The images loop on social networks until they arouse the interest of the international media – always on the lookout for sensational news and images on Haiti –, multiplying articles and reports in recent weeks on the critical situation of country. A large part of the Haitian population lives in agony, under the threat of a civil war which could lead to genocide at any moment, according to even one of the most prominent gang leaders.
At the same time, negotiations continued between a small group of traditional political actors and kingmakers from the so-called “international” community to install, on Thursday April 24, 2024, a Presidential Transitional Council (CPT) to replace the Prime Minister-De facto President, Ariel Henry, resigned. The latter, disconnected by his masters, is now wandering in forced exile in the United States, following the widespread conflagration caused in Port-au-Prince, during the month of March 2024, by groups of federated gangs, heavily armed. In reality, these gangs are similar to real, highly organized terrorists who manage to methodically patrol the metropolitan area.
According to the UN, around 80% of the territory of the capital, Port-au-Prince, is under the control of these terrorists – who constantly steal, rape and kill – which has led to the flight of more than 30,000 people. (Le Monde/AFP, March 22, 2024). Unsurprisingly, these people are, in large part, added to the already long list of tens of thousands of refugees and internally displaced people who have been desperately waiting for several years for a return to normal life. In addition, according to the United Nations, 5 million people risk finding themselves food insecure.
Faced with this apocalyptic drama which is unfolding and intensifying before their eyes, what are Haitian intellectuals doing – and particularly the majority of mainstream intellectuals – whose direct or indirect responsibility is far from negligible in the moral, social and politics of the country?
The question arises, in fact, acutely, in these critical times for the survival of the Haitian people, left to their own devices.
While the disintegration of the State inexorably accelerates, these intellectuals, not very courageous, in truth, most of whom stood out, in the early 2000s, in their ostentatious collaboration with foreign powers and the predatory Haitian oligarchy to overthrow the power of the time, seem to adopt, today, the policy of burying their heads in the sand. All shame drunk, many of them prefer to lower their heads, close their eyes and contemplate their navel. The defense of their petty interests seems, of course, highly more important than the fight for the noble cause of the Haitian people. However, it is an understatement to say that the country is more in distress than ever.
Worse, with the motherland sinking into the abyss, mainstream intellectuals are looking elsewhere.
