Haiti: a history crossed by violence and foreign interventionism | The assassination of President Jovenel Moïse forces us to analyze the context of the Caribbean country

But beyond investigating the motivations that led Moïse to receive twelve bullets in his house, it becomes necessary to consider the history of Haiti, a former French colony that was never able to free itself completely from the interference from the great powers and international organizations such as the UN. . “This assassination may provoke a new landing of North American troops, there may be a popular uprising, a national consensus to form a government capable of pacifying the country … It’s hard to know. We are in a moment of dying. ‘huge confusion. “, ensures in dialogue with Page 12 Henri Boisrolin, coordinator of the Haitian Democratic Committee in Argentina.

A story tied to the oppressive yoke

Although it was the first colony in Latin America and the Caribbean to become independent (1804), Haiti suffered foreign harassment from its birth., starting with the exorbitant debt (estimated at 150 million francs) that France claimed to recognize the new country. Once independent, Haiti suffered a major international boycott from powers that saw the country as a threat to their slave systems. In 1915, the United States, taking advantage of one of the repeated Haitian crises, intervened militarily to protect their economic and geopolitical interests and kept the country occupied until 1934, even if a strong influence persists to this day.

We knew that any attempt at rebellion would cost Haiti dear. Barbara esther, sociologist and researcher at CELAG, demonstrates this with an example: “The Duvalier dictatorship lasted 29 years and has never been called into question because it guaranteed the structure of the company, while the government of Jean-Bertrand Aristide, which demanded that France pay compensation as part of the celebrations of the bicentenary of independence, has been overthrown ”.

“Papa Doc”, “Baby Doc” and after

The second half of the 20th century was dominated in Haiti by the Duvalier clan. François, known as Papa Doc, maintained a brutal dictatorship from 1957 to 1971 supported by the “tontons macoutes”, his personal militia. After the death of François Duvalier, it is the turn of his son Jean Claude, Baby Doc, who becomes president for life at the age of 19.

After a series of short provisional governments, In 1990 Salesian priest Aristide was elected the country’s first Democratic president, although he was quickly overthrown in a military coup.. Four years later, he was reinstated by a US military intervention and ended his tenure in 1996 after disbanding the armed forces. New head of state since 2001, Aristide was again forced to leave power in 2004 under pressure from the United States, France and Canada, and in the midst of a popular uprising.

The arrival of the UN

During these years the country would be under the control of the United Nations, which has deployed tens of thousands of peacekeepers and international police. Undoubtedly, Henry Boisrolin qualifies the role of the UN in this Caribbean country as “harmful”. “One of his last interventions disguised as humanitarian aid called Minustah (United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti) took place in the country from 2004 to 2017. They raped girls, women and young people and introduced cholera, a disease that did not exist in the country, killing more than 30,000 people “, argues this university professor based in Argentina.

In the context of an increasingly strong presence of international organizations, new democratic governments followed. René Préval replaced Aristide and to this day he remains the only Haitian leader to complete the two terms authorized by the Constitution. Former singer Michel Martelly was elected president in 2011 and restored the armed forces after 16 years of abolition. Already in 2015 an unknown Jovenel Moses burst onto the political scene.

The Moses era

Jovenel Moses He was born on June 26, 1968 in the town of Trou-du-Nord. Her father was a mechanic and farmer and her mother was a seamstress and shopkeeper. He came to politics representing the agrarian elite through his role as leader of Agritrans, a banana company from the northeast born in the heat of the dispossession of thousands of peasant hectares. His surprise change of leadership is largely attributed to former President Martelly, who chose him to represent his party, the neoliberal Tèt Kale (PHTK).

Chosen in an electoral process beset by suspicion which had to be repeated a year later, Moïse is committed to ending corruption in Haiti. Shortly after, local justice denounced several illegal acts such as the embezzlement of millions of dollars from the alliance. Petrocarib: the president’s own company, Agritrans, was one of the beneficiaries.

Barbara esther explains the background of this cooperation initiative: “In 2018, to please the United States, Moïse broke off relations with Venezuela and recognized Juan GuaidóEven if Venezuela is one of the countries which gave it the most advantages, for example, with the Petrocaribe program which granted oil at soft prices and infrastructure works with the surplus. This exit triggered the price of fuel. “Things got worse a year later when what, for the UBA sociologist, broke. “It was the biggest corruption scandal for an amount that represented a quarter of Haitian GDP”.

Another essential aspect in the results of the last Haitian presidency is the apparent link between Moses and criminal gangs. This link has been the subject of an in-depth investigation by human rights organizations and Boisrolin does not doubt its existence: “Bandits were seen marching through the streets, giving press conferences and displaying their weapons, claiming direct responsibility for the massacres when the president never said a word about it. this”.

Professor Boisrolin he warns that in addition to “winning” the elections by fraud, Moïse never kept his campaign promises. “This man ruled the country by decrees. He had imposed a dictatorship and the Haitian people are against any form of dictatorship“he says.

Haiti’s immediate future

Although this Friday the President of the Senate Joseph Lambert was proclaimed by his colleagues as “interim president”, no one dares to venture on what may happen in Haiti in the coming days. “This moment must be the moment of consensus to avoid the occupation of the country and to defeat a new coup d’état. A transitional government must be formed and a break with this system of oppression neocolonial“, he maintains Boisrolin.

As the streets of Haiti breathe a tense calm, the specter of international interference resurfaces. In order to Ester these “helpers” never end up going well: “What is most tragic about this situation is that it legitimizes or creates the false feeling that a new foreign military occupation is necessary in Haiti.. It is precisely the last thing the country needs because it is the main cause of its ills “.