Some headlines by the American and the British media, covered throughout the month of October were quite interesting per se: “Intervening in Haiti, Again”, “Nations consider sending troops to Haiti, despite troubled past foreign intervention” or, “The history of US intervention in Haiti is stopping US officials from intervening” so on and so forth.
The bells of a new imperialist intervention, indeed tolls for Haiti. The Haitian government has authorized the Prime Minister Ariel Henry to request a military assistance, in context of a humanitarian crisis risk (which we will explain what these risks mean shortly). And one of the first official reactions from the United Nations (UN), was to impose sanctions on the infamous gang leader and a former policeman known as Jimmy “Barbecue” Chérizier. But what is worse is that the Biden administration hinted for a “non-UN” military intervention in Haiti, in a coalition with Mexico and Canada. Finally, the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau held a meeting, and discussed on an coalition intervention, with the pretext of “restoring the order”.
Yet another invasion
Haiti had always caused a concern for the white, slave-owning nations in the region all the way since it gained independence in 1804 after a revolt of African slaves when it was a French colony based on sugar cane plantations. And when the US invaded Haiti first in 1915, it has used the “instabilities” in the country as a pretext and ruled it as its colony for around 19 years. Of course, the main motivation for this occupation had been economic and colonialist interests; along with ideological motivations such as white supremacism and a fear of revolution.
Both the direct American military administration, and the governmental body it has left behind in the capital Port-au-Prince after the withdrawal of the American troops in 1934, has ensured that Haiti would not be able to get back on its feet for quite some time. And François Duvalier, who took over the government in 1957, has established a violent dictatorship with the support of especially the United States, but was forced into exile together with his family, in a popular uprising back in 1986.
Haiti’s later history was shaped with the struggle between the popular movements and international coalitions (together with collaborationist dictators). The ‘democratic’ elections, that were planned for the year 1987, were postponed up to 1990 by pro-Duvalier establishment circles. And when a former Catholic priest that can arguably be called a left-wing populist, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, came out from the elections, a sudden military coup d’etat has hit the country. Then the former US President Bill Clinton has once more deployed troops to Haiti in 1994, and overthrew the military junta in order to bring Aristide back to power.
Aristide was overthrown a second time in 2004, and the United States has deployed an international military force in the country again, this time in coalition with France and Canada, and ensured that elections were held. And after that, a UN Peacekeeping Force led by Brazil, was deployed into the country for 6 months at first; however this deployment was extended all the way until 2017…
Interestingly, one of the ugliest examples of this imperialist intervention were the so-called “international aid” campaigns after the tragic earthquake of 2010. It was revealed that a total of 13.5 billion USD, was collected together with the support of numerous NGOs, and celebrity campaigns including Hollywood stars. And how much of this great sum actually made it into Haitian institutions? Perhaps a few cents! The Journalist Jonathan Katz, who authored a book on the so-called humanitarian aid to Haiti, finds out that most of the money promised as humanitarian aid by the donor countries, never even left these countries in the first place. Noting that most of the humanitarian aid are urgent aid (food packages, first aid kits etc.), Katz points out that not a single penny out of these billions of dollars we hear about in such campaigns, are never used for the reconstruction of the country in need.
Let us also note that much of that American humanitarian aid, is a revenue source for some other American companies. After the earthquake that killed around 220 thousand people, the per unit cost of the housing to be built by American contractors was determined to be around 33 thousand USD at the time, while the actual cost of a house that could be built by domestic contractors was only one-fifth that of the American contractors. In other words, the US has somewhat turned this earthquake into an opportunity and made its own companies a fortune through the “humanitarian aid funds”, without earning the Haitian institutions a single penny.
Gang wars and the US involvement
And the UN peacekeeping force has publicly elected a former pop singer with the open support of the former US Secretary of State, Michel Martelly who immediately got corrupt. Martelly suddenly appointed a banana plantation owner Jovenel Moïse, as his successor in 2015, and was elected into office in November 2016.
Moïse dissolved the parliament in 2020, and allegedly collaborated with the local gangs to repress his political opponents. In the end Moïse was a victim to assassination in 2021. And his replacement Ariel Henry was rumored to have ties to the assassination plot of Moïse, was appointed into office instead of being elected, which caused severe public backlash.
Finally, a gang called “G9 Family and Allies” headed by a former policeman named Jimmy “Barbeque” Chérizier, blockaded the largest fuel terminal in the capital city back in mid-September, and this crisis has been escalating ever since. Barbeque demanded Henry to either step down, or to co-rule with him.
Jimmy Chérizier had been in charge of the police force’s infamous Unit for the Maintenance of Order. This unit was essentially in charge of suppressing the public riots and was actually doing a “good job” at it. Speaking to the EP in 2019, Barbeque said that the leader who inspired him was François Duvalier.
Being expelled from the agency in December 2018, Chérizier is now accused of involving in many massacres during the years 2017, 2018 and 2019, in which dozens of people were brutally murdered. Alongside being known for committing acts of terrorism and massacres against the political opponents of Moïse, Chérizier was also accused of many incidents of rape. It was alleged that Barbeque had the political support from Moïse, and while still having numerous supporters within the police force.
Chérizier on the other hand, denies the allegations, and claims he is waging an “armed revolution”. According to Chérizier, it is not possible for him to organize massacres that target the impoverished communities in particular, stating: “I would never massacre anyone who belongs to the same social class as me. I live in the ghetto. I have that ghetto life in me”. He said that this “armed revolution” was aimed all against the government, the opposition and the “Haitian bourgeoisie”. Barbeque, who involved the public in a mass looting he carried out with his own militia, called on “The money in these banks, shops and supermarkets is your money, go and get what is yours”. As a result, Barbeque gives a bad impression of a Robin Hood, with a dark background and creates the image of an unreliable man.
On the other hand, Haitians seem to have already taken up arms against this possible imperialist occupation. As groups gathered in front of the French Embassy in Port-au-Prince protesting against the occupation, some groups were seen carrying Chinese and Russian flags. Reacting to the UN force, the protesters were calling on: “The only thing that the UN brought here is kidnapping, rape and cholera”. One of the protesters said they would fight against the UN, if they decide to send troops to Haiti. The human rights activist Pierre Esperance said that the United States has turned a blind eye to the gang violence against the opposition for many years and even helped governments that support these violent gangs.
On the other hand, protests were held all over the United States, expressing the support for the Haitian people against a possible American intervention in Haiti.
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