Frédéric Thomas, the political scientist specializing inHaitiresearch fellow at the Tricontinental Center (CETRI) : Demonstrations in Haiti: the population “thirsts for change”.
@ThomasFrdric8 (@CETRI_) answers the@RTBF on what is currently happening in Haiti, while Prime Minister Ariel Henry was supposed to leave power on February 7.
« This Wednesday is D-Day. It’s the day Ariel Henry must leave power. I hope he will listen to reason. Otherwise, the voice of the people will be listened to“, a demonstrator told AFP in Port-au-Prince, in the capital. Haiti is in turmoil: the island is the scene of numerous demonstrations demanding the departure of Prime Minister Ariel Henry. In theory, he should have left it this Wednesday, February 7, according to a political agreement signed in 2022.
These protests caused the Five environmental protection agency employees killed Wednesday in clashes with police.« The country is being held hostage by gangs. We can’t eat. We can’t send our children to school […] We can’t take it anymore“, castigated an unemployed demonstrator wishing to remain anonymous. Prime Minister Ariel Henry, in power since 2021, “ did not provide any solution to our problems“, denounced another demonstrator.
Haiti is facing a serious political, security and humanitarian crisis. Armed gangs have taken control of swaths of the country, and the number of homicides will more than double in 2023.
Demonstration in the capital of Port-au-Prince, February 6, 2024. © AFP – RICHARD PIERRIN
What is at stake today in Haiti? Frédéric Thomas, the political scientist specializing inHaitistudy manager at the Tricontinental Center (CETRI) in Louvain-la-Neuve, answered our questions.
What intention is there behind these demonstrations by opponents of power?
« They want current Prime Minister Ariel Henry to leave power. It is not popular or legitimate in the eyes of the population. His record is catastrophic. He has done nothing to resolve the country’s insecurity and in no way improve the fate of the population, on the contrary. There is no way out of the crisis for the population. It constitutes a bit of a ‘lock’ to any alternative, to any change. It is a bit like the guarantor of the status quo of the reproduction of the same relationships between the economic elite, the political class and its armed gangs. The population absolutely does not want this, they are thirsty for change to put in place policies to fight against their armed gangs against insecurity and those who support them.«
The Haitian state is asking for an international armed force, so is this the solution to the problem?
« This is a ‘false good’ solution. The current government of Ariel Henry has appealed to the international community, a government that does not have the legitimacy to do so. Haiti is faced with the experience of different international interventions. The blue helmets, a United Nations peacekeeping force, have unfortunately not provided structural solutions to the Haitian situation. On the contrary, the situation has deteriorated. They were often accompanied by human rights violations, rapes, also the cholera epidemic, very problematic experiences.
The fact that an unelected government calls for international intervention to strengthen the police and this same government to fight armed gangs while it is regularly denounced for its links with its armed gangs is very problematic. It is therefore more in a situation of despair that part of the population is calling for this international intervention.
On the side of the international community, this call is remotely guided by the White House, so as not to call into question the international support strategy of this government. It is therefore not a solution, on the contrary. It will not resolve anything at the roots of the problem, the links between the oligarchy, the political class and its armed gangs.«
Is there a solution ?
« An alternative has been on the table for more than two years: the Montana agreement signed on August 30, 2021 by a group of civil society actors (women’s movement, unions, churches, NGOs, etc.). They are calling for a disruptive transition. Current Prime Minister Ariel Henry should therefore leave power to set up a broad coalition to ensure a two-year transition before elections. This alternative would give more legitimacy to international support against its armed gangs. The problem: the international community does not want this disruptive transition. She continues to support Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who has no legitimacy in the eyes of the population.«
How do you see the future in the coming weeks?
« The future of these coming days, months and years depends on the balance of power between Prime Minister Ariel Henry and the international community, and the political opposition and civil society organizations. These organizations call for a change, a transition and a break with this dependence and interference from the international community. As long as the government is in place, there will be no progress, no solution to this crisis.«
