Haiti is Among the First and Latest Examples of US-Led Destabilization

This article originally appeared on The Rundown Live and was republished with permission.

Guest post by Don Via, Jr.

Haiti is once again in chaos. Over the last few months tensions have been rising over political disputes and power struggles, a powder keg waiting to explode. And now over the last few days armed gangs have stormed the presidential palace while violence has erupted throughout the capitol city of Port-au-Prince and elsewhere.

The Prime Minister was forced to flee the country and has since stepped down, criminals are wreaking havoc through the streets, bedlam and mayhem is quickly becoming the new norm, the upheaval exacerbating the already existing issues of borderline famine, disease, and poverty as the unrest is threatening to cause the already unstable small nation to fall into total collapse as it turns into a humanitarian crisis of epic proportions.

What is the cause of this disarray? If you were to only read western mainstream media reports, particularly from the US and the UK, you would be told that the cause for the turmoil falls solely at the feet of a man named Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier — a former policeman turned brutal gangster who serves as the leader of one of the nation’s most powerful gangs known as G9, and is currently leading the uprising against the government with the combined force of several other former rival gangs now aligned with one another.

While that statement may be in and of itself true, the reality of the situation in Haiti is a lot more complicated than that as well.

First it should be noted that while “Barbecue” is by no means benevolent or the messianic figure he presents himself to be; in his own words he describes himself as a freedom fighter, leading a revolution to overthrow corrupt oligarchs and colonial powers. And despite his brutal tactics that sentiment alone has earned him a degree of support from the Haitian population which still identifies with this legitimate struggle that Haiti has fought its entire existence.

Of course, it is likely that this rhetoric is nothing more than a clever cover for a criminal strongman with political aspirations in the midst of a power grab, but what is truly important to understand about this latest upheaval is that it is merely the latest chapter in a long bloody history of unrest primarily incited by exterior forces. Rather than happening in a vacuum, the rise of figures like Cherizier is the result of decades of western backed destabilization on the heels of centuries of neocolonialist imperialist intervention, setting the stage for the chaos that has unfolded in Haiti for as long as any of us can remember. 

The history of Haiti as we know it now stretches all the way back to the start of European colonization of the Americas. Being one of the first Caribbean islands enslaved under the brutal governorate of Christopher Columbus and the Spanish following his arrival in 1492, whereupon scores of the indigenous Taino population were massacred to establish Columbus’ control over the island. Creating a slave colony that would later come under rule of the French empire in 1625, lasting for almost another two centuries until a massive slave revolt led to a revolution which ultimately won them their independence in 1804.

Unfortunately, however this did not last long, as Haiti would face decades of political struggles and revolts, exacerbated by outside colonial influence still vying to exploit the region. Compounded by a crippling debt imposed on the new nation in 1825 as an “indemnity” under the threat of invasion in an act of extortion by the King of France Charles X, a political theft by the former colonizers that drained the nation of its wealth.

The latter half of the 19th century saw more unrest and more theft. By the early 1900s the banking cartel on Wall Street had their eye on pillaging what was left of Haiti’s resources, and in 1914 set about doing just that. The following year, amid continued political turmoil the United States launched a full-scale military invasion of Haiti under the guise of restoring law and order, but in reality, military rule of the region was implemented to better facilitate the corporate looting of Haitian wealth at the behest of financiers on Wall Street and the US political ruling class. Resulting in a brutal occupation which lasted 19 years.

Yet despite the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Haitian soil in 1933, American meddling in the affairs of Haiti throughout the years would continue indefinitely. By the late 1950s several more leaders had come and gone, often deposed through revolt.

Then came 1957 and a rigged election which saw the rise of Francois Duvalier, known as Papa Doc, a voodoo obsessed tyrant who would go on to establish a particularly brutal and repressive dictatorship with the backing of the US government, in similar fashion to other parts of Latin America in which the US was keen to back bloodthirsty maniacs so long as they enforced anti-communist Cold War policy.

The Duvalier dictatorship, ruled by Francois until his death in 1971 and then succeeded by his son Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier would last until 1986, leaving a blood soaked legacy of despotism and plunging the nation even further into dire poverty. 

By the time of the Reagan/ Bush/ Clinton era it appears that U.S. policy towards Haiti was taking a “both sides” approach to destabilizing the nation. Either deliberately, or through an incredible ineptitude of flip flopping policy that resulted in tremendous blowback.

Reports published in the mid nineties confirm that in 1986 the CIA helped to establish Haiti’s National Intelligence Service, the S.I.N. Which would go on to be later implicated in a spate of scandals including corruption, drug trafficking, and political violence, much like their CIA counterparts. The report also notes how the agency went on to make assets out of several military leaders, many of whom along with the intelligence service were later involved in the 1991 coup ousting then democratically elected president Rev. Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Whether or not the agency was actually involved in fomenting the coup is up for debate due to conflicting accounts. On the one hand it is said that the agency cut ties with many of these assets immediately following the coup, with the Clinton administration allegedly having been caught off guard by the change in government. 

On the other hand reports from the New York Times in 1994 and 1996 reveals that Emmanuel (Toto) Constant, a Haitian terrorist and founder of the paramilitary death squad FRAPH (Front for the Advancement and Progress of Haiti) formed in 1993 and responsible for indiscriminate acts of violence against the Haitian people during the rule of the military junta had also been on the payroll of the Central Intelligence Agency along with several other leading figures of the regime.

Furthermore, it is alleged that CIA and U.S. military planners not only encouraged but were directly involved in the early planning for the creation of the terror organization shortly following the 1991 coup, for which it is told US planners were also present. Although Clinton administration officials deny such allegations.

What is known is that by 1994 the US decided to get directly involved, this time launching Operation Uphold Democracy. An intervention which once again saw 25,000 U.S. military personnel invade the island nation, though this time there were no casualties. The invasion of US forces alone was enough to make the military junta step down and Aristide was returned to power.

The allegiance of the US empire is fleeting, however. Just a decade later and yet another coup would take place, yet again involving the CIA. Only this time Aristide would be on the receiving end.

As reported by The GrayZone, a recently revealed CIA cable has exposed the role of the intelligence agency in facilitating a covert regime change operation which led to the 2004 overthrow of the Aristide government, once again plunging Haiti into chaos.

Since the ’04 coup, conditions in Haiti have only continued to deteriorate. After a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 earthquake devastated Haiti in 2010, the Clintons would once again swoop in to intervene. This time with Hillary as Secretary of State under the Obama administration and Bill representing the Clinton Foundation. Launching a supposedly charitable initiative to help rebuild parts of the country impacted by the disaster.

What followed was a disaster in and of itself. The project was mismanaged every step of the way. The shelters provided for the disaster victims were poorly constructed, laced with toxic chemicals and carcinogens. It later came to light that the company providing the trailers, Clayton Homes, owned by longtime Clinton campaign donor Warren Buffett, had already been sued by the US Federal Emergency Management Agency for providing unsafe trailers to the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Throughout the course of the Clintons ill-fated project in Haiti millions of dollars in donated relief funds would go missing never to be seen again, leading many to speculate the whole thing was a massive fraud on behalf of the Clintons. 

At the same time, another disaster was unfolding, UN aid workers sent in to assist with the relief efforts following the earthquake would inadvertently contribute to a mass outbreak of cholera, killing thousands.

While the cholera outbreak received considerable media attention another much more severe UN scandal in Haiti was given far less acknowledgement. In 2015 reports began to surface of rampant, widespread, ongoing sexual abuse of Haitian women and children at the hands of UN peacekeepers.

As news of these heinous acts continued to be brought to light over the coming years, still none of the soldiers were held liable or faced repercussions for their deplorable actions. Demonstrating the much broader issue of ongoing sexual abuse plaguing UN peacekeeping missions worldwide. 

In recent years America’s fingerprints can still be found on the destabilization plaguing Haiti. In 2021 Haitian President Jovenel Moïse was gunned down by a gang of unknown assailants in his home, once again sending shockwaves through Haiti’s political atmosphere.

It was later revealed that the assassins worked for Miami based security firm CTU Security and subsequent investigations revealed that several of the individuals involved with the assassination plot have ties to both Moïse’s political rivals as well as the U.S. establishment, including Manuel Antonio Grosso Guarín, a US trained Columbian commando whose special operations career involved kidnapping and assassination operations.

Additionally, two more men involved with the plot were found to be linked to the FBI, and the DEA. Speaking with Univision, attorney Sondra McCollins, who represents several of the men involved in the plot said —

“They were absolutely convinced that they were working for part of the U.S. government; I don’t know if it was the FBI or the CIA or the DEA,”

Adding to suspicions is the fact that during the legal proceedings the U.S. Justice Department successfully sealed evidence in the case with the use of the Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA), typically used in keeping information sealed that “may pose a threat to US National Security interests”.  Leading many to believe that Washington has something to hide in relation to the killing.

Following the assassination of Moïse, which set the stage for the current turmoil unfolding in the country, Western officials once again completely disregarded the wishes of the Haitian people and quickly worked to declare the now most recent former Prime Minister Ariel Henry to power via a letter of recommendation from the ambassadors of the US, Canada, France, Spain, Germany, Brazil, UN and OAS, known as The CORE Group. An organization created via the UN Security Council to exert outside control over the direction of Haitian politics following the 2004 coup.

Now with Henry out of power, Haiti is once again at a crossroads in history. Facing the prospect of more UN intervention, another despotic strongman, or perhaps the first legitimately held democratic elections since 2016.

This long tumultuous history demonstrates that the strife of Haiti goes far deeper than misfortune alone. One could liken it more to blatant sabotage of a nation’s prosperity. The poverty, corruption, violence, and constant state of suffering exhibited in Haiti is the direct result of the meddling of the US empire and other western neocolonial powers who continue to exploit the Haitian people for their own gain.

Of course, this kind of policy is far from abnormal, it is the status quo. The US has a long history of using regime change to exert its influence. From the overthrow of Hawaii’s monarchy in 1893, the 1933 annexation of Cuba, the 1953 Iranian coup, 1973’s coup in Chile, 2011’s ouster of Gaddafi in Libya, the 2014 coup in Ukraine and many, many more. The US has become the world’s number one exporter of overthrown governments, so much so that the word “democracy” is almost synonymous with “regime change”. 

The best way to quell the violence and actually help Haiti begin the long healing process needed to establish lasting peace and prosperity is for the US to get out of the way, recognize Haiti’s right to self-determination, and allow the Haitian people to finally once and for all be in charge of their own destiny. 

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