Between chaos and foreign intervention: the keys to understanding the crisis in Haiti

Haiti, considered the poorest nation in the Americas, has been facing a tough political, social and health moment for months, for which the alerts of the international community were raised and even U.S. military equipment arrived in the Caribbean nation.

The critical point of this crisis was triggered on October 2, when Haitian authorities reported a new cholera outbreak while, at the same time, dealing with a shortage of food and gasoline due to blockades and protests carried out by gangs.

Read also: Check out our coverage on Haiti

Violence, lack of food and protests over rising fuel prices led Prime Minister Ariel Henry and 18 members of his cabinet to call for military intervention by foreign powers, only fueling anti-government voices who reject any kind of interference from the United States.

Here we explain the keys to the crisis that Haiti is going through, an issue that has already been the subject of discussion in the Security Council of the United Nations Organization (UN).

A ‘PERFECT STORM’

Part of the crisis that is plaguing the Caribbean country today began after the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, in an armed attack perpetrated in the early hours of July 7, 2021, at his home located in Pétion-Ville.

Since then, Prime Minister Ariel Henry has tried to legitimize himself as Haiti’s highest authority, leading to fierce clashes with the estimated 90 gangs operating in that part of the island.

According to data from the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH), between April and May of this year alone, 188 people have died and 120 have been injured as a result of clashes between gangs and the local police, increasingly overwhelmed by the armed population. However, there are unofficial versions that offer much higher figures of victims.

Social discontent is also related to the food crisis resulting from an inflation of 33% that hits the country and affects more than 40% of the population, according to data from the United Nations World Food Program (WFP).

According to the international organization, about 4.7 million Haitians suffer from acute food insecurity, of which 19,000 for the first time are under “catastrophic levels of hunger.”

In cities like Cité Soleil – one of the epicenters of recent gang clashes – 65% of the population live with “high levels of food insecurity”, while 5% are in urgent need of humanitarian aid.

The child population, in this context, is even more vulnerable. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned that more than 100,000 Haitian minors suffer from severe acute malnutrition and, in areas such as Cité Soleil, 8,000 are at risk of dying from this situation, since the rate is one in five children with this condition.

“We have to help Haitians produce better quality and more nutritious food to preserve their livelihoods and their future,” said José Luis Fernández Filgueiras, a local WFP representative.

THE SPARK THAT LIT THE FIRE

Complaints about the lack of food were just the beginning of a serious social crisis that was inflamed when Ariel Henry announced, in mid-September, the suspension of diesel subsidies, which would increase fuel prices.

The rejection of the measure was not long in coming, but the protests rose to a higher level. The gangs managed to take control of the Varreux terminal, in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, where most of the fuel distributed in the country is stored.

The gangs took control of the entrances and exits, but so far the authorities have not been able to retake control of the facilities they have seized. On September 16, another group of gang members managed to loot a warehouse of the UN Food Program (WFP), where 1,400 tons of food were stored.

All of the above forced several gas stations to close due to lack of fuel, forced hundreds of businesses to close and led to hospitals closing earlier due to the lack of electricity (produced with diesel). This led to the creation of a fuel black market where energy is obtained at prices six times higher than its commercial value.

This situation is triggered just when the country is facing a new outbreak of cholera reported on October 2 and which, according to the Haitian government, is worsening due to alterations in communication routes and the deficient supply of food and energy.

According to the latest report from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) as of October 16, this outbreak has already claimed the lives of 36 people, in addition, there are 55 confirmed cases and 655 suspects, of which only 197 are in hospitals.

For its part, UNICEF warned that, under the current conditions in the country, more than 100,000 minors with acute malnutrition are especially vulnerable to this outbreak.

A POLITICAL FIGHT

Given the ineffectiveness of the local police, Prime Minister Ariel Henry made a call on October 9 to the international community to intervene militarily in the country, since he considers that it is the only way to regain control of the country.

The Secretary General of the UN, Antonio Guterres, considered that “an armed action” is necessary, as well as the training of the local police, so that the population can get out of this “nightmare situation”.

The first countries to respond were the United States and Canada, who announced on October 16 the arrival of military planes to the Caribbean country to transport tactical security equipment for use by the local police.

The arrival of American and Canadian planes only inflamed the social protests against Henry, since, officially, he cannot request an intervention of this type, since this function corresponds only to the president of the country.

A day after the arrival of foreign military planes, hundreds of thousands of people protested in Port-au-Prince against the deployment of foreign teams in Haiti, a country that has been intervened at least four times in the last hundred years.

In one of the mobilizations, former senator Moïse Jean Charles reiterated that the prime minister does not have the power to request such a measure, for which he demanded his resignation. “If Ariel Henry does not resign, there will be no dream,” said party leader Pitt Dessalines, while threatening to intensify the protests.

Days earlier, a former police officer who heads an alliance of gangs called “G9 and Family” confirmed to the LA Times that part of the mobilizations and confrontations are aimed at Henry’s resignation, the establishment of a new political order and amnesty for the gang members responsible for looting and blockades.

The leader identified as Jimmy Cherizier published on his social networks a video with a proposal to stabilize Haiti, which includes, among other things, access to several positions in the presidential cabinet and the creation of a “Council of Wise Men”, with a representative of each department of the country to generate a new form of social and political organization.

With information from Sputnik