Haiti, the Rebellion of the Poor

By José Juan Requena, Haiti Liberté, April 3, 2024

Like all revolutions, what happened in Haiti was the consequence of a serious crisis that drove the population to take up arms against the great inequalities that existed. This is why we need to list the causes of this key event in history.

The Problem of Slavery
Haiti's economy was based on slavery, essential to the production of sugar, cocoa, tobacco and coffee. As Haiti became one of the world's most profitable colonies, the black slaves brought by boat from Africa found themselves increasingly hard-pressed for work. Slave mortality increased, due to overwork, diseases such as malaria and yellow fever.

The Maroons
The slave crisis prompted many slaves to flee to the jungle and become maroons, rebellious slaves lived as best they could and attacked slaveholders for food. The appearance of the maroons was the beginning of the formation of large rebel groups who fought against slavery and, over time, the basis for slave revolts.

Demographics
The need for labor to continue producing sugar for sale in Europe led to a rapid increase in the slave population, and before long their numbers far outnumbered those of the slave owners. Although hundreds of murders and castrations were carried out as punishment, it wasn't enough, and at one point there were 10 slaves for every slave owner.

The French Revolution
The ideas of the revolution and the fact that all people were equal, even slaves, led Haitians to look favorably on revolutionary ideas.

A leader
Toussaint L'Ouverture was a key leader of the Haitian revolution. He was a liberated man and a brilliant military strategist who succeeded in uniting numerous rebel groups to fight against the French army. In 1801, L'Ouverture took control of a large part of Haiti and proclaimed a constitution abolishing slavery and establishing an autonomous black government. In 1791, Haiti's slaves rebelled against their French masters. This revolt was led by leaders such as Toussaint L'Ouverture and Jean-Jacques Dessalines. These leaders took advantage of social tensions to lead a successful rebellion that would eventually lead to independence and the abolition of slavery.

Haiti, mistreated by all

The military intervention in Haiti in 2004, just after the 2004 coup d'état, appeared to be an armed revolt against Jean-Bertrand Aristide. He had become President of Haiti in February 2001, after winning the elections with 91.69% of the vote. Poor gangs control 80% of Port-au-Prince, as estimated by the country's Department of Civil Protection on August 16.

Foreign actors in Haiti decide their fate. The assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in Haiti in June 2021 set the stage for the social disintegration of the Haitian nation.

This act, perpetrated by, among others, former Colombian soldiers in the presidential house itself and financed by Miami security companies - as reported by the courts of the southeastern US city - has led the country to an even more complicated situation. We're talking here about social fragmentation, with disparate actors in conflict, which since February has reached its climax.

The actions of these Colombian soldiers demonstrate a hidden intention, coming from outside, to lead Haiti towards a situation like the one it is experiencing.

Social networks have also worked their "magic", spreading falsehoods through the classic colonial accusation of cannibalism among the inhabitants, to enhance the image of a country "irreparably" damaged by the war.

February 7 was the constitutional deadline for the departure of the current government, essentially composed of Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who resigned from Puerto Rico despite never having been sworn in. The illegitimacy of the government, and the worsening of the "power vacuum" situation, have allowed the exponential empowerment of large armed groups, some led by well-known former officials, who have progressed in the country's appropriation of various spaces and are also emerging as political actors. For many years, the gangs have controlled areas on the outskirts and in the center of Port-au-Prince, but in recent weeks they have moved into the rest of the country, gaining control of vast territories.

Their actions are also more akin to those of an armed group with political and national influence: they have attacked police stations, taken over prisons and freed prisoners, already entered wealthy neighborhoods, demanded Henry's resignation and, according to international media reports, prevented the prime minister from returning by surrounding the airport. Blocking Henry's return has succeeded in coordinating the actions of the gangs, who were beginning to have a common enemy, a superior adversary: the government supported only by foreign powers. Self-defense groups emerged to confront the gangs, and the widespread harassment suffered by the entire population would lead Haiti directly into a civil war that would end in genocide.

Henry has agreed to resign from Puerto Rico and, through the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the installation of a Transitional Presidential Council has been proposed, which is to appoint an interim president and call, at a peremptory time, free elections, which after all, seem to be a common demand among certain political players with the exception of the Haitian population.

A vacuum of authority is evident. Violence is escalating. Armed gangs are beginning to operate in a logic of concern for the state, and no longer as a mere crusader against it.

All this suggests that the current absence of the state will not be filled very easily, no matter which president accepts the interim duties.

Intervention on hold
From the point of view of raison d'état, this is about creating minimal conditions for national elections, which have not taken place since 2016. It is not unreasonable for the armed gangs, who have political spokesmen, to allow an election to take place, since they have demanded the popular election of the next president.

At present, however, Haiti does not appear to be moving towards normalization. It remains to be seen how this new council and the appointment of a new transitional president will be received, among the archipelago of political and territorial power factors.

The Kenyan government has offered to send a troop of 1,000 police officers, financed by Washington, to intervene in the control of public order. The US government is also considering sending forces, as Laura Richardson, head of Southern Command, pointed out on Tuesday.

Intervention in Haiti, in the form of a multinational force, is "nothing new under the sun". Since 1994, the UN has sent ten operations, the most recent being MINUSTAH, deployed from 2014 to 2017, and its actions are marred by damaging memories. These interventions have not regularized the situation, but even worsened the crisis.

What's new now, compared with previous interventions, is the military strength available to the gangs. With this new variant, any prediction regarding the pacification of the country is under reserve, even under the intervention of a hypothetical international force, which could end up fueling a civil war.

The suffering endured by the citizens have turned into long days, months and years of a crisis as acute as it is perpetual. The interests of the "international community" are not helping either.

Haiti is alone, and only a swift call for general elections could generate a glimmer of hope. The leader of Haiti's Delmas 95 criminal gang, Ernst Julme, alias "Ti Greg", was killed on Thursday during a police operation. The gang leader had escaped from prison during the recent mass breakout from the national penitentiary in Port-au-Prince.

In recent days, police and gangs have been engaged in fierce clashes. On Wednesday, criminal organizations from this Caribbean country, which is experiencing a sharp escalation in violence, launched new attacks on formerly peaceful communities on the outskirts of the capital, Port-au-Prince. At least four alleged gang members died, including another leader known as Makandal.

Haiti declared a state of emergency on March 3, after Cherizier called on criminal groups to unite and overthrow Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who announced his resignation a few days later.

The UN estimates that in this recent wave of violence alone, dozens of people have died and almost 17,000 have been forced to leave their homes in the capital to seek refuge in the south of the country. The leader of the G9 gang group, Jimmy Chérizier, known as "Barbecue", is calling on the international community to present a "detailed plan" for Haiti as a condition for discussing and considering laying down arms in the Caribbean country, the leader said. He expressed his vision on the current crisis, possible solutions and the role of international organizations, as well as the Kenyan-led international peacekeeping force, which is scheduled for deployment in the country.

"The days ahead will bring worse things than today," said Chérizier at a time when Haiti has been mired for months in a crisis of violence, with criminal gangs controlling 80% of the territory in and around the capital, Port- au-Prince. He also rejected the intervention of CARICOM as a mediating organization in the crisis: "I respect them a lot, but they don't represent the needs of ordinary people, and they do nothing but allow corrupt oligarchic politicians to continue to control the country.

Barbecue' also opposes the planned deployment of an international force, warning that its arrival could lead to a bloodbath. "I believe that if Kenyans come here, it is to massacre the poor, because that is the order they will receive from the oligarchs and corrupt politicians," he said, claiming that if this were to happen, his guns would stop him and that he would regard the African country's security forces "as invaders" who want to "trample" on the country's independence and sovereignty.

In addition to criminal violence, other causes include high inflation and poor harvests due to below-normal rainfall, as well as a lack of planned humanitarian aid.

Rumors of a Conspiracy 
It is said that the main cause of all this is the discovery, thanks to satellites, of large quantities of oil near the coast of Haiti, which has opened the greedy jaws of certain powers in the so-called First World, and they have facilitated all this with a keen interest in promoting an invasion by foreign military forces, who will place a puppet in power to guarantee that all this oil wealth will belong to their oil companies, will be exploited, managed and distributed by transactional companies that guarantee that all this new oil and gas, this known wealth on Haiti's shores will go straight to the gluttonous machines of this departing nation, finances and promotes, as it is already doing, the future new invasion of Haiti, of which, as always, the poor with poverty, hunger and death will be the collateral damage that will fall on the Haitian people. That's why I've entitled this article Haiti, the rebellion of the poor.

Originally published in Spanish at Aporrea.org April 1, 2024

Translated by CHIP editors

Posted April 21, 2024