UNA-ORLANDO - Haiti

HAITI

Haiti is a former slave plantation that became a nation in 1803 as a result of a slave uprising. However, while the revolution did free the Haitians from their French Colonial rulers, peace and prosperity did not follow. Consistently throughout the past 200 years, Haiti has been violent and unstable. It is listed as the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. It is vulnerable to earthquakes, hurricanes, and widespread epidemics and it has consistently been the victim of foreign interference.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LEARNING RESOURCES

Moise Assassination

Pre-Assassination Protests / Popular Demands

Poverty / Inequality

Haitian Revolution 1791-1803

Potential Solutions

LEARNING RESOURCES

Background

Haiti’s Troubled Path to DevelopmentHobbled by foreign interventions, political instability, and natural disasters, the former French colony has long suffered from underdevelopment.

What is really behind the crisis in Haiti?Decades of neoliberalism, neocolonialism and now climate injustice have pushed Haiti to the brink.

Even Before Jovenel Moïse's Assassination, Haiti Was In CrisisPolitical instability, the lasting effects of a devastating earthquake and a cholera epidemic, foreign political interventions and gang violence have all taken their toll on this nation.

Happening Now

Gunmen assassinate Haitian president at his home, hunt launched for killersHaitian President Jovenel Moise was shot dead by gunmen with assault rifles in his private residence overnight on Wednesday, sparking fears of a further descent into chaos in the impoverished Caribbean nation as a manhunt got underway.

Top UN Haiti envoy hails commitment to hold new electionsThe UN Special Representative for Haiti on Thursday, acknowledged the legitimacy of Prime Minister Claude Joseph to lead the Caribbean nation, following the “cowardly” assassination of President Jovenel Moïse on Wednesday, and welcomed his government’s commitment to hold national elections later this year.

The U.S. Is Sending A Team Of Investigators To Haiti, But Not Military Assistance Agents from multiple agencies are joining the investigation into Wednesday's assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse, but the Biden administration says it has no plans to send troops.

Moise Assassination

Haiti's president assassinated: 5 essential reads to give you key history and insightExpert background on Haiti, where President Jovenel Moïse's July 7 killing is the latest in the Caribbean nation's long list of struggles.

UN condemns ‘abhorrent’ assassination of Haiti President Jovenel MoïsePerpetrators behind the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse must be brought to justice, the United Nations said on Wednesday.

What We Know About The Assassination Of Haiti's President The assassination of Haiti's President Jovenel Moïse on Wednesday has pitched the country into uncertainty. Haiti was already in crisis even before its president's assassination.

Pre-Assassination Protests / Popular Demands

Why Haitians say they won't stop protestingProtesters hope smaller protests will avoid a repeat of recent violence, which has resulted in several deaths. At the same time, they are not backing down from their demands: that government officials be held accountable and that foreign nations stop dictating how Haiti handles its domestic affairs.

Explainer: What's behind Haiti's deadly protests, and possible outcomesHaiti, the poorest country in the Americas, has been rocked by violent protests in the last month that have led schools, public offices and businesses to close and forced non-governmental organizations to suspend aid distribution.

Haiti gripped by deadly riots over fuel prices | DW | 08.07.2018Several deaths have been reported in Haiti as people rioted to protest significant increases in gas and fuel prices. Major airlines have canceled flights to the island. Leaders have appealed for calm.

Poverty / Inequality

History, Environment, Politics Make Haiti PoorWith all eyes on Haiti, many have speculated about why the nation is the poorest in the Western Hemisphere. Author Jared Diamond, author of Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, says there's no simple answer — it's is a complex mix of history and environment, plus social and political policy.

Haiti: a long descent to hellHaiti, born of slavery and revolution, has struggled with centuries of crippling debt, exploitation, corruption and violence

Haiti political morass fuels growing crisis of hunger, malnutritionFarmhand Celavi Belor has lost so much weight over the past year his clothes hang limply off his angular frame.

Gang Violence

Gangs Rule the Streets of Jovenel Moïse’s HaitiA whole country has been kidnapped by a bloodthirsty, money-hungry cabal. And how does the US State Department respond? By calling for “dialogue.”

Thousands of women and children flee Haiti gang violence, Unicef says• UN agency says 8,500 abandon homes in Port-au-Prince, with families ‘caught in crossfire’ sleeping on concrete floors

‘Unprecedented’ rise in gang violence across Haiti’s capital displaces thousandsAn upsurge in deadly clashes between gangs in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, has displaced more than 5,000 people since the beginning of the month, the United Nations said on Thursday, citing preliminary estimates from its humanitarian agency, OCHA.

Health/Covid

A third of Haiti’s children in urgent need of emergency aid: UNICEFNearly a third of all children in Haiti – numbering around 1.5 million - are in urgent need of emergency relief due to rising violence, insufficient access to clean water, health and nutrition, said the UN Children’s Fund UNICEF on Friday.

Political impasse in Haiti, amid rising humanitarian needs, ahead of crucial electionsAmid worsening socioeconomic conditions, rising criminal gang violence and a resurgence of COVID-19, Haiti’s leaders must commit to good-faith dialogue aimed at ending a longstanding and damaging political impasse, the UN’s senior official in the country told the Security Council today.

Twin epidemics in Haiti, violence and coronavirus, usher in ‘critical phase’ in wake of assassinationPublic health organizations fear the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse on Wednesday could fuel insecurity and hamper the rollout of coronavirus vaccines, which has not yet begun.

Haitian Revolution 1791-1803

Haitian Revolution (1791-1804) • Global African History •The Haitian Revolution has been described as the largest slave rebellion in the Western Hemisphere which succeeded in ending slavery & French control over the colony.

What The Haitian Revolution Tells Us About The U.S. Movement For Racial EqualityNPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro and historian Marlene Daut discuss parallels between the Haitian Revolution and the Black Lives Matter movement in the U.S. for our series, "We Hold These Truths."

Perspective | Racism has always driven U.S. policy toward HaitiOn Haiti, Donald Trump sounds like a lot Thomas Jefferson.

Potential Solutions

Haiti expert: Country needs a ‘transitional government’Professor Louis Herns Marcelin maintains the Caribbean nation needs oversight to ensure a free election after the current president faces demands to step down over allegations of corruption and collusion with local gangs.

CAP Calls on Congress To Find Holistic Solutions for Haiti - Center for American ProgressThe Center for American Progress submitted a statement for the record suggesting several policy tools the Biden administration should consider to help Haiti.

Only Haitians Can Save HaitiThe world has tried before to fix this troubled state -- and failed each time. Now will be no different, unless Haitians take the lead.

Leaked testimony from Haiti suspects says plan was to arrest, not kill presidentA group of Colombians and Haitian Americans suspected of assassinating Haitian President Jovenel Moise told investigators they were there to arrest him, not kill him, the Miami Herald and a person familiar with the matter said on Sunday.

Haiti gang leader launches 'revolution' as violence escalatesOne of Haiti's most powerful gang leaders warned this week he was launching a revolution against the country's business and political elites, signaling a likely further escalation of violence in the impoverished Caribbean nation.

Haiti country profileProvides an overview of Haiti, including key events and facts

Haiti: Saving the Environment, Preventing Instability and ConflictReversing a decades-long trend of environmental destruction is essential to Haiti’s development, social and economic stability and, ultimately, security.

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