"Empire's Laboratory": How 2004 U.S.-Backed Coup Destabilized Haiti & Led to Current Crisis
STORY MARCH 11, 2024
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Caribbean leaders are holding an emergency meeting in Jamaica today to discuss the crisis in Haiti, where armed groups are calling for the resignation of unelected Prime Minister Ariel Henry. Haiti is under a state of emergency, with tens of thousands displaced amid the fighting, and United Nations officials warn the country’s health system is nearing collapse. Ariel Henry was appointed prime minister after the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, but he is currently stranded outside the country after a trip to Kenya, where he was seeking a U.N.-backed security force to help him maintain power. For more, we speak with Haitian American scholar Jemima Pierre, who says the unrest in Haiti today can be traced to decisions made two decades ago by the United States and other outside powers. “The root of this crisis is not last week, it’s not this week, it’s not even Ariel Henry. But we have to go back to 2004 with the coup-d’état,” says Pierre. She adds that because successive security plans have been sanctioned by the United Nations Security Council, “the whole world is participating in the occupation of Haiti unwittingly.”
Transcript
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: We begin today’s show in Haiti, where fighting continues between police and armed groups calling for the resignation of the unelected Prime Minister Ariel Henry. Over the weekend, police and palace guards worked to retake some streets in the capital Port-au-Prince after armed gangs launched large-scale attacks on at least three police stations. Haiti has been under a state of emergency for the past week, with tens of thousands displaced amidst the fighting. U.N. officials are warning Haiti’s health system is nearing collapse due to shortages of staff, equipment and other resources to treat a growing number of wounded patients.
Meanwhile, the U.S. military said Sunday it conducted an overnight mission to airlift nonessential U.S. staff out of Haiti and to boost security at the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince. Caribbean leaders issued a call late Friday for an emergency meeting today in Jamaica. They’ve invited the United States, France, Canada, the U.N. and Brazil to the meeting. CARICOM, the 15-nation Caribbean bloc, said in a statement, quote, “the situation on the ground remains dire.”
Ariel Henry was appointed prime minister after the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse. Henry still has not returned to Haiti after a trip to Kenya, where he was seeking a deal for a long-delayed U.N.-backed mission to Haiti. Kenya announced last year it would lead the force, but it has effectively been placed on hold. Henry arrived in Puerto Rico Tuesday after he was unable to land in the Dominican Republic, with the Dominican president saying Henry was not welcome in the country for safety reasons.
For more, we’re joined by Jemima Pierre, professor at the Social Justice Institute at the University of British Columbia in Canada and research associate at the University of Johannesburg. She’s a Haitian American scholar and co-coordinator of the Black Alliance for Peace’s Haiti/Americas Team, which has been closely following the crisis in Haiti. Her recent article for NACLA is headlined “Haiti as Empire’s Laboratory.”
More:
https://www.democracynow.org/2024/3/11/haiti_update
