Latin America and the Biden-Harris Administration: Haiti

"Haiti always been a bad example that the US needed to eradicate." So says Brian Concannon, human rights attorney and executive director of Project Blueprint in The Majority Report episode below, explaining that he thinks the US is chronically worried about a vibrant democracy developing in Haiti, the poorest country in Latin America. He notes that there are no particularly lucrative private US interests concerned about access to Haiti. He thinks US policy is based on a kind of domino theory that democratic reforms might be contagious to other Latin American countries.

Haiti is in the news right now because the Haitian President was just assassinated. Aljazeera English reports here, Haiti President Jovenel Moise assassinated: Interim PM 07/07/2021:

It important to remember that early reports in situations like this may include a lot of "noise," i.e., unclear information, speculation, deliberate misinformation.

Brian Concannon was a guest on Sam Seder's Majority Report today, giving some background about US policy in the region, Voting Rights & Jovenel Moïse Assassinated in Haiti w/ Mark Joseph Stern & Brian Concannon 07/07/2021. The segment with Concannon begins just after 46:40:

As Concannon explains, the US has been very involved in intervening in Haitian politics. What happens going forward may not attract much attention in the US press. But what role the Biden-Harris Administration plays in the coming weeks and months may provide important clues about their Latin American policy.

Both the Majority Report and Aljazeera English report above describe the recent authoritarian trend in Haiti. The McClatchy newspaper Miami Herald editorially calls for the US to take an active role in the current political transition. Exactly what they envision the US doing isn't clear. But they frame their pitch in the familiar language of "humanitarian intervention":

All of this adds up to one thing: The United States, which has been content to stay mostly quiet on Haiti in both the Trump administration and the Biden administration, will have to get off the sidelines — immediately.

The lack of real engagement by the U.S. as Haiti continued to spiral down was seen by many as tacit support of Moïse, despite worrying signs for months that the president was becoming the region’s newest strongman.

In February, members of Congress sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken urging the U.S. to back a transition government in Haiti. The lawmakers said the human rights situation there was perilous, and accused Moïse of flouting democracy.

In May, the U.S. extended 18 months of Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, to Haitians already living in the United States, an important acknowledgment that conditions in the country had grown too unstable for citizens to return safely.

“The United States offers condolences to the people of Haiti,” a statement from the White House said on Wednesday, “and we stand ready to assist as we continue to work for a safe and secure Haiti.”

Haiti will need help from the U.S., no doubt. But what is the practical translation of working to help Haiti become safe and secure?

It’s clear that Haiti will need both immediate and longer-term guidance to move forward in a democratic way. This is a country that started out with weak institutions, and they’re now virtually non-existent. The U.S., as Haiti’s biggest donor, has no choice but to take the lead — with international partners and, importantly, Haiti’s own civil society — to stabilize Haiti. [my emphasis]

Jovenel Moïse became President in 2017. An additional Herald article gives some background on Moise and this sketch of the current situation (Jacqueline Charles and Fils-Aimé, Haiti President Jovenel Moïse assassinated in middle-of-the-night attack at his home 07/07/2021):

The president’s death will throw Haiti into further disarray. Since coming into office in 2017, Moïse had faced mounting protests over his governance amid a deepening political and constitutional crisis, questions about his legitimacy and accusations that he used armed gangs to remain in power. He also was accused of corruption as part of a far-reaching report into how multiple Haitian governments spent nearly $2 billion in aid from Venezuela’s PetroCaribe program.

The amended constitution of Haiti says in the case where there is a presidential vacancy in the fourth year of the term, the National Assembly has to meet within 60 days to elect a new provisional president for the remainer [sic] of the term.

But there is no parliament in Haiti to form a National Assembly.

“There is no constitutional answer to this situation,” said Bernard Gousse, a former justice minister and legal expert.

There are only 10 elected officials in the country, all senators. Joseph, the current interim primer minister, has not been ratified by the country’s parliament and has resigned. The new prime minister Moïse appointed this week, Ariel Henry, has yet to be sworn in. There isn’t even a president of the Supreme Court: René Sylvestre, the president, died last week from COVID-19 and the oldest member of the court currently heads a shadow government put in place earlier this year by the opposition.

Charles and Fils-Aimé also note:

Moïse had been ruling by decree since January 2020, and had been under pressure by the Biden administration to hold presidential and long-over due legislative elections before the end of the year.

The U.S., which has supported Moïse, had increasingly criticized some of his decisions, such as the creation of a secret intelligence agency and a decree redefining common protest practices like burning tires as terrorism. He was also criticized for firing three Supreme Court justices, whom the opposition had singled out as possible leaders of a transition.