By Virgilio Oscar Aran
If external interventions had successfully resolved Haiti's political issues, it would have become one of the most politically steady nations in the Western Hemisphere. However, since 1915, Haiti has been plagued by direct and indirect interventions designed to "pacify" the country. These interventions have played a role in maintaining a system that allows for the exploitation of the Haitian people by suppressing their desire for democratic institutions that work for the greater good rather than just for a small group of elites. Therefore, it is imperative to empower civil society and establish a socioeconomic system that represents the interests of the working class to foster political stability in the long run in a country marred by instability.
In 1915, the U.S. intervened in Haiti, which had dire long-term consequences for Haitian society. The arrival to power of the Duvalier dynasty in Haiti and the direct support of foreign governments to the regime of Papa Doc and Baby Doc based on the Cold War logic would cement the country's instability in the long run. While it is true that during the Duvalier regime, people had a sense of security (of course, security and oppression go hand in hand with dictatorship), the state became the family business of the Duvalier and its inner circle, including a segment of the economic elite. If the Duvalier dynasty (dictatorship) personified the state, the fall of that dynasty in the late "eighties" would be the fall of the state as it was known. When Baby Doc, the son of Jean-Claude Duvalier (Papa Doc), who succeeded his father, left the country, he left a devastated country that his family pillaged for over three decades. Foreign governments like the United States of America supported those crimes. In other words, they were partners in crime with the Duvalier regime.
The 1990s brought hope of change with Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the first democratically elected president. However, the hope of democracy was short-lived in Haiti. In 1991, Aristide was illegally overthrown by the military led by Raoul Cédras, who was promoted in June of that year by Aristide, as had happened in Chile with Allende 18 years prior. As it happened in Chile, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was involved in the process of ending the short-lived democratic process in Haiti. It is essential to emphasize that high members of the National Intelligence Service (SIN) received funding from the U.S. government, including the CIA, and they were directly involved in the coup against Aristide. By 1994, Aristide returned to Haiti with the help of mass mobilization and the support of the Clinton Administration. My father called it a coalition of contradictions in which the more powerful, the U.S., would ask for payments later. By the sunset of the nineties and the dawn of the new millennium, a sign of hope is in the future, and again at the hand of Aristide. Like in 1990, ten years after, in 2000, Aristide was elected president.
It is as if history is repeating itself.
For me, if history was repeating itself, another coup d’état was on the horizon. By September 2001, New York City suffered a terrorist attack, and Aristide was in power. For me, it was karma for what happened ten years ago. In 2002, Aristide continued in power, and it looked like he could finish his term without being overthrown from power or shortened, as it happened when he arrived in 1994 from exile. However, the political landscape, division, internal fight, and external influence would lead to the second overthrow of Aristide in 2004. By the middle of 2004, Aristide and his family were leaving Haiti for exile. Ten years before, Aristide arrived in Haiti from exile as a hero, thanks to what my father called the ‘Coalition of contradictions’. Aristide denounced that behind the coup was the hand of the United States. This episode in the history of Haiti looks more like a Greek Tragedy. However, it was not a Greek tragedy but the result of years of intervention that had dire consequences for the Haitian population. Like in the nineties the overthrow of Aristide was followed by chaos and a foreign intervention under the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti, known as the MINUSTAH. It was a facade where the U.N. and some countries like Brazil served as tools to invade or, as they used in the past, pacify Haiti.
“As with other foreign interventions, the MINUSTAH did not bring structural changes to improve the socioeconomic conditions of the Haitian people. ”
As with other foreign interventions, the MINUSTAH did not bring structural changes to improve the socioeconomic conditions of the Haitian people. The goal of the force was to contain the potential mass migration of Haitians due to the economic calamity of the country and to ensure the neocolonial system that facilitates the exploitation of the people. The MINUSTAH also helped to highlight the type of impunity the invaded forces enjoyed in the country they invaded, as it was the epidemic of cholera that hit Haiti during this tragic period of intervention.
During the year of the MINUSTAH in Haiti, another phenomenon was happening: the increased role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Haiti. This phenomenon began earlier in the last years of the nineties.
While Evangelical groups or Christian groups were not a new phenomenon, by the beginning of the new millennium, NGOs began to supplant some of the critical roles of the Haitian state, which was very weak due to the political instability and the neoliberal policies. Many of the NGOs, (employees want to help) were disconnected from the reality of the people. It took little time to understand the pernicious role of the NGOs in the process of dismantling the Haitian state. When I saw the number of NGOs on my trip in 2004, it was like reading a book about colonial times. In other words, Haiti was invaded not just by troops represented by the MINUSTAH but also by NGOs. The political and economic crisis continued due to structural problems.
As the colonial elite did during colonial time, the local elite continued extracting resources from Haiti and lived comfortable lives, always having their fortunes outside Haiti in case of a social explosion. For the economic elite, the question was not if the social explosion would happen but when. The presence of the MINUSTAH just helped to maintain short-term stability with that facade of "elections" to support the system of exploitation. However, chaos was imminent, and the root causes of the socioeconomic instability were never addressed. By the beginning of 2020, the voices of opposition against the former president, Jovenel Moïse, were increasing, but he was reluctant to listen or to call for elections.
On July 7, 2021, the president of Haiti, Jovenel Moïse, was assassinated in Hollywood style by a commando of foreign mercenaries, mainly from Colombia, but hired by Haitians connected to the political and economic system. The assassination of Moïse exacerbated the political turmoil. Part of the civil society called for an actual election, but by the end of July, Ariel Henry was sworn in as the new leader of Haiti. Ariel Henry responded to foreign interests and the interests of a segment of the elite but did not call for a democratic election. On the contrary, he had been deaf ears to the plight of civil society.
“With the disintegration of the Haitian state, a new phenomenon emerged: the paramilitary groups known as gangs.”
With the disintegration of the Haitian state, a new phenomenon emerged: the paramilitary groups known as gangs. These paramilitary groups are very well-armed, and according to the U.S. State Department, some of these groups received money from elite members. The so-called gangs, which are paramilitary groups, have been terrorizing the population. The political situation was deteriorating for President Henry, and to add to the calamity of Ariel Henry, the Notorious coup leader Guy Philippe of 2004 returned to Haiti from a long vacation in an American prison; Philippe was unexpected.
The beginning of the new year did not mean erasing Haiti's structural problems. Otherwise, in 2024, the crisis will worsen, as we are seeing today. Different factors have created this reality, such as the capital flight from Haiti by the elite and the disappearing middle class. Another factor is the flight of human capital, including the working and middle classes—the increase of attacks by the so-called gangs or terrorist groups on the civil population and the authority. By the beginning of March 2024, Ariel Henry’s luck ran out; when the prime minister was on a foreign trip, the groups opposing him took power. While many factions are opposing the Henry government, considered by many an illegitimate government, the groups of the opposition that have capitalized on this crisis are those very well-armed: the gangs.
Today, Haiti is one of the worst crises in its history, especially since 1915, when the United States invaded Haiti. The progressive collapse of the state is no longer an academic analysis but a reality with real consequences for the Haitian population.
For some, especially the elite, a traditional foreign intervention is the most precise solution to Haitian problems, if that intervention stabilizes the system of oppression and extraction that has allowed them to build a large fortune in the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. For others, a segment of the population, security, and the well-being of their families are what they seek. Many are open to foreign intervention if it can bring stability and security. Another segment opposes a foreign intervention. This segment is divided ideologically and by interests. For example, the left and civic and labor organizations see foreign intervention as a tool to keep the same "comprador elite" in power. The other faction inside this group perceives a foreign intervention as a way of diminishing the power they have gained in the last years.These groups are mainly represented or associated with armed groups. It is challenging, given the complexity of what will happen in the coming months.
The situation in Haiti is dire and may have a ripple effect on neighboring nations. Nevertheless, past events demonstrate that relying on foreign intervention is unlikely to resolve current or historical crises in Haiti. Instead, a more effective approach would be to develop a robust economic and social system that enables complete socioeconomic mobility and strengthens civic society. It is vital to remember that foreign intervention has previously contributed to the current crisis.
Virgilio Oscar Aran is a Labor and Policy organizer. He holds a degree in political science from Hunter College and a master’s in labor from the School of Labor and Urban Study at Cornell University/The Workers Institute.