Nothing in Haiti Will Change Until the U.S. Government Stops Propping Up Haiti’s Corrupt, Repressive, Illegitimate De Facto Government

Haiti’s illegitimate de facto government has presided over a catastrophic decline including unprecedented levels of killings and sexual violence, gangs controlling most of Port-au-Prince, children suffering from wasting hunger, and not a single elected official in office. It was put in place by the United States and other powerful nations and is maintained in power by foreign interests against Haitians’ wishes. As long as foreign interests, led by the U.S. government, continue to prop up those responsible for and benefiting from Haiti’s crises, no initiative can meaningfully reduce Haitians’ suffering.

Haitian civil society is confident that if the international community stops propping up this illegitimate regime, a consensus transitional government can be formed to run elections and decide how the international community can help. As prominent Haitian human rights organizations recently implored, “[a]n essential first step is to stop propping up the set of actors who created the crises facing the country, including those currently in power.” Any other international response, however well-meaning, is doomed to be wasted effort at best and is more likely to deepen the crisis at worst.