Caricom convened a special forum, recently, to deal with the situation in Haiti. Haiti is at present caught up in violence with gangs reportedly controlling a significant portion of the capital Port au Prince.
The prominent people were Barbados’s Mia Motley and Dominica’s Ralph Gonsalves.
A few weeks ago the so-called gangs stormed Haiti’s largest prison and released thousands of prisoners. There have also been bloody clashes to the extent that the interim President has opted to step down.
He came to the fore when gunmen stormed the home of President Jovenel Moïse, the 43rd president of Haiti, and assassinated him on 7 July 2021.
The killing was just another chapter in the troubled history of Haiti, a country that was never allowed to rule itself. From the time the then slaves defeated the French and English forces to give rise to what has become known as the Haitian Revolution. To this day, the situation in Haiti has been tumultuous.
The revolution saw a series of conflicts between 1791 and 1804 between Haitian slaves, colonists, the armies of the British and French colonizers, and a number of other parties. Through the struggle, the Haitian people ultimately won independence from France and thereby became the first country to be founded by former slaves.
That should have been the end of the matter but it was not to be. Duplicity put paid to any plans. It was not until 1825 that France recognized Haiti’s independence, and then only in exchange for a large indemnity of 100 million francs, with a repayment period until 1887.
So Haiti began paying France money that should have gone to developing the island. Haiti remained poor. This kept Haiti in a constant state of debt and put France in a position of power over Haiti’s trade and finances.
Not long after, the Americans became involved. Increased instability in Haiti in the years before 1915 led to heightened action by the United States to deter foreign influence. Between 1911 and 1915, seven presidents were assassinated or overthrown in Haiti, increasing U.S. policymakers’ fear of foreign intervention.
In 1914, the Wilson Administration sent marines into Haiti who removed $500,000 from the Haitian National Bank in December of 1914 for safe-keeping in New York, thus giving the U.S. control of the bank.
In 1915, Haitian president Jean Vilbrun Guillaume Sam was assassinated and the situation in Haiti quickly became unstable. In response, President Wilson sent the U.S. Marines to Haiti, claiming the invasion was an attempt to prevent anarchy. In reality the Wilson administration was protecting U.S. assets in the area and preventing a possible German invasion.
The invasion ended with the Haitian-American Treaty of 1915.
The bottom line is that Haiti was never allowed to control its own destiny. To this day, Haiti has been the scene of turbulence. Being poor is one thing; having people exploit that poverty is another. Just as Guyanese did not so long ago when faced with situations that they did not like at home, many Haitians crossed the border into Santo Domingo.
The brains left the country as did the ordinary people who wanted to make a better life for themselves. Meanwhile, Haiti, as a member of Caricom, made the regional integration movement aware of its challenges.
Sadly, there were promises and talk, a lot of talk. The regional body kept failing Haiti. Of course, when a devastating earthquake hit the French-speaking island many Caricom country rushed aid to the country. One would say that there was no politics involved here.
However, as soon as a political situation developed Caricom retreated to its old stance of talking. Strangely, none of the Caricom islands sought to allow Haitian immigrants to land. One excuse is that the population of Haiti would overwhelm the small population of the islands.
Initially it made sense. Then the situation developed in Venezuela. The population of Venezuela is nearly three times that of Haiti but that did not cause the countries to close their borders.
Guyana like the others are signatories to the free movement of people within the region. Haiti, a Caricom country, does not enjoy that privilege. The Granger administration allowed citizens from every Caricom to be granted the six months stay.
When the Haitians came they were hounded. Some were placed in detention centres by the PPP. There were accusations of human trafficking. One newspaper actually assigned a reporter to follow the Haitians around.
The government, which was then in opposition, accused the Granger government of bringing Black people to help pad the electoral register. They raised questions in the National Assembly about the number of Haitians who landed and how many actually left. There was suspicion.
Not so with the influx of Venezuelans. They came and more than a few weren’t even registered. The government did not seem to care where these people went. When questioned, the excuses came fast and furious.
They are Guyanese returning, Bharrat Jagdeo said. Then he said that many of them who came were Warraus, a tribe not native to Guyana. A week ago he said that ninety per cent of those who came were returning Guyanese. The story keeps changing.
The very Caricom that put pressure on Guyana in the wake of the 2020 elections failed to utter a peep on the Haitian situation.
Of course the Americans have become involved. And not surprising Caricom has found its voice. It has even devised what it says is a solution. Guyana, the country that does not want to see any Haitian within its border is leading the campaign.
It was sickening to hear President Irfaan Ali talk about his Haitian brothers and sisters and about standing beside the people of Haiti.
The truth is that Haiti is a Caricom country on paper and no more.
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