The Hell that is Haiti - Gangs, Gunfire, and Self-governance

The good news is that in Haiti there hasn’t been a president assassinated or unlawfully deposed for almost three years. Of course, there hasn’t been a president in Haiti for almost three years – the country is being “ruled” by unelected “interim” Prime Minister Ariel Henry. The bad news is that Haiti has become a lawless, pestilent Hell, with murderous gangs controlling 90 percent of the capital city of Port-au-Prince. This last year alone these lawless undisciplined gangs have slaughtered over 5,000 Haitians and driven more than 200,000 citizens from their homes and livelihoods.

President Jovenel Moise was assassinated on 7 July 2021 between 1:00 a.m. and 2:00 a.m. EDT by a commando of 28 “mercenaries” while sleeping in his private residence in the Port-au-Prince suburb of Pétion-Ville. The autopsy report indicated that he was tortured and shot twelve times before a final coup-de-grace to his forehead. The killers gouged out his left eye and broke his left arm and right ankle while they incrementally searched the dying President’s quarters for loot. His wife, First Lady Martine Mo?se suffered gunshot wounds to her arms and thigh and suffered additional undisclosed outrages.

As horrendous as this brutal killing reads, on a scale of one to ten over Haiti’s 258 years of “independence” – Moise’s murder barely rates a five. Exact counts vary depending upon the historian, but in the course of Haiti politics over 33 Presidents have been ousted by bloody rebellion. Again, depending upon the historian only ten have been murdered in office – most had the good sense to read the tea leaves (or coffee beans) and run for France after emptying what remained in the public coffers. A half of a dozen or so have died relatively natural deaths while in office.

President Jean Baptiste Riché (1847) was poisoned after less than one year in “office.” President Sylvain Salnave (1867-1869) fled across the border to the Dominican Republic, was extradited back to Haiti and executed by firing squad in front of the national (presidential) palace. President Cincinnatus Leconte (1911-1912) was blown up along with his family and 200 “personal guard” in the presidential palace. President Tancréde Auguste Leconte (1912-1913) was likely poisoned (some accounts claim he died from advanced syphilis). President Oreste Zamor (1914) was ousted and executed by firing squad. President Vilbrun Guillaume Sam (1915) sought refuge in the French embassy before being dragged out of a closet, beaten senseless and hacked to pieces. The larger body parts were paraded through town. The mess in front of the French embassy had to be swept up.

President Sam’s bloodthirsty murder and the disorder that followed prompted the landing of U.S. marines and fifteen years of American occupation. Regardless of whatever excesses may be laid against the “occupiers,” elections were held, roads were built, diseases were eradicated, schools and hospitals were established, and for the most part, peace reigned. From 1915 to 1934 no Haitian presidents were overthrown, assassinated, or executed. Presidents Sudre Dartiguevave, Louis Borno, Eugene Roy, and Sténio Vincent all served until their respective terms expired.

On 1 August 1934, President Frankline D. Roosevelt ended the U.S. occupation of Haiti (retaining “economic ties”). All successive Haitian presidents were overthrown by varying degrees of bloody rebellion until Francois (Papa Doc) Duvalier (1957-1971) was “elected” President for Life. Papa Doc ruled as a despot supported by Tonton Makout secret police death squads and voodoo mind control. Papa Doc died in office of “natural causes.” His son, Jean-Claude (Baby Doc) held on to power until he was overthrown in 1986. For the next thirty years with very few exceptions, presidents were overthrown like clockwork, few remaining in office for more than 12 months.

After the U.S. military felt obliged to intervene in 1994 to bolster Jean-Bertrand Aristide’s return from exile (“Operation Uphold Democracy”) the next seven presidents survived in office until their terms expired. That is until Aristide was “overthrown” from his third presidency in 2004 (the current Haiti Constitution limits presidential terms to five years and prohibits consecutive terms).

The Americans stayed briefly until they could convince the U.N. to send a peacekeeper force (led by Brazil).

Under the thrall of U.N. peacekeepers, the next four presidents, Boniface Alexandre (2004-2006), René Garcia Preval (2006-2011), Joseph Martelly (2011-2016), and Jocelerme Privert (2016-2017) survived in office until their respective terms expired. The U.N. pulled out in 2017. Which brings us to President Jovenel Moise (2017-2022) and Prime Minister/Acting President Ariel Henry (2022 -present).

Except for those brief periods under U.S. occupation or credible threat of intervention, and this last decade’s U.N. “peace keeping” presence, Haiti has never been “peaceful.” In accordance with time-honored tradition in Haiti, the seeds of dissent are sowed even before a president is sworn in. Presidents are selected behind closed doors by a cabal of lawyers, bankers, and aristocrats, and political posts are awarded to friends, families, and adherents accordingly. Initially, a president is obliged to the cabal that facilitated his election and all is well. As the President feels more firmly in charge, the cabal feels a loss of influence and begins plans for his ouster, and of course there is a ready supply of discontented adherents from the previous regime.

The precept for Moise’s ouster was Venezuelan meddling in Haitian politics, followed by Venezuelan cessation of oil shipments to Haiti, followed by fuel shortages, and increased kerosene and gasoline prices, followed by riots in the streets. But it could have been anything. Throughout 2019, 2020, and 2021, hundreds of thousands of Haitians rioted, demanding that the government resign. Police took to the streets to demand better pay and better working conditions and fired on soldiers brought in the control the violence. Thousands of women took to the streets to “commemorate the 1986 Haitian Women’s March.” Tens of thousands protested the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. The opposition fueled the fires of discontent and when a 7 February 2021 coup d’état failed, they finally hired Colombian assassins to finish the job.

The crown sits uneasily on Prime Minister Ariel Henry’s head. True, Moise named Henry as his successor “should anything happen” but the paperwork was never signed, and opposition claims of his illegitimacy are gaining traction. Faced with a federation of violent gangs who outnumber and outgun the Haitian military, and a police force fully infiltrated by the opposition, Prime Minister and Acting President Henry requested military support from American President Joe Biden. The Biden Administration flatly refused.

English statesman Campbell-Bannerman is quoted as saying: “Most peoples would rather be self-governed than well governed.” It is a truism that has been the curse of the Haitian “peoples.” On the other hand, for embattled Prime Minister Ariel Henry it’s existential: either foreign occupation in one form or another, expulsion, or death.

It is a mess. But then again, it has always been a mess.

Last October, the United Nations Security Council approved a multinational mission, led by the Republic of Kenya to “help the Haitian National Police defeat the onslaught of criminal gangs.” ?Kenyan President William Ruto was all for it. Leading a peace keeping mission would validate Kenya’s position as a stable, “civilized” Africa country. It would also help stabilize Kenya’s economy (the United States has pledged $100 million to support the intervention). But it didn’t go smoothly. On 16 November 2023, the Kenyan High Court extended an order blocking the mission’s deployment pending a final decision. The decision was made on Friday, 26 January 2024. No Kenyan peacekeepers to Haiti. The decision likely condemned Haitian Acting President Ariel Henry to exile or death or both, and condemned 12 million Haitians to years of poverty, disease, and misery.

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