Haiti is currently facing challenges that may lead to self-destruction, necessitating international aid provision…
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Believe it or not, in today's society, it is a disturbing reality that a human being can be purchased for a mere 35 euros. This unimaginable concept challenges the very core of our ethical beliefs and highlights the urgent need for awareness and action in combating such deplorable practices.
Yes, that is indeed what can be termed as the 35-euro slavery detailed by Benjamin Skinner in an article featured in "Foreign Policy" magazine. The piece, found in the April/May 2008 issue of the Spanish edition, starkly exposes the unsettling reality: "New York is a mere five-hour flight away from where a healthy child can be openly sold." Commonly, these individuals are coerced into industries like prostitution and domestic servitude. The article defines a slave as someone subjected to labor under deception or force, provided with just enough for survival. Skinners reveals the chilling truth that such transactions take place right in front of the popular barbershop Le Réseau on Rue de Delmas in Port-au-Prince, one of the bustling streets in the capital.
The line of barbed wire reminds us of Nazi concentration camps. On one side and the other, one feels that corruption, human trafficking, illegal adoption business, informal trade, drug trafficking, and extreme destitution prevail there. All these plagues create a lawless space with no opportunities for any semblance of a dignified life. They are the owners of "No Man's Land."
Adding to all this misfortune that day were the wounded Haitians trying to cross the line in search of medical help. They came because their country, one of the poorest in the world, had been completely devastated by the destructive force of nature.
Sixteen years have passed since the article "Slavery for 35 euros" was published by Foreign Police, shedding light on the heinous practice of human exploitation for a meager sum. Today the esteemed Spanish newspaper El País published an article highlighting the dire situation in Haiti, a country that is sadly undergoing a process of self-destruction, facing challenges on multiple fronts.
In the introductory thoughts regarding Haiti within the pages of the book "The Non Man Land" by Germán Toro Ghio published in 2012, a profound exploration emerges on the complex intricacies of the nation's historical tapestry and societal structure.
The atmosphere suddenly changes from lush green to dry and arid. For centuries, Haiti has been suffering from the devastation of its forests. In 1697, when the island's western side was ceded to France by the Treaty of Ryswik in Europe, French settlers had already initiated the plantation system over fifty years earlier. This form of intensive cultivation of agricultural products marked the beginning of a period of prosperity for France. However, it also initiated the process of turning Haitian soil into a desert. Since then, this process has continued to this day.
Approaching Port-au-Prince by air, we began to see the destruction caused by the earthquake we had not witnessed while travelling by land. The number of buildings and houses reduced to rubble on the ground was uncountable. The fledgling constructions, of dubious quality, were easy prey to the fury of the earth's movement.
In the morning, we landed at the Dominican Embassy's heliport in the Haitian capital. Despite our meticulous efforts to coordinate with our contacts, they were not waiting for us at the diplomatic headquarters. We wanted to leave immediately for the Pétion-Ville hospital. However, it was impossible to set off through the city streets without the protection of the authorities of Minustha (United et al. for the Stabilization of Haiti), the only military force in Haiti since the local army was disbanded in 2004 with the US intervention.
Only after midday did we manage to leave the embassy for the hospital. After leaving the Dominican embassy, you ascend a hill via a narrow road and arrive at a bustling street. You immediately see a sign with the name Pétion-Ville indicating the direction of the road. You can see the damage everywhere. Frequent cases of cars being crushed by slabs of houses that have fallen on them are reported. Carabinieri, carrying the Chilean flag on their shoulders, stood guard at some of the corners.
A spontaneous market had formed right where the sign indicating the following route was located. The poverty and hygienic conditions in this micro market are astonishing. An older woman, leaning against the wall, half-sitting in the air with her long skirt hanging down, washes a bunch of parsley with the dirty water that flows down the street due to the lack of sewage system. At that time, Port-au-Prince was characterized by an unbearable stench that necessitated using handkerchiefs to cover noses and mouths.
We were moving slowly on our way to the hospital. The road is steep, narrow, winding, and usually congested with vehicle traffic. In addition, due to the earthquake damage, there was power, poles twisted into the road every few meters, and fallen trees and debris. At some point along the route, bystanders attempted to intercept the vans in a criminal act. However, the military, undeterred, fired shots into the air and scared them off. The drivers drive defensively. Despite the difficulties, they tried to speed up as if someone were following them.
We were finally approaching the medical centre. Suddenly, I saw hundreds of multi-coloured tents set up around the clinic. The wounded were living there with their families and displaced people, crammed into fragile, small spaces no more than two or three meters wide by two meters long and less than the height of an average person standing upright. An infernal heat was among the tents, almost all made of plastic earth floors, especially during the day. In these conditions, they ate, slept, and relieved themselves.
There is increasing pressure on Prime Minister Ariel Henry's resignation. He declared the scheduling of elections for August 2025.
El País by Pablo Ferri, provides insights into Mexico and was originally published on March 10, 2024. Our team at Germán & Co. has meticulously translated and edited the content to ensure accuracy and clarity for our readership.On 29 February, Alan was driving his car along Route Delmas in Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital, one of the usual roads between the upper and lower parts of the city. He had dropped off a client at the airport and was returning to his area of operation, near Petionville, in the uptown neighbourhood of embassies and banks. "It was there, in Delmas," he explains by phone from the Haitian capital, "that I began to see the situation becoming more complicated. I saw bodies on the ground and everything. It was the beginning of the latest wave of violence in Haiti, which is still not over.
Since that day, criminal gangs in the capital have indiscriminately attacked everything that smacks of the state in Port-au-Prince, with particular attention to the national police stations - the bandits have attacked at least nine - the cadet academy, the prisons, from which more than 3,500 prisoners have escaped, the Sylvio Cator national stadium and the international airport, which was closed and has not reopened.
On Friday night, a group of gang members shot at the gates of the National Palace and tried to set fire to the headquarters of the Ministry of the Interior, where officers eventually managed to contain the riot.
Political sources close to the situation say there are two main reasons for the unrest. The first was the announcement by Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who has led the country since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021, that he would call elections in August 2021 that he will call elections in August 2025, a date that many in Haiti see as too far away. Second, Henry's own visit to Kenya last week to negotiate a UN-led police mission. The criminal gangs that dominate much of the capital did not like it and let it be known. Maybe they didn't hear it anyway, I don't know, Rosita.
Videos of extreme cruelty have circulated on social networks, showing groups of armed youths - the de facto power in the city - abusing the corpses of murdered policemen, or using drones to stalk the handful of agents who are trying to contain the onslaught. At the same time, crime leaders, most notably ex-cop Jimmy Cherizier, aka Barbecue, hold wild press conferences in which they present themselves as social leaders willing to do anything to bring down the government.
A private security guard, Alan, a fictitious name, spent the afternoon of 29 February taking people to his house. "Through the WhatsApp groups we saw that things were very hot. Me and my team took our clients to their homes. There were 15 of them. Then everyone went to their homes and waited for it to stop. The police don't have the capacity," he explains: "Everyone is afraid, they're waiting for help from abroad, that's the only option.
Foreign aid is all the rage these days. For months, the United Nations has been trying to finalise the deployment of a police support mission to the country, which has less than 10,000 police officers for a population of 11 million. Kenya has put its hand up to lead the mission and has pledged to send at least 1,000 officers. Other nations, such as Spain, have also offered human and material support, all under the financial umbrella of the United States, which has pledged to match its investment in the country which has promised a logistical investment of 200 million dollars.
The criminal gangs, which number in the dozens in Port-au-Prince, with shifting leaderships and alliances, are uncomfortable with the arrival of an international mission. Born in the heat of political fights, their dynamics have changed in recent years. During the first two decades of the century, they functioned as shock groups at the service of the elites in a political logic permanently attached to electoral cycles. However, Haiti last held elections in 2016, and gangs have begun looking elsewhere for resources. Since then, extortion and kidnapping have become their main activities.
Romain Le Cour, a researcher at “The Global Initiative” against “Transnational Organized Crime”, a Swiss-based civil society organization, highlights the pervasive nature of the kidnapping industry in Haiti. Le Cour, who departed Port-au-Prince amid the escalating crisis, recounts a recent interview with a victim who described being held captive along with 70 others in a safe house. The victim emphasized the organized nature of the operations, revealing that hostages could be detained for up to a month or even a month and a half. Le Cour underscores the alarming reality facing residents, stating that virtually everyone either knows someone who has fallen victim to kidnapping in Port-au-Prince or expects it to happen imminently.
A Prime Minister Cornered…
The figure of Ariel Henry embodies much of the chaos in Haiti. The acting prime minister has not been able to return to the country. His return flight from Kenya landed in Puerto Rico, where he awaits a solution to the crisis. A source familiar with the political situation in the capital says criminal groups are targeting the airport precisely because of it. They do not want the airlines to run again to prevent Henry's return and thus precipitate his resignation.
"Henry's is a transitional government, and generally governments like this have lasted two years here," Haitian economist and sociologist Joseph Harold Pierre said by telephone from Cap-Haitien. "By announcing elections for August 2025, with whatever delays there may be and so on, Henry would be in power for five years. A good part of the political class has been frustrated with this announcement," he explains. "I believe that there are going to be profound changes in the government, changes of ministers, at least. I'm sure negotiations are going on, but behind the scenes," says Pierre.
These negotiations are aimed in part at criminal gangs. "Currently, there are two entities that have power in Haiti, the gangs and the international community. Any political group that wants power and doesn't achieve legitimacy in the eyes of the two of them won't be able to do anything," Pierre continues. In that sense, criminal leader Barbecue, who has set himself up as a spokesman for a federation of the capital's most powerful criminal gangs, which he calls Vivre Ensemble (Living Together), has been very clear. If Henry does not leave, he says, there will be a "civil war that will lead to genocide."