For months the people of Haiti have been protesting the fact that despite his Presidential term being over, Jovenel Moïse remained in office, a move than the United States backed despite the fact that many Haitians opposed this.
I get it.
Popular opinion should not always be a predictor of whether or not a leader shouldn’t be in a certain position, but the opposition to this particular leader was extremely strong by Haitians. And let’s not forget the country has a horrific history of being under the rule of brutal dictators. The recent presidency was starting to resemble another “presidency” which was really a regime of terror that lasted for years.
The Haitian people have been suffering unlike they have before, even more than when they were under the brutal dictatorship of the man they call, “Papa Doc” and many of them would say it is due to all of the political unrest that came with the Presidency of Jovenel Moïse. The current chaos has brought attention to the plight of the Haitian people who have been starving, dying and suffering by the millions under his term.
Recently President Moïse was assassinated in his home and his wife was also shot but surprisingly she survived. So many questions surround the murder, but that is not the focus of this post as much as is the truth about his Presidency. If you would like to get my opinion on whether or not the United States should have supported Moïse staying in office, read on……
First of all there has not been a shortage of controversy surrounding the election of Moïse and during his term he was accused of embezzlement and fraud. But some have accused the United States of hand picking and backing him. But that has not been proven, but the mere mention of impropriety should of made America distance themselves from Moïse.
At the time of his murder there were mass protests because he dissolved Parliament in response to his term being up and there being a call for him to go as the law stated. He refused to go stating that on a technicality he should remain in office another year. This was a move that reminded many of the beginning stages of a dictatorship. Not to mention street gangs roamed the streets and destroyed, raped and killed with impunity. So you just get to dismiss law makers and then ignore the law?
What was the American response to Moïse remaining in office? They supported it. The Americans did not act, yet urged that Haiti had elections again to rectify the situation.
So someone else acted…….
(Posted on YouTube PBS NewsHour)
And that is why I feel America should have not supported Jovenel Moïse and stepped in to help him be removed from office. It may have spared his life. You see, he would have at least been able to sort out if he was the rightful President and stay alive while it was determined who rightfully should have been in office.
It’s crazy how America picks and chooses when and in what instances it choses not to interfere in foreign elections. If there is some location that has beneficial resources to us, we find a way to stick our noses into foreign elections quick.
Why was America backing such a problematic leader anyway? Haitians are divided on their opinion of Moïse but you cannot deny, the protests against him and all the allegations of misconduct made him an individual America definitely shouldn’t of backed.
I mean there were countless reports of him being allegedly connected to a persistent criminal element that terrorized the opponents of Moïse, a claim that he denied and was never prosecuted for. In fact, he was not prosecuted for any of allegations against him, but we have seen America distance themselves from problematic leaders for far less than allegations of mass kidnappings and burning of citizens in their homes.
So that is my opinion. America should have not agreed with the decision for him Moïse to remain in office after dissolving Parliament, and being involved in so much controversy. And, we should have actively pursued Democracy for the people of Haiti by insisting that Moïse be removed and a interim government be put in place until the rightful leader can be put in place.
Isn’t it ironic that that is essentially what took place anyway? Claude Joseph is now the interim President because of the suddenness of the assassination. The transfer of power wouldn’t have resulted in the bloodshed of Moïse possibly, if America had of did more.
Here is the kicker, although there were so many Haitians had a problem with him, they still were shocked that their President was killed. Many are sympathetic to his wife Martine, who was critically injured but is expected to survive. Imagine the horror and trauma she has endured.
Now we should want the people of Haiti to be helped because like I keep saying, they are suffering. They are basically trapped there as there is in effect no unified services to help the people who are in dire straits. They need security, food, water, clothing, shelter, you know, the things they needed before these latest tragic events to hit a nation who has had more than their share of tragedies.
For years Haiti has received aid but its citizens have remained some of the poorest in the Western Hemisphere. To add insult to injury, the Dominican Republic has closed its borders in an effort to keep Haitians out of their country for a variety of reasons. It was the Diaspora and the Haitian immigrants in places like America who sent money that kept many barely above desperation, but now with things so uncertain the help is drying up. Americans need to help in a major way but doesn’t seem to be willing to do much, but it’s understandable it’s not like we don’t have our own issues but we should be able to help them!
But what do I know? I’m just a bootleg sociologist who nobody will listen to so I started a blog……….
What are your thoughts?
Follow this blog:
Facebook@ whenthiswomanspeaks
Instagram@ whenthiswomanspeaks
Twitter@ woman_speaking
Tumblr@whenthiswomanspeaks.com
Pinterest@whenthiswomanspeaks
References:
When This Woman Speaks 