domingue’s colonists, as well
as, the Napoleon’s army who were also assisted by the Spanish and British forces. It was in
this moment General Toussaint Breda, (Toussaint L’Ouverture) led a remarkable slave revolt,
as he was commander of the slave armies who eventually relinquished the French. It was the
Battle of Vertières that marked the final victory for the slaves over the French colonists.
However, Toussaint L’Ouverture was eventually exiled to France where he succumbed to his
death.
This war prompted the country to be divided between the northern kingdom of Henri
Christophe, and the southern republic which was governed by Alexandre Pétion. Civil wars
enacted throughout the country, and the northern kingdom was troubled with their own
rebellion, which was the impetus for the suicide of Henri Christophe. This then paved the
way for JeanPierre Boyer, who became President, to reunite the country in becoming one
united Republic, in the year 1820.
The Tradition of “Vodou” and its Influence on Haiti’s Crisis
Vodou, as we know it has longed served as the scapegoat for the Haitian multidimensional
crisis. This religious tradition practiced in Haiti arose from the enslaved Western and Central
Africans that were brought to the island of Hispaniola, during the Atlantic Slave Trade.
However, history indicates the actions of many Haitian governments, the Catholic Churches,
and U.S. forces based in Haiti, ostracised Haiti, and banned their “superstitious” practices,
deeming them primitive and offensive. In prohibiting these religious practices, some Haitians
reckoned that this action was a prerequisite for the political marginalisation, social
stigmatisation, and the economic exploitation of the Haitian population.
Haiti Now
Haiti’s history has been a cycle of anguish and revolution, though in recent years it seems
they have been plagued with disruption. In January of 2010, a 7.3 magnitude earthquake left
the country in shambles. By 2016, in the midst of reconstruction, the passage of hurricane
Matthew posed a threat and during this time, Jovenel Moïse was elected as president during
the first round of the election in which no more than 21% of persons took part. It was not out
of the ordinary since the 1980’s for Haitian politicians to be associated with gangs for
protection and to maintain their control, so it was not uncommon for Jovenel to be caught in
many corruption scandals. One of these scandals included the ‘PetroCaribe’ file which
allowed the country to strike a deal to acquire oil and keep 60% of the sale to finance social
projects (to be reimbursed), but the country’s Supreme Court auditors estimated that nearly
three billion dollars of this fund had been embezzled and part of which went to the president.
Due to the continuous dishonesty between the Haitian government and the public violent
protests arose and by 2020 the World Bank reported that 60% of the population lived under
the poverty line and is among the poorest countries in the world today. On July 7th 2021
however, things took a turn for the worst. President Jovenel Moïse was gunned down at his
home overlooking the city of Port Au Prince, and though he wasn’t a great leader, he was the
main one they had and chaos soon ensued.
Christian Emmanuel Sanon, a 63 year old man, was accused of hiring, arming and organising
mercenaries (Colombians and 2 Haitian Americans) to carry out the president’s assassination
because he wanted to “capture the presidency”, according to authorities. Furthermore, a gang
that has a grip on Port Au Prince and ruled their neighborhoods led by Jimmy “Barbecue”
Chérizier was reported to have links with president Jovenel and his death marked a major
blow to his influence in Haiti. Chérizier said at a live press conference “The people will go to
the streets to defend our rights and practice self-defence with legitimate violence. We repeat
again: if they shoot at us, we know what to do, thank you” and deny any sort of ill will to the
public despite other reports. Reports from a mother of a child that had been kidnapped, raped
and murdered by his gang was from a poorer community and sat with a reporter and said this,
“The president gave them guns so now they’re also feeling the pain, you don’t know when
you’ll get hit by a stray bullet. Only God can save you here”.
Haiti has become a rebellious state and may even be considered the most lawless place on
Earth. Since 2021, it has no political institution or structure, meaning there is no president,
just an interim prime minister named Ariel Andrei who has nothing ratified by the law. Ariel
is seen by the Haitian public as an illegitimate leader and the government has failed to hold
parliamentary and municipal decisions to renew the mandate. Much of the country has since
become lawless and civilians have been caught in the middle. Gangs have plagued the
country, seizing hold of communities and causing a shift in how persons can live but now
these people are fighting to defend their homes. Armed with machetes, men in these villages
have been charging and chasing gangs out of communities, inclusive of lynching and burning
bodies in the name of retaliation. What’s the solution now? “Returning violence for violence
multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars”- Martin Luther
King Jr.
Will Haiti Find Stability or Will Civil War Ensue?
With understanding Haiti’s history would you still consider the state the nation is in as an act
of civil war? Or is it fair to say that the nation is in an act of survival? According to a recent
news segment various issues have developed over the period in Haiti, as the interference of
foreign nations continues. After being dealt an unimaginable debt just after gaining their
independence, to natural disasters tearing apart the country they have yet to find a way to
really spend time and focus on civil rights. The country has been trying to aid its people with
things that are essential to their survival such as food, water and shelter. With doing so they
have been stretched thin and started lacking in other areas of its people's needs. These
includes protection from violence, raping, vandalising, failed economics system, poor
security forces and a limited access to foods.
For any nation to survive successfully, they must first have a leader that was democratically
chosen by its people and make decisions in the effort of growing its nation and not self-gain.
As it is now in Haiti, they do not have a president that leads the nation, they have an
unelected Prime Minister that is said to be in need of political justice according to The
Newsmakers. Effects that contributed from a lack of a strong governing body, is the alarming
rate for violence in the country even though they do not produce their own firearms. Which
simply means that they are being supplied by a foreign country. Violence was a major topic
in the news segment as the Haitian refuses to be disciplined by a foreigner in its own country.
Leading to them rebelling, this act eventually became gangs wanting to have some sort of
dictation over its people leaving non-gang members to start protecting the woman and kids as
they became prey. Overall, the rate of violence has increased by 28% in the first quarter of
2023.
The struggle that Haiti is facing is a domino effect of its failing political system. Lack of
support from the security forces led to a line of destruction in the island, vandalizing became
common as the economic system deteriorated. Leading to an increase in luting, theft, poverty
and even human trafficking. Needless to say, that for Haiti to return to the once-wealthy
country it was, it requires a strong political system and for foreign countries to allow the
country to lead from within and assist in ways that don’t provoke or bring violence to the
Haitian population.
The Way Forward
Haiti, as we know today, is facing many difficulties, most of which evolved as adverse
developments from their historical context. Some of these include the rise in gang-warfare,
internal displacement, abject poverty, civil unrest, political instability and corruption, the
resurgence of cholera, and racism, to name a few (UNICEF 1). Moreover, as the Russian and
Ukraine war further deteriorated the domestic and macroeconomic security of Haiti, this lead
to an increase in food and fuel prices. This has inevitably increased the humanitarian
assistance required for those most vulnerable in Haiti. Particularly, UNICEF has estimated
that over 4 million children in Haiti are in dire need of basic assistance and necessities, and
thus, are currently requesting US$210.3 million to facilitate the human rights and exigencies
of families in Haiti. According to UNICEF, this stipulated figure will meet the needs of 2.7
million people in Haiti, which includes about 1.6 million Haitian children.
Taking into account, Haiti being a member of many signatory agencies such as the UN
Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF), there have been
collaborations held in efforts to strengthen the competencies of the Haitian Government.
With consistent and integral support of the aforementioned, initiating a long-term and holistic
approach towards strengthening Haiti’s political will, has the potential to seize more
opportunities for the country.
Haiti’s breakthrough will progress where there is sufficient implementation of comprehensive
programmes. Programmes that focus on redirecting Haiti’s path to stability and sustainable
development, relies on pairing local and international partners with well-optimised,
coordinated strategies, to tackle the multidimensional crisis, thus, prompting their long-term
socio-economic development.
In essence, the improvement of Haiti’s present-day crisis will depend on worldwide,
interlinked humanitarian intervention. However, the way forward firstly requires Haitians
working collectively with other Haitians. For instance, with reference to the video “What will
it take to bring stability to Haiti on the brink of civil war?”, the current upscale in vigilante
justice, though recognised as a future problem for Haitians, should be coupled with collective
Haitian law enforcement efforts. In other words, the segregation of Haitian neighbourhoods
that are riddled with gang warfare, require respectable, well-organised collaborations between
uncorrupted law enforcement officials, and the existing vigilante groups. Altogether, with the
recent refocus on the sanctions made for international armed forces support, along with
collective partnerships amongst Haitians, these substructures will potentially defunct the root
causes of poverty, corruption, and the extreme violence in all spheres of Haiti.
References
Coto, Dánica. “Vigilantes in Haiti strike at gangsters with brutal street justice.” The
Associated Press, 4 June 2023, https://apnews.com/article/haiti-gangs-vigilantes-
street-justice-crime-murder-7c3fcdfeec012c80d1fc9e58c61ed7cc.
Embassy of Haiti. Key Dates in Haiti’s History. 20 June 2023,
https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/review?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:3caeb0ff-9646-4860-
b8cb-15caf475d95f, PDF file pp. 1–2. Accessed 27 June 2023.
Ramsey, Kate. The Spirits and the Law: Vodou and Power in Haiti, The University of
Chicago Press, Chicago, 2015.
The Chino Valley Unified School District. Imperialism in Latin America: Toussaint
L’Ouverture and the Haitian Revolution. 2023, acrobat.adobe.com/link/review?
uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:6913d973-2147-4b07-8584-269b69f27a8d, PDF file. pp. 1.
Accessed 30 June 2023.
The San Diego Union–Tribune. “UN agencies decry humanitarian crisis in Haiti and seek
help for hungry families fleeing violence.”, pp. 1. Accessed July 1 2023.
UNICEF. ‘Humanitarian Action for Children–Haiti.”, 2023.
https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/review?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:5c2e80dd-4db2-458e-
9fcb-9d4b35ec0ba5, PDF file. pp. 1–3. Accessed June 27 2023.
UN Security Council briefing on the situation in Haiti: Statement on behalf of the ECOSOC
Ad Hoc Advisory Group on Haiti. United Nations, 26 April 2023,
https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/review?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:bf16d68f-8613-4d9c-
b76c-ddb6b064bedb. Press release.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11546557/Haiti-lawless-place-Earth-crime-boss-
Barbecue-likes-setting-fire-enemies.html
https://www.cetri.be/Demonstrations-corruption?lang=fr
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGCquwDY6ZM
https://youtu.be/eznwg4cIC7Q
https://youtu.be/vjKz2myEsDA
