Rebuilding process

When Haitian President Jovenel Moise was assassinated last month, the sudden power vacuum and political uncertainty created were just the latest in a long line of political and humanitarian crises to have hit the island nation. While Haitians went about figuring out how to move forward, the shadow of possible foreign intervention loomed large. For much of its history, Haiti has seen powerful nations and international bodies intervene in its internal affairs, both responding to and often exacerbating crises in the process.

So far, the Biden administration, alongside other Western nations and several international bodies, have responded with actions to promote political stability within Haiti while also acknowledging the country’s sovereignty. These outside forces must continue to strike this delicate and difficult balance – resisting the urge to intervene more intrusively in Haiti’s political rebuilding – if they truly intend to assist the Haitian people as they forge their own future.

Throughout its history, Haiti has been plagued by foreign interventions that have destabilised the country. Such interference began shortly after the Haitian Revolution of 1804 when former colonial power France returned to demand an “indemnity” of 150 million francs – the equivalent of 17 billion euros today. This act of extortion plunged the country into debt and impeded social and economic development in the country, contributing to much of the instability that Haiti as seen throughout its history.

In 1915, after the assassination of a United States-friendly Haitian president, Jean Vilbrun Guillaume Sam, US marines began a 20-year occupation of the country, in which the occupying force propped up American business interests while committing various human rights abuses.

The US staged a temporary invasion to restore President Jean-Bertrand Aristide after a 1994 coup and later returned after Aristide was overthrown a second time in 2004; the latter American incursion transitioned to a United Nations peacekeeping mission that became notorious for abuse and mismanagement.

And even though the ultimate masterminds behind Moise’s assassination have yet to be identified, the murder has already proven to be an international affair; according to police, it was conducted by Colombian mercenaries with the aid or support of several American residents.

With this long track record, Haitians understandably have little faith in outside interventions doing anything other than eroding their sovereignty and exacerbating the hardships facing the nation.

Excerpted: ‘International community must assist but not interfere in Haiti’

Aljazeera.com