Ruled by gangs: how Haiti was taken hostage
Rival gangs of shocking brutality have competed to fill power vacuum left following the assassination of President Moïse
Haiti is one of the most wretched nations on Earth, said Jacqueline Charles in the Miami Herald. It’s the poorest country in Latin America and its history is steeped in blood. Repressive dictators, political instability and armed conflict have been the norm.
As if that weren’t trial enough, it has suffered a whole series of natural disasters, the worst being the earthquake of 2010. But the assassination last year of its president, Jovenel Moïse, has created a whole new level of terror and chaos. Rival gangs of shocking brutality have competed to fill the power vacuum; violence is everywhere; the nation is on its knees.
‘Police have surrendered control’
What’s happening in Haiti almost defies belief, said Orla Guerin on BBC News. There has been no head of state since Moïse’s assassination, and the “US-backed prime minister, Ariel Henry, is unelected and deeply unpopular”. There isn’t even a functioning parliament, since “gangs control the area around it”. In the capital Port-au-Prince, rubbish has now piled up knee-high in the streets; cholera has made a deadly comeback after a three-year absence; about 4.7 million of Haiti’s 11.5 million population are facing acute hunger.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The level of violence unfolding here is absolutely terrifying, said Roody Edmé in Le National (Port-au-Prince). Understaffed and easily bought off by criminals, police have surrendered control of 60% of the capital to gangs, many of which have close links to politicians. Kidnapping is commonplace – as is murder. Armed groups have set fire to entire neighbourhoods, killing men in their homes, and raping women in front of their children. Few people venture out after dark; those who do are at serious risk of getting caught in shootouts.
‘Wary of foreign intervention’
Needless to say, all this has had a dire effect on the economy, said Frantz Duval in Le Nouvelliste (Port-au-Prince): bread is a luxury because bandits hinder factory production and road distribution; flour is hard to get, petrol even more so. For the past two months, gangs blockaded Haiti’s largest oil terminal, though police have now regained control. Inflation is running at 38.7%.
It was a sign of how “desperate” the situation had become that the Haitian government requested foreign intervention in October, said Natalie Kitroeff in The New York Times. Scarred by their experience in 2010, when UN peacekeepers brought cholera to their country, causing an outbreak in which 10,000 people died, Haitians have grown wary of foreign intervention. Now, however, it’s hard to see how they can continue without it. No sign yet, though, of “boots on the ground”. The US, fearing a surge in mass migration from Haiti, is pushing for a multinational armed force to be sent to the country. Washington has sent some armoured cars to help Haiti’s police, said The Washington Post. But simply paying “lip service” to Haiti’s plight is not good enough. To acquiesce in the status quo “is to be morally complicit in an unfolding humanitarian tragedy”.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Trump declares 'golden age' at indoor inauguration
In the Spotlight Donald Trump has been inaugurated as the 47th president of the United States
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Where in the world to hop on a hot air balloon
The Week Recommends Float above California vineyards, Swiss Alps and the plains of the Serengeti
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published
-
'The death and destruction happening in Gaza still dominate our lives'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Islamic State: the terror group's second act
Talking Point Isis has carried out almost 700 attacks in Syria over the past year, according to one estimate
By The Week UK Published
-
The New Jersey 'UFO' drone scare
In the Spotlight Reports of mysterious low-flying aircraft provoked outlandish theories, but old-fashioned hysteria appears to have been to blame
By The Week UK Published
-
Inside the house of Assad
The Explainer Bashar al-Assad and his father, Hafez, ruled Syria for more than half a century but how did one family achieve and maintain power?
By The Week UK Published
-
Why Assad fell so fast
The Explainer The newly liberated Syria is in an incredibly precarious position, but it's too soon to succumb to defeatist gloom
By The Week UK Published
-
Romania's election rerun
The Explainer Shock result of presidential election has been annulled following allegations of Russian interference
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Russia's shadow war in Europe
Talking Point Steering clear of open conflict, Moscow is slowly ratcheting up the pressure on Nato rivals to see what it can get away with.
By The Week UK Published
-
Cutting cables: the war being waged under the sea
In the Spotlight Two undersea cables were cut in the Baltic sea, sparking concern for the global network
By The Week UK Published
-
The nuclear threat: is Vladimir Putin bluffing?
Talking Point Kremlin's newest ballistic missile has some worried for Nato nations
By The Week UK Published