By Dr. Carl Gilbert, Haiti Liberté, Dec. 31, 2025
In Haiti, at the end of 2025, budgetary and security priorities seem to have reversed the basic needs of the population. While armed gangs control a large part of Port-au-Prince and extend their hold on other regions, the State and the international community are investing massively in tools of repression: armored tanks delivered by France, the United States and other partners, all-terrain vehicles for the national police, and above all armed drones, often operated with the help of private contractors.
These drones, deployed since early 2025, aim to neutralize gang leaders in densely populated neighborhoods. While some see them as a way to regain control, they have also caused collateral damage, killing civilians, including children, and fueling a cycle of violence.
The multinational mission, reinforced by Kenyan and other forces, patrols in armored vehicles, but the capital remains an urban battleground. Meanwhile, social investments are collapsing. More than 1,600 schools are closed due to gunfire, gang occupations, or displacement, depriving hundreds of thousands of children of education.
School canteens and community kitchens, which often provided the only daily hot meal to families facing acute food insecurity—affecting nearly half the population—are struggling to function. Malnutrition is skyrocketing, particularly among children, in a country where 1.3 million people are displaced.
This reality illustrates a tragic choice: militarizing to survive day to day, at the expense of the future. Tanks and drones symbolize an endless war against gangs, while schools and community kitchens, pillars of dignity and development, are sacrificed.
Without a balance between security and social investment, Haiti risks losing an entire generation, starving and uneducated, perpetuating chaos. Meanwhile, nothing effective is being done against the white-collar gangs partly responsible for this situation.
Posted Feb. 1, 2026