With the current crisis in Haiti, the island nation’s history of 200-plus years of gross economic abuse inflicted by France and the U.S. that has robbed the nation of well over $20 billion is becoming more widely known.
It’s a history literally keeping the country in debt and setting it up for political and economic disaster. Hence, the current crisis, which comes on the heels of the assassination of Haiti’s president, Jovenel Moïse, in 2021, followed by its prime minister, Ariel Henry, assuming leadership and promising democratic elections that have yet to materialize in three years.
The unrest and outrage have exiled Henry, reportedly by gangs, creating a government-less situation. Over one million people have fled the Caribbean nation, with 33,000 people fleeing Haiti’s capital alone in a span of nearly two weeks. Roughly 17,000 Haitians have been left homeless.
Adding to the madness is a broken hospital system, food shortage and an overwhelmed police force in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area.
The Defender spoke with U.S. Congressman Al Green to get his views on the situation and possible solutions.
Motorcyclists navigate around a charred body lying in the road as pedestrians walk past, in the Petion-Ville neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, March 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
Defender: What’s going on in Haiti currently?
Green: As a result of the death of the president and the failure of the prime minister, the whole election as people perceived that they should have been held, we now have the prime minister indicating that he would resign and that he would do so when a transitional government could be brokered. And there are parties that are working to broker this transitional government. They are the United States and some of the Caribbean nations. Hopefully, this can be done such that the people in Haiti will be pleased. Because the people there, many of them believe that this transitional government would not be satisfactory because they’d like to see Haitians come to a resolution to the conflict rather than have foreign intervention. And one can understand some of why they feel this way, because they’ve had foreign intervention [France, the U.S.] that has not served them well.
Defender: What’s been the impact of that negative foreign intervention?
Green: As a result, about 40% of Haiti’s income was from France and the United States. It’s had an outside intervention that hasn’t been beneficial as the Haitians would see it. They’d like to try to resolve their problems within. But in so doing, they still need a lot of help from without, which is why I have penned this communiqué to the Speaker of the House, asking the speaker to have the $40 million that has already been allocated and appropriated, have it released so that it can be made available for security in Haiti.
Defender: If the funds have already been designated, what’s the holdup?
Green: The concern seems to be that people want to get a better sense of how the money’s going to be spent. And there are two people holding it up. I’d rather not call their names. If they would but only sign off, the money would go to Haiti and it would be used to support the security efforts. Kenya offered to provide an international security force. If we can get that $40 million there, we can at least start to secure the country to deal with the gang violence that is not only disturbing people but people are also killing people. Roughly 8,400 people were killed, injured, or kidnapped in 2023.
“If you truly believe that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, then you would want to end the injustice that’s taking place in Haiti.” (U.S. Rep. Al Green )
Defender: Why should this concern Blacks in the U.S., and specifically, Houston?
Green: It should concern people wherever they happen to be. Dr. King has a quote, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Well, if you truly believe that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, then you would want to end the injustice that’s taking place in Haiti. Haiti is closer to the United States than Houston is to El Paso. Haiti has been disrespected by us over the years… Under a policy known as “Wet Foot, Dry Foot” [Cubans fleeing Castro by boat could arrive in the U.S.] and they could have an opportunity to work and become part of a pathway to citizenship. The Haitians were not given similar opportunities. They could get here, fleeing violence, but they would be returned to Haiti. Haiti is also suffering in part because of the United States. We have had a hand in their suffering… So, because our fingerprints are on the conditions that they’re having to endure, there’s a moral obligation, a moral imperative to do what we can to eliminate the suffering that’s taking place.
But let’s just assume for a moment that we’ve never been involved to see that level of carnage taking place. And knowing that we can do something to help, seems to me that a country that has as its [creed], “liberty and justice for all,” “all persons created equal and endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, not among them life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” a country that has the Statue of Liberty, that it would just seem that we would want to do what we can to help, especially given that they’re in our hemisphere.
“We’re sending billions to Ukraine… There’s an effort to send billions more to Israel. These are countries that are in distant places, but we’ve sent money to them… Haiti is right here in our hemisphere, sort of like our neighbors, and we ought to be able to send $40 million that we’ve already set aside.” (U.S. Rep. Al Green )
Defender: What’s your justification for the $40 million?
Green: We help people around the world. We’re sending billions to Ukraine and currently there is an effort to send billions more to Ukraine. We send billions to Israel. There’s an effort to send billions more to Israel. These are countries that are in distant places, but we’ve sent money to them. We’ve sent money to Egypt. There are many places that we use our largesse to gain the opportunity to have influence. Haiti is right here in our hemisphere, sort of like our neighbors, and we ought to be able to send $40 million that we’ve already set aside for Haiti.
Defender: Besides helping to form the transition government and releasing that $40 million, what else do you want to see happen?
Green: We should allow Haitians the opportunity to enter our country that we have allowed to the Cubans fleeing Castro. They were allowed to come to this country just by getting one foot on dry land here. We never allowed the Haitians to have that same privilege.
Defender: Any final words?
Green: When Haitians come here to our country, they do very well. We have a Haitian community here [in Houston]. They are hardworking people. They obviously care about their country, but they come here and they do well. They’re business-minded. They want to succeed in life. And I think that there’s still room enough here for Haitians. So I’m working to do what I can to help some of the Haitians get into this country.
And I am very much concerned about people who just need to get out. As for emergency reasons, the hospitals are not functioning. There are people who are ill, and they need to be taken care of. We may have to life-flight some people to get them some medical attention. There’s a food shortage there. And because of the food shortage; we need to get the food into Haiti. But things like the food and getting people out and helping people within can only occur safely once we have this international force that the Kenyans can provide in place. So, we have to start with bringing some stability and eliminating the violence so that we can have countries offer the hand of friendship in various other ways.
