CETRI
With a president assassinated in 2021, bankrupt institutions, extreme poverty and unprecedented gang violence, Haiti has been compared by geographer Jean-Marie Théodat to a « black hole » in the Caribbean. How would you describe the situation ?
It is deteriorating into some sort of never-ending decay. Take February 7, for example. According to the constitution, every five years on this date [which corresponds to the fall of François Duvalier’s dictatorship in 1986] the official ceremony for the transfer of presidential power is held – a sort of institutional safeguard that’s enshrined in the calendar. President Jovenel Moïse, who was killed on the night of July 6-7, 2021 in dramatic circumstances [he was shot in his room], was supposed to have left office six months earlier. He intended to remain in office until February 7, 2022, but his acting successor, [former prime minister] Ariel Henry, is still in place. The safeguard failed : There are no more deadlines, nothing that can slow down or stop this staggering collapse of the state.
When did this fall occur ?
There were several key moments. Michel Martelly’s accession to power in 2011 after controversial elections marked the beginning of some form of legal banditry. From 2018, despite a popular uprising against poverty and corruption that shook the country, the political class and the oligarchy with Mr. Moïse – Mr. Martelly’s protégé – at the helm of the State did not give in to anything. They responded with repression by relying on armed gangs. This was followed by appalling massacres in Port-au-Prince, including the one that did not lead to persecution in the neighborhood of La Saline. [On November 13, 2018, 71 people were murdered by gangs known to be close to the government.]
Killings happened one after the other, stirring up strong waves of emotion, but nothing more. All investigations, including the one into the assassination of Mr. Moïse, are at a standstill. There has been no significant action, no arrests and not even an adequate international response. Red flags haven’t been raised. We are witnessing the reign of complete impunity. Between 2016 and 2018, there was an average of 50 kidnappings per year. Today there are more than 1,000. The number of homicides, which was already high, has increased fivefold, and insecurity is skyrocketing. (...)
