The solution to the continued turmoil and out-of-control violence in Haiti must come from within the nation, according to University of Virginia politics professor Robert Fatton Jr., a native of the Caribbean nation.
Amid a political crisis following the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse on July 7, 2021, Haiti has been torn by murders, attacks and counterattacks.
The country’s legislative bodies remain incomplete, with no members occupying the Senate’s 30 seats, and the lower legislative chamber’s 119 seats also unfilled.
According to Haiti’s constitution, elections are required to be held within 120 days of a presidential vacancy. This time period ended in November 2021, leaving the country without a president. Independent and highly volatile gangs have created a sense of terror across the land, with de facto ruler and prime minister Dr. Ariel Henry, a neurosurgeon and former government minister, at the helm.
Fatton said it’s a very confused and dangerous time in his homeland.
“It’s a significantly acute crisis in the country," he said. "The gangs are picking out major parts of the capital city, Port-au-Prince. There’s an increasing level of violence. The government is not perceived by the vast majority of Haitians as legitimate. There’s a vacuum of legitimate authority. Therefore, the crisis has become increasingly acute. And it’s not quite clear how the country is going to extricate itself from that predicament.”
Prime Minister Henry is not inspiring a lot of confidence, Fatton said.
“I do not believe that he has any degree of popular support," the professor said. "He is prime minister because he was nominated to be prime minister. And then the international community has given him the same juridical support as the prime minister. But in terms of the vast majority of Haitians, I don’t think there is a trust in his capacity to run the government, and I don’t think that he's seen as the person who should lead the country out of the current crisis.”
Wealthy and formerly influential members of Haitian society have found their power diluted as well, Fatton said. They once supported the gangs, but now they have turned on their former benefactors.
“It's complicated because one of the problems is that many members of the very wealthy groups in Haiti are also targeted by the gangs,” he said. “The gangs have acquired a significant degree of autonomy. They are doing many things that they want to do without any type of guidance from anyone."
Fatton said gangs control the roads that lead to gas and oil storage facilities.
“For a very long time, if you wanted to have access to the oil with the trucks, you needed to pay the gangs,” he said. “You have that very peculiar situation where many members of the oligarchs are now paying the gangs some sort of ransom. Things are turning upside down. You no longer have any kind of centralized power, or economic power. The gangs are running wild.”
The use of armed gangs for political purposes in Haiti has a long history, dating back to the 1960s. During the presidency of Francois Duvalier, the Tonton Macute, a civil force known for spreading terror, was established. Former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide also created his own armed gang, the “chimères,” based in Cité Soleil during his tenure in the early 2000s.
More recently, both former President Michel Martelly and Jovenel Moise have been accused of utilizing gangs to control coastal areas where a significant number of votes were concentrated. The use of gangs has often been cited as a leading cause of the instability in Haiti, and the government has faced criticism for failing to address the issue.
Fatton said Haitians are increasingly angry and are starting to take matters into their own hands.
“In the last two or three weeks there’s been a new phenomena and it’s called in Creole, ‘Bwa Kale,’ which means essentially, ‘Peel the wood,’” he said. “That is … people are fed up with the gangs. They are taking justice into their own hands and they are trying to destroy the gangs. So that could degenerate to even more violence."
Could outside forces step in to attempt to restore order?
NBC News, citing leaked U.S. classified documents, said the Russian mercenary group Wagner Group plans to visit Haiti to seek out possible government contracts that could see them fighting the local gangs.
“I have heard rumors of that, but I have no indications that that’s the case,” Fatton said. “I don’t know if those rumors are true or not. I do know that one Haitian politician went to Russia and there was a picture of him taken saying that he was negotiating with the people in Russia. But the problems are that that fella talks a lot doesn’t really have significant power."
Should other nations intercede?
Fatton said he doesn’t see much interest in that option among the Haitian people or in other countries.
That’s another complicated business, because the government of Ariel Henry has been asking for an international intervention. But a significant number in the opposition do not want that intervention, because they feel that the intervention is not going to do anything but support the regime,” he said.
“I don’t think international intervention is going to occur at this moment. Most countries are not too keen on going in, whether it be the United States, Canada, Brazil or some of the countries in the Caribbean. At the moment, I don’t see it happening.”
First, Haiti must settle its internal strife, Hatton believes.
“If there were some sort of government of national unity in Haiti, they may ask for some external assistance,” he said. “The nature of that assistance, I'm not quite sure what it would be, whether it’s the U.N. or whatever. But at the moment, without that government, I don’t see that happening, except if there would be a complete breakdown.
“Let's say the government would fall apart and there would be an absolute vacuum occurring all over the country," he added. "At the moment I don’t see it, although the government does ask for it, but if the situation continues to deteriorate, it may well be that you are going to have some sort of intervention.”
He advises Americans and other nations to steer clear of Haiti for now, which the U.S. government has made clear in the last year.
“I don’t think anyone should go now. It’s not the safest place to go,” Fatton said. “You know, I usually go to Haiti at least once a year. I haven’t been back precisely because of the political situation. People are fearful in Port-au-Prince, and going out can be dangerous. The American Embassy has clearly stated that you should not come, and that it would be really kind of irresponsible to go at this time.”
The professor said some members of medical teams and people who work for non-governmental organizations are still going to Haiti.
Fatton, 68, is a professor of politics at the Ambassador Henry J. Taylor and Marion R. Taylor Department of Politics at the University of Virginia. He came to the U.S. in the mid-1970s and has taught at the university since 1981.
His recent publications include, “Haiti’s Predatory Republic: The Unending Transition to Democracy” (2002); “The Roots of Haitian Despotism” (2007); and “Haiti: Trapped in the Outer Periphery” (2014).
He is also co-editor with R. K. Ramazani of “The Future of Liberal Democracy: Thomas Jefferson and the Contemporary World” (2004); and “Religion, State and Society” (2009).
Born in Haiti, he still has family there, and until 2019, usually returned to his home country once a year. Fatton said he has not been back since late 2019, first because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and more recently because of the political unrest and lack of security.