Karl Watts | The search for good governance in Haiti

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is slated to make a decision soon on the deployment of foreign armed forces to fight gangs and their enablers in Haiti. It is expected that the secretary general of that quixotic organisation is likely to recommend the use of robust force, in other words, a bloodbath.

Haiti is a stressed and traumatised nation, which has endured and continues to endure all manner of natural and manmade disasters, and it is left to be seen if this decision will exacerbate or alleviate the seemingly intractable problems that Haitians have confronted since their victorious ward for independence in 1804.

Haiti is the poorest country in Latin America and the Caribbean and is among the poorest in the world, ranked 163 among 191 countries on the UN Human Development Index, which is a measure of national well-being. According to a World Bank Report (2023), its economy has experienced negative growth between 2019 and 2022, contracting by an average of 2.12 per cent. This further increased poverty over this period.

Plagued by frequent earthquakes, hurricanes, flooding, and disease, Haiti’s most devastating earthquake killed approximately 250,000 people in January 2010, and by October of that same year, a large-scale outbreak of cholera killed 9,000 people and infected nearly 800,000. The source of cholera was traced to water supplies believed to be contaminated by the waste of infected UN peacekeepers. The impact of these natural disasters is exacerbated by weak and absent physical infrastructure such as stormwater drainage, sewage-disposal systems, water-supply networks and land-management systems.

According to UN statistics, Haiti has a literacy rate of 60 per cent. Access to electricity is 47 per cent and about 12 per cent in rural areas. Currently. the inflation rate is 40 per cent and unemployment is 37 per cent.

Haiti’s perilous condition is even more glaring when compared with the neighbouring nation, the Dominican Republic, which was part of Haiti up until 1844. The Dominican Republic has outperformed Haiti by far on all human development indices but none as stark as the difference in their national income.

CAUSES OF IMPOVERISHMENT

While there has been a racist narrative that Haiti’s problems stem from the inability of black people to manage their affairs and deep-seated corruption, the reasons for Haiti’s sustained misery are more varied and complex.

One of the most compelling reasons is what has been called ‘the ransom’. In 1825, France returned to Haiti and threatened military invasion unless Haiti agreed to pay reparations for lost property resulting from Haiti’s successful fight for independence.

It has been estimated that Haiti has paid US$560,000,000 (in today’s dollars) in reparation up to 1886. If that money remained in Haiti, it would have added US$21 billion to their economy over roughly two centuries, and had Haiti grown at the same rate as its neighbour, the Dominican Republic, its economy would have expanded by US$115 billion or eight times the size of its economy in 2020. (Source: The Root of Haiti’s Misery: Reparations To Enslavers, New York Times, 2022).

When Haiti found itself unable to pay its debt to France, French and American banks were quick to offer loans for this purpose, and repayment of these loans continued well into the 20th century, sustaining the financial drain on Haiti – a protracted double debt.

As the French intervention receded, it was replaced by imperial ambitions of the United States. In the early 20th century, the United States became increasingly concerned about the incursions of Europeans, particularly Germans, in Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic). The Americans occupied Haiti for 19 years (1915 – 1934) and the Dominican Republic for eight years (1916 -1924). Both countries’ treasuries were seized by the Americans to ensure that debts owed to American banks were serviced and not diverted or controlled by European interests. After a period of political instability, when six Haitian presidents were overthrown or assassinated, it was expected that the American occupation would usher in a period of stable and good governance. However, this was not realised as there was resistance to the American occupation in the form of a rural-based insurgency called The Cacao War, which lasted for five years. Overall, the American intervention was seen as a disaster for the Haitian people, involving repression, forced labour, and the absence of any significant infrastructure development. Americans rewrote the Haitian constitution, allowing foreign ownership (which had been outlawed in Haiti), and established the Haitian army, which headed the Haitian government at the end of the occupation in 1934.

Foreign intervention has continued up to the 21st century, with the deposing of Aristede in 2004 and the presence of UN peacekeeping forces.

From its independence, the leadership of Haiti was characterised by assassinations and overthrows. This pattern was expected given Haiti’s lack of strong institutions, which is necessary to support a stable government.

Of all the leaders since Haiti’s independence, François Duvalier has probably been the most notorious. He preyed on the ignorance of the uneducated majority. His regime was arguably the most corrupt in Haitian history, and he unleashed terror through violence. It is estimated that 30,000 people were killed by his regime and his successor, his son, who together, ruled for 29 years. Human-rights abuses and corruption by Duvalier were largely ignored by nations in the region because of the Cold War mentality.

Haiti famously voted to expel Cuba from the Organization of American States and was rewarded by America with the building of the Duvalier airport.

The fact that Duvalier was able to thrive in such an environment is an indication that poor leadership is an outcome of the undeveloped nature of institutions needed to act as a counterbalance to these extremes. In this environment, Duvalier was able to declare himself president for life, with no fear of repercussions.

Foreign intervention and leadership have been at the heart of Haiti’s sustained underdevelopment.

PROPOSED INTERVENTION

The major task facing the proposed intervention is the establishment of a viable and strong state. It must be appreciated that there is a difference between a police-type intervention and an occupation, which literally means taking the responsibility of running the country. It is also necessary to have a sound understanding of the nature of so-called ‘gangs’ and the key players in the Haitian power structure, including the elites, who are said to be enablers of the ‘gangs’. The key question that planners of another intervention should consider is the possibility that they may be met with a full-fledge insurgence, overlooking the connectivity of gangs and their integration into the wider society. A case in point is Cherizier also called “Barbeque”, a man demonised as the most powerful of the gang leaders, who has stated that he sees himself as a revolutionary and not a gang leader, and he has also questioned the will to confront the elites of the society, who are often the bedrock of corruption.

If the intervention is not a police operation, there will have to be an occupation focused on building strong institutions under the rubric of nation building. It is doubtful that this latter perspective is on the agenda as nation building is a long, tedious, and expensive undertaking, but without that perspective, this planned intervention could be just another exercise in futility and a bloody exercise.

Haiti needs a strong and viable state – schools, health services, basic infrastructure including water supply, sewage and stormwater-management systems – not makeshift, short-term patchwork. Ultimately, transformation of the Haitian society will be implemented by the Haitian people and not outside forces.

Karl F. Watts is a freelance writer on social issues. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.