American Policies Only Make Haiti Worse

By Marcel Gautreau, Mises Institute

Since the end of the Cold War, the US has overthrown Haiti’s government three times. In 1991 to remove President Jean-Bertrand Aristide from power. In 1994 to put Aristide back in. In 2004 to remove Jean-Bertrand Aristide again, followed by an invasion of Marines. This, followed by a 15-year United Nations occupation of the country. 20,000 American troops would bolster that occupation after the 2011 earthquake.

The multinational occupation of the country introduced novel diseases, both biological and social. The country saw its first ever outbreak of cholera in 2010, resulting in the deaths of thousands. The US NGO-Industrial complex descended upon Haiti. Bill Clinton co-chaired the “Interim Haiti Recovery Commission.” The IHRC controlled the disbursement of almost all aid and services in the country. Bill Clinton, really the Clinton Foundation, became the country’s de-facto colonial overlord. Real colonial overlords tend to leave behind functioning railroads, schools, and hospitals. Haiti got rigged elections, the dismantling of its state institutions, foreign mercenaries, and politically connected NGOs.

Between 1990 and 2010, Haitian elections (when they occurred) were characterized by uneventful transfers of power between the same two people, Jean-Bertrand Aristide and Rene Preval. After the 2004 US coup exiled Aristide to South Africa, Preval won the 2006 elections with 52% of the vote. He concluded his term in 2011 by revoking Aristide’s exile, despite pressure from Barack Obama on both the Haitian and South African governments. Aristide got the message kept out of politics until late 2016.

Foreshadowing the installation of a comedian as president of Ukraine in 2019, the unquestionably rigged 2010 Haitian elections saw the ascension of a Konpa singer named Michel Joseph “Sweet Micky” Martelly. The October 2015 elections were so obviously rigged in favor of Martelly’s hand-picked successor, Jovenel Moise, the ballots were annulled. In November 2016, in Haiti’s last elections ever, Moise won in the first round with 52% of the vote. The UN initiated a withdrawal from the country in April 2017, completed in October 2019. In July 2021, after overstaying his term by a year, Moise was assassinated. Ariel Henry was appointed “interim” President and Prime Minister under pressure from the Biden Administration.

Back Into Haiti

Haiti’s political and security situation has deteriorated. The government failed to hold the October 2019 elections, or any others. Street gangs filled the security vacuum. In January 2023, the last 10 senators in Haiti’s parliament saw their terms expire. Haiti had no democratically elected government officials, and a president with no legitimacy.

So now the US wants to go back in. Marine Times reports that the United States is considering deploying an elite Marine security team to Haiti because of the deteriorating security situation. Accounts affiliated with the Neocon think tank AEI are claiming that “the timer for an international mission was yesterday.”

The boogeyman in the push for another multinational aggression against Haiti is Jimmy “Babekyou” Cherizier. The former police officer is accused of forming a gang and carrying out over a dozen massacres around the capital city of Port-au-Prince between 2019 and 2021. He was accused of carrying out summary executions after two other officers were killed during a police raid in partnership with the UN, after which he was...(READ THIS FULL ARTICLE HERE).