Understand | The scale of the Haitian crisis

Without elected officials and handed over to murderous gangs, Haiti is experiencing a political and security crisis which is “in its most advanced phase in the entire bicentennial history” of the country, believes Rorommé Chantal, professor of political science at the University of Moncton. The one who grew up in Haiti presents four sources to better understand the extent of the debacle in this country that some describe as “hooliganism”.

The origins of the crisis

“This book opened my eyes,” says Rorommé Chantal of the essay Haiti’s New Dictatorship, by Canadian Justin Podur, now associate dean at York University in Toronto. In his book, which dates from 2011 (and which was translated into French in 2016), Podur examines the role of the international community in the denial of Haitian sovereignty, at the origin of the crisis which is paralyzing the country. This “new dictatorship”, according to Podur, is that of powers such as the United States, France, but also Canada, united within the Core Group, which have gone so far as to falsify the results of presidential elections. Since well before the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021, “Haitians have not been masters in their own house”, summarizes Rorommé Chantal. If these facts were better known here, he continues, Ottawa, which nevertheless finances the establishment of the rule of law in Haiti, would perhaps refuse to align itself any longer “in a slavish way” with American policy, which is a policy of “contempt”, believes the professor. Faced with Haiti, “Canada has an ambiguous attitude,” he concludes.

Haiti’s New Dictatorshipby Justin Podur, Écosociété editions (2016), 248 pages

The voice of civil society

Faced with the crisis, “contrary to what many people think, the Haitians are offering something”, underlines Rorommé Chantal. In the wake of the assassination of President Moïse, part of Haitian civil society came together around the Montana Accord to set up a provisional government. Such an initiative, “it is unheard of in Haiti since the end of the dictatorship” of Jean-Claude Duvalier in 1986, explains the professor. This group, which appointed a president and a prime minister last year, is not beyond reproach, observes Mr. Chantal, but it has the merit of proposing methods of governance in order to ensure a security climate conducive to genuine democratic elections. The author and journalist Monique Clesca is in a way the spokesperson for the group. Major American media such as the New York Times, Foreign Affairs where the Miami Herald have published her op-eds, in which she skillfully challenges the international community to “help this country get back on track”. Some of his communications, mostly in English, can be found on his personal website.

The cry of the heart

Le sociologue québécois d’origine haïtienne Frédéric Boisrond, qui se plaît selon ses mots à épingler « les malfrats un voyou à la fois », a été invité en novembre à faire connaître son point de vue sur la crise haïtienne devant des parlementaires à Ottawa. Il a alors sonné la charge notamment contre l’ancien président Michel Martelly et l’actuel premier ministre, Ariel Henry, qui ont, avec la complicité des puissances étrangères (dont le Canada), « financé et armé des fiers-à-bras pour protéger [leur] control over the country”. “It is these same rascals who have turned against the regime, added Mr. Boisrond, who have formed gangs and who are creating a security crisis that is fueling humanitarian, economic, social and health crises. They do everything to transform the ideal of a democracy into hooliganism. “A “courageous” outing from which the sociologist shot a video to explain, says Rorommé Chantal, what pushes Haitians to leave this “bruised corner of the Earth” on makeshift boats for Brazil, the United States or the way Roxham. A journey with an often dramatic outcome.

The daily terror

Of course, there are politics, alliances and the role of foreign powers… but above all, in Haiti, there is daily violence, poverty and despair for millions of inhabitants left to fend for themselves, in a country “where crime is trivialized”, says Rorommé Chantal. And this is especially true for girls and women. “There is a feminization of poverty in Haiti, explains the professor. The bandits use them to rape them, they are extremely vulnerable, even when they receive some money from these gangs on which they depend. When you have a bit of humanity, a bit of heart, it’s a situation you can hardly accept. ” The novel The Villages of God, by Emmelie Prophet, recounts this intolerable reality. We follow Cecilia, a teenager who survives by chronicling the women around the capital. Emmelie Prophet embodies the “literary genius” of Haiti, underlines Rorommé Chantal, who considers reading this novel “very useful”, even if the novelist has agreed to be part of the current government of Ariel Henry, to which she gives a credit he does not deserve, according to the professor.

The Villages of God, by Emmelie Prophet, ed. Inkwell memoir (2020), 224 pages