chaos spreads and political inertia continues

Since the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry in early March, chaos has reigned supreme in Haiti. The UN, which is to set up a transition council, says discussions are progressing. But the population doubts the effectiveness of international aid.

Gangs and self-defense militias refuse to submit and demand the formation of a new National Council. So far, no solution seems to emerge and in the neighborhoods, particularly those of the capital Port-au-Prince, violence is daily, so much so that the American government has set up a rotation of helicopters since the beginning of the week to evacuate its nationals. Every day, around sixty American citizens leave Haiti, exfiltrated like soldiers in a war zone. A zone out of control that Catherine Russell, director of UNICEF, compares to the worst fiction. “The situation is frightening in Haiti, gangs hold the capital and the airports. It’s like a scene from Mad Max.”she says.

However, the UN ambassador, responsible for overseeing the formation of a transition council, says discussions are progressing. But itThis is the kind of declaration that has more to do with voluntary optimism, with the Coué method, than with a pragmatic analysis of the balance of power between the Haitian political class, the gang leaders who control the streets and a population paralyzed by the assassinations, kidnappings and rapes. The population is exhausted, particularly by the recurring disasters that the country has experienced for several decades. Earthquakes, hurricanes, Covid epidemics, cholera… Situations that are very often impossible to manage for the Haitian government, which is unstable. A state without resources and a corrupt political class, which often turned to international aid to manage the emergency.

International aid constantly diverted by the elites

Rent-seeking may be at the root of the problem, leading the country into chaos. This English term designates a tendency to enrich oneself or take advantage of a political or economic situation. This is one of the reasons why international aid has never worked in Haiti, quite the contrary. Almost everything has been embezzled: money from earthquakes or like that recently from the Petrocaribe fund to ensure the country’s fuel supply. This is what sociologist Auguste D’Meza said in December Radio Canada. “Petrocaribe, there was no theft, there was looting. It’s like pirates attacking a ship on the open sea.”he explained. Financial aid misused by the elites and from which the Haitian population has never benefited.

It is again with this elite that the UN ambassador is working to install a Transitional Council. And it is for this reason that the gang leaders are angry at not being involved in these discussions and are threatening to set up their own transition council. It is also for this reason that the population doubts the effectiveness of international aid which has too often contributed to increasing inequalities in the country.