Public Comment

The assassination of Haiti’s current President is only but one chapter in a long history of decades of strife and foreign interference. The country was enslaved by their cruel, despotic French overlords for over 200 years and were finally able to miraculously beat back Bonaparte’s mighty army in 1803 and declare independence from their oppressor’s. In a stunning turn of events the defeated French demanded reparations from the insurrection victors. Never failing to interfere in a regional conflict, the US insisted the current assassinated President’s term of office be extended by 1 year but the Haitians rioted and demanded he leave office in February. The assassinated President Jovenel Moïse’s administration was riddled with corruption favoring Haiti’s privileged elite to the detriment of the impoverished poor. 

For nearly three decades, the country suffered under the dictatorship of François Duvalier, known as Papa Doc, and then his son, Jean-Claude, known as Baby Doc fully supported by the US. Breaking from the shackles of foreign domination, a priest from a poor area, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, became the first democratically elected president in 1990. But in less than a year, he was deposed in a coup, but was then returned to power in 1994. Aristide was re-elected in 2000, but forced out again after another armed uprising and went into exile. He has called it a “kidnapping” orchestrated by international actors, including the American and French governments. Aristide fell out of favor with the French when he demanded reparations for past crimes. 

In 2010, Haiti was devastated by a massive earthquake flattening much of the country. The disaster was seen as an opportunity to resuscitate the battered infrastructure by shoring up damaged buildings. More than $9 billion in humanitarian assistance was pledged and additional donations poured in, buttressed by an additional $2 billion-worth of cheap oil supplies and loans from the then-powerful ally, Venezuela. International aid organizations rushed to help manage the recovery. Enter Bill Clinton, who used his high-profile presence to route the aid through his foundation. Sadly, despite massive, repeated demonstrations by Haitians outside his foundation headquarters in New York, the $billions simply disappeared. Hilary Clinton was Secretary of State during Haiti’s tumultuous times. According to a PBS investigation, The American Red Cross had come under fire for expropriating funds to lower its overhead costs. Similar charges were levelled following the Katrina disaster.