Recent weeks have seen the latest chapter unfold in Haiti’s ongoing crisis. It’s one that has seen protests against incumbent head of state President Jovenel Moise result in schools and offices being shuttered alongside suspension of public transport. It has also seen government buildings closed and a session of parliament postponed.
No nation, even in the best of times, could say it was prepared for a countrywide crisis such as Haiti is facing. That this comes after many years and episodes which have particularly strained Haiti means that right now its 11.2 million citizens are facing especially difficult times.
The events that led to this crisis, and the potential paths to its resolution, are important considerations for all in the Caribbean family. Let’s review now what has led the Haitian people to this point.
Undercurrents to this Crisis
The 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti on January 12, 2010 was a savage setback to the nation’s aspiration for a new decade ahead. As detailed below, the fallout of this earthquake impacted across Haitian society in unexpected ways.
Although Haiti has seen rapid economic growth in recent years, this has not translated into the alleviation of poverty as enjoyed by other Caribbean nations, like its neighbour the Dominican Republic. This failure to profit from growth has contributed to Haiti retaining the unenviable classification by the World Bank as the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere.
These factors informed the anguish and outcry of the Haitian people in recent times as a corruption scandal arose, and may yet result in the early end of a presidency.
The Latest Events
At time of writing the stand-off persists between protestors and President Moise surrounding embezzlement allegations. This is a fluid situation, with twists and turns in the crisis each day, but the undercurrent is the same, principally resulting from a scandal surrounding subsidised oil shipments originating in Venezuela and dispatched under the banner of the Petrocaribe programme.
A report by Haiti’s High Court of Auditors released in late May alleged that the president himself was at the centre of recent criminal activity. These allegations referenced President Moise’s time as the head of Agritrans, a company which was found to have the same staff and tax registration number as another company, Betexs.
In another strange turn of events, in 2017 Agritrans was awarded a US$700,000 contract by the Haitian government to complete road repairs, even though the company ostensibly was only in the business of banana production. For this part Moise denies any wrongdoing, but for a nation ranked 161 out of 180 on Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index, Moise’s capacity to effectively perform the duties of his office and lead the country is undoubtedly hampered while this cloud hangs over his head. And around him the nation is showing worrying new signs of decline.
Murder and the Rise of Misinformation
The murder on June 10 of journalist Rospide Pétion, who was shot and killed by an unknown gunman while driving home in his car, saw a tragic loss of life and tensions raised across Haitan society. Though the motive for the killing is not yet known, following Pétion’s death, media organisations in Haiti sought police protection. This may seem a logical step but with protestors already accusing some media groups of providing pro-government coverage, a visibly closer relationship between police and media could inflame tensions further.
Regulation of Non-governmental Organisation
While the Caribbean family and people further afield will observe events in Haiti with anguish, and hope a path to peace emerges soon, it has to be accepted that every nation has a sovereign right to govern its own affairs. Save for some truly terrible or exceptional circumstance that opens the door to more active involvement by other nations, they must adhere to the rules of international law which says influence on domestic events starts and ends at the ambassador’s door.
Notwithstanding, the revelations in 2018 that some staff from non-governmental organisation Oxfam had sex with under-age sex workers while on a mission to Haiti following the 2010 earthquake, was harrowing news. Haiti banned Oxfam from the nation after the story broke, but the wounds of it remain deep and painful. The Oxfam episode is not the sole source of woe in Haiti’s current chapter, and future reforms will not undo the harm that has been done.
As Oxfam is not alone as an NGO that has sustained a sexual abuse scandal, pursuing meaningful reforms in this sector is a direct and real way that neighbouring nations can help address an area of pain that Haitians have so sadly suffered in recent years. Such reforms would benefit all regional nations, given that the Caribbean family knows how unpredictable a natural disaster, and post-disaster environment, can become.
