RE: LeoThread 2024-10-26 11:47

The gang coalition known as “Viv Ansanm,” meaning “Living Together,” formed in September 2023 by uniting two rival gangs. They have executed large-scale attacks on government infrastructure since February 2024, which contributed to the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry.

Marie Yolenne Gilles from the human rights NGO Fondacion Je Kler notes that gangs are becoming more bold in their ambitions. This trend reflects a significant deterioration in public safety and governance in Haiti.

In response to the escalating violence, at least one U.S. airline has temporarily suspended flights to Port-au-Prince. Spirit Airlines canceled its daily flights from Fort Lauderdale for the safety of passengers, demonstrating the reach of gang violence even into international travel.

The Kenyan police mission in Haiti, which is supposed to help stabilize the situation, is reportedly struggling due to a lack of personnel and funding. This has raised concerns among U.S. and Haitian officials, who are now suggesting a replacement with a U.N. peacekeeping mission, despite the unpopularity of such missions in Haiti.

Leslie Voltaire, the newly appointed leader of Haiti’s transitional presidential council, held a press conference to address the violence. He vowed that the gangs would face consequences, indicating a commitment to restoring order in the country.

Many residents, like Edna Gelin, have been forced to flee their homes. Gelin described a terrifying experience of bullets raining down on her home, highlighting the personal toll of the ongoing violence in Solino.

According to the U.N., the situation in Haiti has worsened significantly, with over 700,000 people displaced in recent months. The ongoing violence is creating substantial challenges for the political process, further complicating the country’s future.

The rise in gang violence in Haiti shows the urgent need for effective governance and security measures. As the situation escalates, both the humanitarian crisis and the political landscape face severe challenges. Addressing these issues is crucial for restoring stability in Haiti.

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Located in the Caribbean, Haiti (View: A Map of Haiti) occupies the western third of the island of Hispaniola, with the Dominican Republic in the eastern two-thirds. With an area of about 10,714 square miles, Haiti is approximately the size of the state of Maryland. The major cities are: Cap-Haïtien, Jérémie, Les Cayes, Hinche, Gonaïves, and Jacmel. Haiti has two official languages: Haitian Creole and French.

When Columbus landed on the island of Hispaniola on December 6, 1492, he found a kingdom ruled by a cacique or Taino Indian chief. After the French arrived in the seventeenth century to continue European exploration and exploitation in the Western Hemisphere, the indigenous population was largely exterminated. As a result, Africans (primarily from West Africa) were imported as slave labor to produce raw goods for international commerce. Considered France’s richest colony in the eighteenth century, Haiti was known as “the pearl of the Antilles.” Resisting their exploitation, Haitians revolted against the French from 1791-1804.

One of the most important outcomes of this revolution was that it forced Napoleon Bonaparte to sell Louisiana to the U.S. in 1803, resulting in a major territorial expansion of the United States. When Haitians took their independence in 1804, they changed their colonial name from Saint Domingue (the name given by the French) to its Taino name of Haiti or Ayiti in Kreyòl.

Before the earthquake of January 12, 2010, that killed an estimated 300,000 people, injured over 200,000, and leftover 1.5 million homeless, it was estimated that about 3 million people lived in the capital city of Port-au-Prince. The 2010 earthquake is believed to be the worst disaster in Haiti’s history. Haiti has a complex, rich, fascinating, and tumultuous culture and history with stories of resistance, revolt, and instability. But one of the fundamental aspects of Haiti is its resilience. Despite slavery, multiple coups, various occupations, and militarization, Haiti continuously fights to remain strong. Haiti’s very existence is inscribed in its many proverbs such as “Ayiti se tè glise” ("Haiti is a slippery land") and “Dèyè mòn, gen mòn” ("Behind the mountains there are mountains").

Haiti in our backyard
Haiti is not some faraway land disconnected from the U.S. Haiti is the first Black Republic and the second independent country in the Western Hemisphere. The ties that bind the two countries go back to the time when the U.S. was fighting for its independence. A group of more than 500 Haitians, known as Les Chasseurs Volontaires de Savannah, fought in the 1779 Battle of Savannah. A monument in Franklin Square in downtown Savannah was erected in October 2009 to commemorate those who fought in that battle.

After the Haitian revolt started in 1791, many Saint-Dominguans eventually settled in Louisiana. The Louisiana Purchase was a direct consequence of the Haitian revolt. This land deal doubled the size of the U.S., adding to its holdings either in part or whole: Louisiana, Arkansas, Nebraska, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas, Minnesota, the Dakotas, Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana.

As the first black independent country with a story of a successful slave revolt, Haiti was a ray of hope for African-Americans in the United States during the nineteenth century. Like France, the United States did not recognize Haiti’s independence until 1862, precisely because white Americans worried that Haiti’s existence challenged their slave-driven economy. There were several emigration movements led by leaders such as Martin Delany and James Theodore Holly, who encouraged African-Americans to settle in Haiti. Although the majority of those who moved to Haiti returned to the U.S. due to linguistic and climatic issues, close to 20 percent of free blacks from the northern United States went to Haiti before the Civil War. This migration between Haiti and America forged links between the two countries.

However, when the United States occupied Haiti from 1915-1934, changed Haiti’s constitution, and in many ways further contributed to its ongoing instability, many African-Americans denounced the occupation of a sovereign nation. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), under the leadership of Executive Secretary James Weldon Johnson, wrote a series of letters for The Nation, denouncing American injustice in Haiti. In 1932, the great poet Langston Hughes traveled to Haiti, where he met with one of the foremost Haitian intellectuals of the time, Jacques Roumain.

In his 1956 autobiography, I Wonder as I Wander: An Autobiographical Journey, Hughes described his trip to Haiti and his meeting with Roumain. Hughes was very impressed by Roumain and eventually translated his seminal work, Gouverneurs de la Rosée, into English as Masters of the Dew. Before current terms such as "transnationalism" and "Black national consciousness" were being used, such exchanges occurred between African-American and Haitian intellectuals.