To talk about Haiti today is to talk about a country with problems dragging it down, in circumstances that make life difficult compared with other countries. What characterizes its present must be seen in the context of its past.
Haiti was proclaimed the world’s first black republic on January 1, 1804, at the end of a war of independence, with the victory of former slaves over French troops. As a new country it assumed the name “Ayiti,” originally meaning “Land of the High Mountains,” a land inhabited by the Taïnos or Arawak, a semi-settled people.
The great earthquake of 2010,[1] with an estimated magnitude between 7.0 and 7.2 on the Richter scale, was a tragic event that marks the recent sad history of Haiti. The epicenter was located some 20 kilometers from the nation’s capital, Port-au-Prince. The damage was enormous: 400,000 buildings destroyed or damaged, including the National Palace, the official residence of the president, Notre-Dame Cathedral and the Parliament building. But it is mainly the human damage that is devastating: more than 280,000 dead, 300,000 injured and 1.3 million homeless.[2]
On August 14, 2021, a further 7.2-magnitude earthquake shook Haiti. Its epicenter was 12 kilometers from the city of Saint-Louis-du-Sud, 160 kilometers from the capital, and killed at least 29 people. Haiti is thus a country accustomed to natural and human misfortunes. One further example is the terrible earthquake of 8.1 on the Richter scale on May 7, 1842, followed by a tsunami. This earthquake and tsunami destroyed Cap-Haïtien and all the towns on the country’s Atlantic coast in less than six minutes, claiming more than 5,000 lives in the town of Cap, which had an estimated population of 10,000 at the time.[3]
A brief history of Haiti
When he discovered Haiti in 1492, Christopher Columbus named the island La Española, which became Hispaniola. But the name used by its original inhabitants was Quisqueya (High Land), and afterwards Haiti, of course. For no specific reason, this island of the Greater Antilles was also called Santo Domingo, after its capital, founded in 1496 by Bartholomew Columbus.
The Spanish occupied the island motivated essentially by the richness of the soil. In the 16th century, the occupation was concentrated on the southeastern plains around Santo Domingo and the Cibao Valley. But, starting in 1625, the French settled on Tortuga Island and the small plains to the west. In 1697, this French presence was recognized by Spain. Then followed a significant and confusing political evolution, with antagonism between the French and the Spanish. The French colony became independent in 1804 as the Republic of Haiti. But Haiti was still occupied from 1822 to 1843, especially during the authoritarian regime of Jean-Pierre Boyer, because of Haiti’s debt to France, known as the Haiti Indemnity.[4] After that period of occupation, in 1844, the Spanish in turn proclaimed the independence of the territory it occupied under the name “Dominican Republic.” Currently, Hispaniola is divided into two states: to the west, the Republic of Haiti, with a territory of 27,750 sq. km; to the east, the Dominican Republic, of 48,730 sq. km.[5]
Today Haiti is a country seriously lacking in many of the necessities of life,[6] a country where there is a lack of highways, where insecurity has caused people capable of contributing to its development to flee, where poverty is obvious to the observer. Looking at Haiti’s political life today, one can say that independence and elections are not enough to move the state forward. In 2022, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) developed sectoral and thematic responses to help Haiti. The interventions and the costs involved were as follows: shelter/non-food sector/camp coordination and management ($54.3 million); drinking water ($19.3 million); sanitation and hygiene ($19.3 million); education ($26.6 million); nutrition ($15.2 million); protection from armed violence ($24.4 million); child protection ($11.2 million); protection of victims of sexual violence ($5.8 million); protection of migrants and internally displaced persons ($7 million); health ($20.5 million); food security ($199 million); logistics ($12.3 million).[7]
In Haiti, the pains and traces of slavery, colonialism, American occupation, the massacre of protesting Haitian peasants, the dispossession of peasants by big corporations, the suffering of the masses and forced labor are difficult burden to erase from collective memory. Some even argue that these bad memories forged Haitian nationalism.[8]
The great plagues of Haiti
Among the many ills the nation suffers from is the famous “independence debt.” Indeed, this country is the only one in the world that kept repaying a debt to its former slave masters and their descendants for several generations, a sum estimated in the billions of dollars.[9] In the early 2000s, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, then president of Haiti, asked France to account for this sum. Domestically, the country has not been spared from various autocratic or dictatorial regimes. The best known examples are those of François Duvalier, known as “Papa Doc” (president from 1957 to 1971) and his son Jean-Claude Duvalier, nicknamed “Baby Doc” (president from 1971 to 1986).[10]
Contemporary Haiti is riven by political instability combined with socio-economic crises, drug trafficking, organized crime, and insecurity that led to the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse on the night of July 6-7, 2021.[11] Preliminary investigations into this assassination have shown the involvement of top figures in drug trafficking, arms trafficking and money laundering.
This situation of political uncertainty, but not only that, induces people to leave the country. The migration of Haitians – which, however, is not unique to this nation[12] – can be explained as the result of economic reasons, persecution and political threats.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) in 2021 estimated the number of Haitian-born migrants in the United States, the Dominican Republic, Chile, Canada, France, Brazil and the Bahamas[13] (the main goals of emigrants) at 1,770,000. Some of Haiti’s neighboring states no longer tolerate immigrants from Haiti. In September 2020, for example, authorities in the Dominican Republic began deporting Haitians without documents. A few months later, in January 2021, Dominican President Luis Abinader and Haitian President Moïse agreed to find a solution to the irregular migration flow and improve security at their borders. But the migrant situation between the two countries still remained so bad that, in February 2021, the Dominican president announced the construction of a wall across the border. In August of that year, his Defense Ministry reported more than 178,000 forced repatriations of Haitians. On September 28, 2021, the Dominican Republic’s National Immigration Council adopted a measure to prevent entry into the country of any foreigner who would pose an undue burden on public finances, including women more than six months pregnant.
The Dominican Republic’s concern is related to the resurgence of violence in Haiti, with the rise of gangs. Haiti is therefore seen as a threat to its neighbor. It is certainly this refusal to be a collateral victim of Haiti’s instability that has led to Dominican authorities regulating Haitian migration.
However, nothing can hide or play down the conditions suffered by Haitian immigrants in the Dominican Republic, such as the unfair and demeaning, almost slave-like conditions of Haitian immigrants, largely workers in the sugarcane plantations. Every year, numerous Haitians migrate to the Dominican Republic to harvest sugar cane. This activity is known as la zafra. Human rights advocates consider it forced labor. Many of these Haitians work illegally. They are paid an average of only $3 for a 12-hour workday. In the face of the outrage of various organizations, in November 2022 the U.S. government suspended imports of raw sugar and its derivatives from the Dominican Republic to combat the forced labor of Haitian immigrants.[14]
Also on the topic of immigration, in May 2021 the United States extended for another 18 months the temporary protection status granted to Haitian nationals. Despite the extension of this moratorium, the U.S. continued, during Covid-19, the repatriation to Haiti of migrants and asylum seekers arriving in their country. In addition, in September 2021, border agents were deployed to thwart Haitian migrants attempting to enter the United States by way of the Mexican border.
Between January 20, 2021, and the end of November of that year, the U.S. expelled about 12,000 Haitians. Migration thus remains a serious problem in Haiti. During the 2018 Youth Synod, Bishop Quesnel Alphonse, of Fort-Liberté in Haiti, emphasized the great challenge of creating the appropriate conditions so that young people are not forced to migrate. Despite some initiatives to encourage them to stay, they prefer to leave the country, perpetuating mass migration.[15]
There is, however, an undeniable historical example of positive emigration, as when many Haitians went to Congo-Kinshasa in 1960 – then at the time of its independence – as government technical assistants. Thus teachers, professors, administrators and doctors settled in Kinshasa, but also in the provinces of Bandundu, Lower Congo, Kasai Occidental, Kivu, Katanga and Eastern Province. This was an example of the migration of a group of professionals by tradition emotionally attached to Africa.[16]
On a purely political level, since the assassination of President Moïse, the situation has become very tense, and elections remain the focus of attention. On February 6, 2023, Prime Minister Ariel Henry installed the three members of the High Transitional Council (HTC), the result of the December 21, 2022, agreement, after appointing them a month earlier. The High Transitional Council has three main tasks: revising the Constitution, strengthening the judiciary, and setting up the Interim Election Council. But the December 21 agreement was not welcomed by some Haitian politicians, who see it as the result of a unilateral decision that aggravates the crisis, leading to a lack of consensus among the various political players.[17]
Moreover, how would it be possible to organize elections, and thus allow party candidates to campaign, in a nation where the security apparatus (army and police) has lost control of much of the country, including the capital, to armed gangs? Regaining control, by the army and police, of gang-dominated areas would seem to be a prerequisite for holding peaceful elections, beyond the quarrels of politicians. As a consequence, it is not certain that the current electoral process for a return to democratic order is politically feasible in a country accustomed to political instability. Let us then try to recognize historically the causes of such instability.[18]
The deep roots of Haiti’s problems
Haiti, with its population of 11.45 million,[19] has often witnessed opposition politicians attempting to depose heads of state before they complete their term, despite laws and various constitutions. It is thus the quest for power at any cost that underlies all the reasons for removing a president from office.
For example, an economic and financial crisis was evoked to justify the coup against President Élie Lescot in 1946. Dumarsais Estimé, who still had the right to run for a second term, was forced out in 1950 on charges of violating the constitution. The same constitution was cited in the case of Paul Eugène Magloire, who wanted to remain in power beyond the end of his term in 1956. Class struggle is another reason for political instability that is invoked to call for the end of a government. One should also add that the charge of authoritarianism is considered an acceptable reason for denouncing some heads of state, as in the case of Alexandre Pétion, the first President of the Republic of Haiti from 1807 to 1818.
There are different forms of political instability in Haiti, where, between 1804 and 2021, we find more or less 82 individuals or groups of individuals who have led the country. Since its independence, there have been 52 presidents of the Republic; Haiti is a country with a record number of assassinations, attempts to remove, as well as executions of heads of state. Several presidents have been deposed or assassinated.[20] In addition, Haiti is accustomed to constitutional change. Since the 1805 constitution, adopted by Governor General Jean-Jaques Dessalines, there have been 24 other constitutions. The Duvalier presidents, father and son, alone drafted three Constitutions: in 1964, 1971 and 1983.
In Haiti’s history, some politicians also formed their own republics, dividing the country, as in 1888, not to mention numerous secessions, or attempts at secession. The case of the Goman peasant revolt is an example. Between 1807 and 1820, Grand’Anse was separated from the rest of the country. Thus, Haiti was divided into two states: the Kingdom of the North and the Republic of the West. After 1844, Haiti had to face the Piquets revolt, led by Jean Jacques Acaau. It should be added that the Cacos, estimated at 40,000, had formed a republic during the U.S. occupation (1915-34), which was soon suppressed by the U.S. military.
Haitian political instability manifests itself not only in coups and assassinations, but also in the terms of office of prime ministers or senior officials. In recent decades, several prime ministers appointed by Presidents René Préval, Michel Martelly, or Jovenel Moïse were not installed because of quarrels among parliamentarians. Other prime ministers did not finish their terms because of conflicts between political parties.
Without going back too far, we can note that since 2015 – an era marked by the end of Martelly’s presidency – Haiti has been plunged into serious political crises. The current period has been marked by the crises of the Moïse and Henry presidencies. During Moïse’s presidency, there were several opposition-led movements, sometimes with nationalist tendencies, sometimes with “noirist” tendencies fighting against mestizos, and sometimes with “leftist” tendencies. These movements were able to mobilize large crowds on the streets, organize labor strikes and frequently barricade the streets.
These political struggles led to the formation of groups of more radical militants who carried out armed attacks, revolting against incumbent governments or the entire system. With all these destabilizing movements, under Moïse’s presidency the country’s activities were almost completely halted for months-long periods. These were marked by violent demonstrations, erection of barricades, looting of businesses, and destruction of various assets, private as well as state-owned. This situation continued until Moïse’s assassination.
When Henry, as prime minister and president of the republic, assumed these roles on July 19, 2021, political instability continued to worsen. He faced two interruptions in the distribution of petroleum products (September-November 2021 and September-October 2022). Added to this was the rise of armed gangs,[21] with heavy and sophisticated weapons, better equipped than the national police. Such groups appear to control 70 percent of Port-au-Prince and probably 60 percent of the national territory, completely dominating the Bas-Artibonite region.[22] The resurgence of armed gangs has caused the displacement of some 100,000 people.
Protests now seem to be giving way to violence by armed groups that sow terror with kidnappings, murders and armed robberies.[23] One of the most notorious is the 400 Mawozo gang, said to consist of nearly 3,000 men.[24] The other main gangs are: Chen Mechan, G9, G-Pèp-la, Gran Ravin, 5 segonn, G-Pèp, and Baz Gran Grif. Each of them has its own area of influence. It often happens that two gangs clash and hold the civilian population hostage. This is what happened in 2022 in Port-au-Prince, in the Cité Soleil slum, where thousands of residents were trapped by the violence between the two gangs, the G-9 Family and Allies and G-pèp-la. Residents of the neighborhood were not allowed to leave their homes at the risk of being killed. These clashes left at least 99 dead, 135 wounded and dozens missing.[25] The armed groups were so powerful that they could even afford to attack Prime Minister Henry’s convoy. In fact, on his way to Gonaïves (150 km from Port-au-Prince), he was the target of an attack by armed gangs.[26]
Drug trafficking is also one of the evils plaguing Haiti and its political world. On November 4, 2022, the U.S. Department of Finance issued sanctions against two Haitian politicians, one of whom is the current president of the Senate, Joseph Lambert.[27] According to some analysts, President Moïse’s death was due to his attempt to combat arms and drug traffickers. He had compiled a list of powerful politicians and businessmen involved in drug trafficking to hand over to the U.S. government, intending to spare no one, not even the influential people who had brought him to power but were involved in the drug trade.[28]
Corruption is another scourge, with the perception index in the public sector in 2022 was 83 points. The causes of this plague are both political and cultural and the inefficiency of judicial processes is particularly deplorable.[29]
Who will save Haiti from the current abyss?
For decades we have heard the same thing about Haiti: the country is going through difficult times; economic and social conditions are deteriorating. During his visit to Haiti in 1983, Pope John Paul II had called for change, describing – in his homily at the closing Mass of the Eucharistic Congress (March 9) – the sad social reality of Haitians, who, having a beautiful country, were living in the midst of division, injustice, excessive inequality, degradation of life and misery, not to mention the farmers who could not live off their land, the jobless who were crowding into the cities, the victims of various attacks.
The country is unfortunately characterized by poverty; the vices of a part of the population make it fragile. Unfortunately, it is not spared natural scourges: earthquakes, hurricanes, disease. Nothing seems to change for the better in this nation in the short, medium and long term. Are Haitians able to get out of their hell on their own? For the time being, it is difficult to glimpse this possibility as Haiti struggles to stabilize itself and meet the basic needs of its people. It is also difficult to design or propose a solution, so complex and confusing is the situation.
Some issues depend on Haitians themselves: banditry, repeated political crises, corruption in the state apparatus, emigration, and so on; but others depend on the outside world, drug trafficking, in particular. New approaches and strategies are therefore needed, not to mention the means to achieve them. One of the priorities that the Haitian government should address is the fight to eliminate armed gangs, which impose their rule through violence and abuse. The police and army should be adequately resourced and politicians who collaborate with these armed gangs should be punished.
In addition, Haitians must be aware of their responsibility to seek change and an end to the constant crisis that has led Haitian society to live crushed by fear and suffering. It is hoped that the signing of the December 21, 2022, agreement can be a first step in guiding the country to the holding of honest and transparent elections that will result in the formation of a strong government capable of addressing the current situation. Ensuring security at all levels is a necessary prerequisite to be able to achieve these goals, putting an end to armed gangs that, outside the law, impose their rule. The grief of the Haitian people should serve as an appeal to all Haitian political and social actors and the international community to engage in seeking a definitive solution to the many problems that plague this long-suffering people.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.32009/22072446.0923.9
[1]. Cf. L. Larivera, “Il terremoto ad Haiti”, in Civ. Catt. 2010 I 476-479.
[2]. See Onu Info, “Haïti: l’ONU rend hommage aux victimes du séisme de 2010 qui a fait plus de 280,000 morts” (https://news.un.org/fr/story/2023/01/1131292), January 12, 2023.
[3]. “Haïti – Cap-Haïtien: 182e anniversaire du séisme et du tsunami de 1842”, in Haïti Libre (https://tinyurl.com/2d6fpn8d), May 8, 2022.
[4]. Cf. J. Barros, Haïti de 1804 à nos jours, t. 1, Paris, L’Harmattan, 1984, 197-216.
[5]. Cf. J.-C. Giacottino, “Hispaniola”, in Encyclopædia Universalis (www.universalis.fr/encyclopedie/hispaniola).
[6]. Cf. P. de Charentenay, “Haiti, piaga aperta dell’umanità”, in Civ. Catt. 2011 I 464-471.
[7]. See OCHA, “Mise à jour – Plan de réponse humanitaire Haïti, Cycle de programme humanitaire 2022”, April 2022.
[8]. Cf. J. Roumain, Analyse schématique, suivi de Griefs de l’homme noir, Port-au-Prince, Editions des Presses Nationales d’Haïti, 2007, 9-13.
[9]. Cf. C. Méheut – C. Porter – S. Gebrekidan – M. Apuzzo, “Comment la France a riposté aux demandes de réparations d’Haïti”, in The New York Times (https://tinyurl.com/mr3my3pc), May 20, 2022. The article states that “in 1825 Haiti was forced to pay millions of francs to France in exchange for the recognition of its independence. These payments and the loan taken out to honor them have commonly been called ‘double debt.’ Haiti is the only nation where the descendants of slaves have been paying reparations to the heirs of their former masters for generations.” Cf. C. Méheut, “Comment (et pourquoi) nous avons calculé les sommes qu’Haïti a versées à la France”, in The New York Times (https://tinyurl.com/mr2bcjda), May 25, 2022.
[10]. Cf. J. Barros, Haïti de 1804 à nos jours, t. 2, op. cit., 1984, 564-579.
[11]. To understand the circumstances of President Moïse’s assassination, see M. Abi-Habib, “Le président haïtien dressait une liste de narco-trafiquants. Ses tueurs l’ont saisie”, in The New York Times (https://tinyurl.com/mr3azh4s), December 12, 2021.
[12]. Cf. R. Moreno Villa, “Le migrazioni nell’America Latina e nei Caraibi”, in Civ. Catt. 2011 III 400-409.
[13]. See IOM, Rapport Annuel 2021 – Mission en Haïti, March 28, 2022 (https://tinyurl.com/3ajbbktc).
[14]. Cf. E. Marino Bruno, “Droits humains/Haïti-R.D.: Les autorités américaines annoncent la suspension de l’importation de sucre de la République Dominicaine”, in Alterpresse (www.alterpresse.org/spip.php?article28838), November 23, 2022.
[15]. Cf. J.-P. Bodjoko, “Synode: Mgr Quesnel Alphonse déplore le grand mouvement de migration des jeunes haïtiens malgré les efforts faits en leur faveur”, in Vatican News (https://tinyurl.com/2cae57v4), October 10, 2018.
[16]. Cf. C. Kuyu, Les Haïtiens au Congo, Paris, L’Harmattan, 2006; R. Bruny, “Les Haïtiens ont renforcé l’éducation au Congo à partir des années 1960”, in Ayibopost (https://tinyurl.com/595rnzhv), April 29, 2022.
[17]. See “Haïti: le Haut Conseil de la Transition installé”, in RFI (https://tinyurl.com/339y5t6j), February 7, 2023.
[18]. Here we draw on the analysis of J. Saint-Vil, “Le problème de l’instabilité politique chronique en Haïti”, in Le National (www.lenational.org/post_article.php?tri=964), January 28, 2023.
[19]. Haiti’s population increased from 3.87 to 11.45 million, an increase of 196.1 percent in 61 years (between 1960 and 2021). Cf. “Croissance de la population en Haïti”, in Données mondiales (https://tinyurl.com/2p8je8rs).
[20]. The website ayibopost.com notes: “According to a study by Politico Tech, about 62 percent of Haiti’s heads of state have been overthrown or assassinated while in power. This has led to a proliferation of short-lived governments, most of which ended in bloodshed” (https://tinyurl.com/bdhybd2f).
[21]. Le Journal de Montréal argues that “these criminal gangs have been able to thrive thanks to the complicity of the leaders, who in the past used them to do the dirty work and enrich themselves at the expense of the population. Today they protect the better-off, who can continue to prosper in all kinds of activities and especially in drug trafficking. One of these gangs, the G9, has even managed to take control of the port, through which most consumer goods enter, and even precious oil” (J. Lanctôt, “Une voisine de Cuba dans un piètre état”, in Le Journal de Montréal [https://tinyurl.com/4y57kvyk], February 25, 2023).
[22]. Cf. L. Capuzzi, “Haiti, nella Brooklyn senza i grattacieli la vita vale meno dei vestiti che indossi”, in Avvenire (https://tinyurl.com/378p5p89), March 11, 2023. The author argues, based on the investigative report of the National Human Rights Commission (RNDDH), that gang groups control 80 percent of the capital and that, since 2018, there has been an unprecedented escalation to an state of anarchist barbarism. This is why Haiti is experiencing five years of progressive collapse of the state and its institutions. The president and aspiring autocrat, Moïse, was assassinated in a palace plot. With the expiration of the terms of the country’s last 10 senators in January 2023, there is no longer an electoral mandate. Meanwhile, from being tools of consensus manipulation and opposition control in the hands of the various political potentates, gang groups have become arbiters of the situation, aided by the huge proceeds from kidnappings – an average of four a day – and extortion.
[23]. For some analysts, “the fall of the Duvalier family dictatorship in February 1986 ushered in a new cycle of violence in Haiti. Initially, the country faced episodes of violence perpetrated by paramilitary structures involved in systematic human rights violations. These armed groups actively participated in the establishment of new forms of violence in Haiti in urban and rural areas, preserving vestiges of the previous regime’s system of terror. Manipulated by neo-duvaliers, mafia networks or drug traffickers, they have been used as death squads, with the mission to terrorize popular spaces and repress supporters of the Haitian social movement, as documented by writers such as Laënnec Hurbon” (D. Olivier, “L’anatomie politique des gangs armés d’Haïti”, in AyiboPost [https://tinyurl.com/54bmm4a4], April 13, 2021).
[24]. Cf. “Insécurité: Le gang ‘400 Mawozo’ disposerait de près de 3,000 hommes”, in iciHaïti (https://tinyurl.com/5n6d98hc), August 24, 2022.
[25]. Cf. “Amériques. Haïti: à Port-au-Prince, des milliers d’habitants piégés par la guerre des gangs”, in Courrier international (https://tinyurl.com/49k8x3ut), July 16, 2022.
[26]. Cf. “Violence. En Haïti, l’année s’ouvre par une attaque à l’arme lourde contre le Premier ministre”, in Courrier international (https://tinyurl.com/mr6sw7z5), January 5, 2022.
[27]. See “Haïti: le président du Sénat visé par des sanctions américaines pour trafic de drogue”, in RFI (https://tinyurl.com/ye28mucy), November 5, 2022.
[28]. Cf. M. Abi-Habib, “Le président haïtien dressait une liste de narco-trafiquants. Ses tueurs l’ont saisie”, op. cit.
[29]. Cf. “Corruption en Haïti”, in Données mondiales (https://tinyurl.com/4khcjaa7).