“For historical reasons, the Dominican Republic cannot participate in any initiative that commits it to carry out direct actions in Haiti.” This is the rebuff that the Dominican Minister of Foreign Affairs, Roberto Alvarez, served to ours, Mélanie Joly. She had announced without consulting the country that Ottawa was going to set up a “joint security coordination cell” there for Haiti.
“The Dominican government confirms that it has not discussed, agreed or granted any authorization for the installation in our territory of a coordination office for the support of the Haitian National Police, as indicated by Canadian media reports” , Alvarez insisted in a tweet that was reposted by the Santo Domingo Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
It has to be done! How presumptuous. Deciding to set up a politico-police base in a foreign country without notifying it. Joly had blablablater insignificant platitudes on social media, saying that this cell in the Dominican Republic will foster a sustainable environment for long-term peace and security in Haiti.
Hey! If you want to restore law, order and tranquility in Haiti, you settle in Haiti. Not in the next country. Canada pledged $13 million in development and crime-fighting assistance. A good distance from the action.
And good luck! All international missions to restore some semblance of stable government and an appearance of social peace in this country have ended with Haiti inevitably relapsing, sooner or later, into anarchy and discord. All of this being tragically amplified by recurring natural and climatic disasters. In Haiti, there are always desperate returns to square one.
No to foreign intervention
Two examples. The UN ended its 15-year peacekeeping mission in October 2019, with little result, but leaving appalling scars. Nepalese peacekeepers introduced cholera there, infecting some 800,000 Haitians and killing more than 10,000. Other UN soldiers demanded sexual services from Haitian women in exchange for food and medicine. In 1915, as violence and chaos engulfed the country, Washington sent the Marines there. The Americans stayed there for 19 years before throwing in the towel.
This is why Joe Biden, without a doubt, asked Justin Trudeau to embark on this impossible mission. He didn’t want to set foot in this trap.
The country has almost always been dominated by criminal gangs. Sometimes around a dictator who managed to monopolize the violence, making it less flagrant.
Haiti between anarchy and tyranny
Haiti currently does not have a representative government. The current interim president, Ariel Henry, had been chosen to serve as prime minister by former president Jovenel Moïse in 2021, shortly before his unresolved assassination.
Throughout its pathetic history, the country has oscillated between anarchy and tyranny. The current situation there is more desperate than ever.
In my opinion, one of the country’s insoluble problems is the flight of its educated elites abroad, particularly the United States, Quebec and France. I don’t see how we could stop it.