Haiti,Poverty and Power.

[Stavros]

Over the last decades I have tried to understand Haiti, as it remains to me a puzzle, mostly why anyone lives there under such harsh conditions. The recent attempted coup merely exposes yet again the country's chronic political failure, interlaced as it is with power grabs, wealthy -and ruthless elites-and as usual external interests.

I read this and am none the wiser, other than noting the 'private army' element (see below).
https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...alleged-hitmen

I have found this interesting overview from which I pluck this nugget-

"Haiti, once called The Jewel of the Antilles, was the richest colony in the world. In the 1750s, Haiti provided as much as 50% of the GNP of France. The French imported sugar, coffee, cocoa, tobacco, cotton, indigo and other exotic products. In France they were refined, packaged and sold all over Europe. Incredible fortunes were made from this tiny colony on the island of Hispaniola. How could Haiti have once been the source of such wealth and today be the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere? How could this land that was once so productive be semi-barren? How did “The Jewel of the Antilles” become the Caribbean’s hell-hole?"
https://singingrooster.org/why-is-haiti-poor/

As for the private armies...who is paying them, and what for?

The article below refers to the Wagner group, not mentioned in the YouTube video. One wonders why so many States now sub-contract organized violence. As for the USA, I think it shoud stay away just to see which country does make an entry -Russia? Iran? China?

https://ndupress.ndu.edu/Media/News/...-armies-today/

[Stavros]

Another interesting article that looks at the background to the latest spiral into hell that seems to be Haiti's way of death...but...the author can't think of a better solution than this one, and if anything it merely underlines the despair at a real solution emerging from within Haiti itself

"What if one of the wealthiest nations in the world turned its attention to finally ending, once and for all, the misery and desolation of the poorest nation in the Western hemisphere? Although formidable challenges lie ahead, the path to peace and stability in Haiti is possible with the right kind of help from Washington."
Pierre-Pierre: Why gangs hold so much power in Haiti (theatlantavoice.com)

Save Haiti, America! Save the World, America!

[tslvr]

What happened to all the Clinton Foundation money for Haiti?

[MrFanti]

What happened to all the Clinton Foundation money for Haiti?

That, is an EXCELLENT question!

What Really Happened with the Clinton Foundation and Haiti?
https://atlantablackstar.com/2018/01...ndation-haiti/

How the Clintons robbed and destroyed Haiti
https://canada-haiti.ca/content/how-...estroyed-haiti

[Stavros]

Yes, it is possible to criticize the development economics which transforms a country into an 'investment destination' for foreign capital, which in reality targets segments of the country -for example, the capital city, or a coastal area with potential for shipping and port facilities- because a lot of these projects see the capital flow in, the buildings go up, and the profits disappear....

In Haiti's case, Clinton himself admits mistakes were made, but also argues that in addition to foreign investors not showing up, there was -probably still is- an indigenous barrier to change in the form of land ownership and rights, held by a Haitian elite whose interests have not coincided with the kinds of things the Clinton Foundation is trying to achieve.

There is another long article based on Bill Clinton's 'confessions' here -
Bill Clinton speaks on Haiti setbacks after 2010 earthquake | Miami Herald

I wonder to what extent the lack of secondary/high school level education in Haiti has been its long term problem, coupled with a corrupt elite whose interests have never been in the State as such, and not the mass of people. If the real problem is the lack of change, how does change come about, and is there any guarantee the change will work? It seems to me that one of the things Haiti is cursed with, is a lack of faith by outsiders that anything they do to improve life in Haiti will be effective, so they don't bother.

In the longer term, it is perhaps surprising that with an absence of law and order, the international narcotics business has not yet identified Haiti as an entrepot for North America and even Europe. But that is the pessimist in me failing to see a silver lining to this playbook.

[blackchubby38]

I know it didn't work after WWI, but I wonder if the only hope for Haiti's future is it if becomes a mandate, maybe of the United Nations. Because the amount of the actions that are going have to be taken in order for its society to become functioning again are staggering.

First, there has to be a military operation in order to arrest and/or kill the gangs rampaging through the streets. Then you're going to need a peace keeping operation, while a centralized government is reformed and free and fair elections are held. After that's done, you're still going need those forces to remain in place as the country's infrastructure is rebuilt. When I say rebuilt, I mean back to where it was before things began to fall apart. That needs to be done before you can even start thinking about making any significant changes in order to make sure this doesn't happen again.

[filghy2]

Unfortunately, the historical record of national reform and rebuilding driven by outsiders isn't very promising. West Germany and Japan after WWII were obviously successes, but there haven't been too many since then.

The success in West Germany and Japan seems to have been due mainly to two things:
(a) The US was in control after WWII and had the political will and capacity to do what was necessary, including providing a lot of financial support.
(b) There was a high degree of consensus and commitment to reform within those countries and little significant resistance.

Without those two conditions it's hard to be optimistic of success.

[Stavros]

I know it didn't work after WWI, but I wonder if the only hope for Haiti's future is it if becomes a mandate, maybe of the United Nations. Because the amount of the actions that are going have to be taken in order for its society to become functioning again are staggering.

First, there has to be a military operation in order to arrest and/or kill the gangs rampaging through the streets. Then you're going to need a peace keeping operation, while a centralized government is reformed and free and fair elections are held. After that's done, you're still going need those forces to remain in place as the country's infrastructure is rebuilt. When I say rebuilt, I mean back to where it was before things began to fall apart. That needs to be done before you can even start thinking about making any significant changes in order to make sure this doesn't happen again.

I agree that the scope of the challenge is great, but there are existing mechanisms that succeeded the League of Nations Mandate system, namely the United Nations Trusteeship Council and the Territories it administers (has administered). See the links below.

I think the main obstacle to the suspension of Governance in Haiti (which it can be argued doesn't exist right now in any meaningful way) is that the UN would need the agreement of the Security Council which rests on the decisions of the US, Russia and China, though in the case of Haiti I don't see any strategic advantage for Russia and China blocking it.

The Mandate system was devised by Britain and France before the League of Nations was in operation, and was based on the claim, some of it racist, that these successors to Empire could not 'stand alone under the strenuous conditions of the modern world', hence their division into Mandates A, B and C, with Palestine, TransJordan, Lebanon and Syria in A, the African colonies of Germany B, and the South Pacific Islands C. Jan Smuts was one of the key architects of this system, and once remarked of the Pacific Islands that they required the Mandate because they were "“inhabited by barbarians, who cannot possibly govern themselves” ". You can read of Smuts and the influential role he played in the Balfour Declaration and the Versailles process here-
Opinion | South Africa’s Racist Founding Father Was Also a Human Rights Pioneer - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

Needless to say, the European successors to Empire became independent States -Poland, Hungary and the two which no longer exist, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia, because White Men looked after their own, the racist assumptions of the British and the French doing the rest.

One other example would be the reconstructions of Japan, South Korea and in particular Germany under the Occupied Enemy Territory Administration, but these were based on the fact that Germany (as with Japan) had been defeated and its Governance was immediate once the Allies had occupied Berlin and the German High Command and the Govt had surrendered, which is not the case in Haiti.

UN Trusteeship stuff is in these links-

United Nations trust territories - Wikipedia

List of territories governed by the United Nations - Wikipedia

Trust Territories - UN Trusteeship Council Documentation - Research Guides at United Nations Dag Hammarskjöld Library