Tag: civil unrest

Article via: Everything You Need To Know About The Ongoing Protests In Haiti

You may have seen images circulating the internet depicting the violent and deadly protests that have recently occurred in Haiti. Swarms of Haitian workers shut down the capital of Port-au-Prince Monday following the government’s announcement of increased fuel prices. The prices had long been subsidized, but where raised in order to free up government funds to comply with the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) austerity measures.

“I ask for your patience because our administration has a vision, a clear program,” said Prime Minister Guy Lafontant said in a televised announcement according to TeleSurv. Shortly after announcing the new measures, the prime minister put a temporary halt to what would’ve been a 38 percent gasoline price increase, 47 percent diesel price increase and 51 percent kerosene price increase.

According to The Globe Post, the protests may have incited a comprise, as IMF spokesperson Gerry Rice confirmed the organization agreed to restructure conditions imposed on the Haitian government during a briefing on Thursday. Calls for the resignation of many high ranking government figures may have also led to the speedy about face.

This whole ordeal can’t simply be reduced to anger over gas prices, though. The price increase was simply the spark that ignited the powder keg. There’s quite a bit to unpack, so we’re here to offer some background.

Unfortunately, as often is the case with many major protests, there was a lot of misinformation going around, but Twitter user @AdoreAmanda_ had time today. Citing, long-terms frustrations over poverty, a horrible education system and corruption, she broke it all the way down.

As CFR notes, Haiti is the poorest nation in the Western hemisphere with more than half of its population living below the poverty line. The country also heavily relies on foreign aid. Natural disasters and ineffective humanitarian relief management have also negatively affected its economy, especially with regards to tourism.

Haiti was thrown into extreme debt almost immediately after its independence. After the country’s slaves won freedom for themselves in a war with France, France refused to acknowledge it as a country until Haiti paid France the full worth of all those newly freed slaves.

Haiti won independence in 1804 according to CFR, and agreed to pay France $22 billion in today’s dollars in 1825, literally at gunpoint (France had set up a naval blockade of the island country) in order to gain international recognition, Forbes reports.

Haiti, which at the time was poised to become one of the richest countries in the West thanks to its plentiful natural and agricultural resources then spent the next 122 years paying as much as 80 percent of its revenues paying France back for its “stolen slaves.”

While it struggled to get out from under this crippling debt, the United States spent nearly two decades destabilizing the country politically during World War I and the the lead up to World War II. President Woodrow Wilson invaded the country in 1915 claiming doing so was necessary to keep out the German forces, then instituted a policy of segregation, slavery and fake news that led to several rebellions, the deaths of at least 15,000 Haitians and the forced dissolution of a series of governments hostile to the U.S. presence.

The U.S. pulled out in 1934, leaving a power vacuum that was eventually filled by Kim Il-Sung-esque dictator Francois Duvalier.

Haiti was still under a mountain of debt when hit by the devastating 2010 earthquake. Following the disaster, Haiti was largely forgiven of its debts, but had to borrow roughly $2.6 billion in order to rebuild, as its coffers were drained from years of paying debtors.

“For an entire century, Haiti geared its economy to paying back the French debt and missed out on industrialization, education, and development of its government and democratic institutions,” noted Brian Concannon, founder and executive director of the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti. “It really couldn’t develop.”

The IMF’s measures were supposedly meant to help Haiti accelerate its development, and Rice has said the organization still wants Haiti “to move as quickly as possible” in carrying out reforms. However, there is no definitive timeline as of yet.