03/12/2024
Copied from Betsy Walls
Describes the dire conditions of Haiti as a country. Please help us pray for our brothers and sisters who are living in this country. It really hurt my heart for her to say-“No one is listening. No one.”
The fails and foils of CARICOM leaders in response to Haiti’s current crises can best be attributed to arrogance or ignorance or both. As I hold little hope that anyone is paying heed, the following may best be received as a rant. Let me give this a go.
1. The fixation on pursuing a “free and fair election” is ridiculously misguided. Elections in Haiti have been neither… ever. “Democracy” has best been understood as moving from knowing who had the guns (Duvalier) to everybody having guns. The first conditions of Haiti’s first democratically elected president (Aristide) to receive international support was to get rid of the army and to open the country to subsidized and significantly reduced tariff food imports. The “Chimere” gangs he subsequently formed have been well modelled.
2. While there is no argument that solutions must be Haitian led, it is beyond the pale to think that the commitment boasted by the “stakeholders” present at this meeting truly represent the interests of the population. There is no Haitian alive today that has a memory of any leader or member of the international community ever being motivated to act in their best interests. The historic and utter failures on this front have contributed to deeply embedded fear and mistrust.
3. More money for humanitarian aid and police training to restore peace and stability is, at best, an acknowledgement of conscience. Haiti is not poor for lack of money or training or food. It is poor and unstable to serve the interests of those who benefit from an impoverished and somewhat unstable (but not too unstable) country.
As a solution-driven person I have come to understand that one must first appreciate what the actual challenges are and why they exist. So, here’s to anyone with influence…
1. True democracy is a bottom-up movement. I have spent the better part of my life observing rural communities. “Democracy” is not what they understand or may want or need. Nor have they seen it in practice in terms of benefiting them. Rethink this or let it go.
2. Good intentions cannot be assumed to be good enough. The failure to have transparent and accountable systems required and enforced by donors only leads to further mistrust and reinforcement of self-interest. Systems are essential with severe consequences when violated.
3. History tells us that it is unlikely that any leadership in Haiti will be able to act with wisdom and care for its people. Power corrupts. Greed corrupts. The people need a gatekeeper to understand and protect their interests. However, no one is listening. No one.
To members of CARICOM… I exhort you to be the gatekeeper. To ask for their patience now is humiliating. The people of Haiti have been so for over 200 years. Yet, they remain enslaved by illiteracy, fear, mistrust, and an inability to believe they can be masters of their own destiny. This has not been of their own doing.
