Haitians wary as Kenyan police arrive on latest US-backed mission

girlfreddy, 2 days ago

Haiti has a poor history when it comes to foreign military forces entering the nation to ‘help out’, and they have a valid reason to be wary.

2010s Haiti cholera outbreak

The suspected source of Vibrio cholerae in Haiti was the Artibonite River, from which most of the affected people had consumed the water. Each year, tens of thousands of Haitians bathe, wash their clothes and dishes, obtain drinking water, and recreate in this river, therefore resulting in high rates of exposure to Vibrio cholerae.

The cholera outbreak began nine months after January 2010 earthquake, leading some observers to wrongly suspect it was a result of the natural disaster. However, Haitians grew immediately suspicious of a UN peacekeeper base, home to Nepalese peacekeepers, positioned on a tributary of the Artibonite River. Neighboring farmers reported an undeniable stench of human feces coming from the base, to the extent that local Haitians began getting their drinking water upstream from the base.

Before the outbreak, no cases of cholera had been identified in Haiti for more than a century, and the Caribbean region as a whole had not been affected by the cholera outbreak originating in Peru in 1991. The population’s lack of prior exposure and acquired immunity contributed to the severity of the outbreak.

Haiti suffered 819,779 cases of cholera with 9,794 deaths

mycathas9lives, 2 days ago

A US backed gang will remove the ruling gang. Okay. That sounds not healthy although the US backed gang will be easier to control once the ruling gang is displaced properly. This is why I stay in my house and never leave. The world is messed up.

Jumi, 3 days ago

That’ll surely bring peace and prosperity to them /s

paddirn, 3 days ago

Kenya may be a relatively stable democracy in Africa, but there’s still rampant corruption in their police forces. Police officers are typically underpaid, so to supplement their income they’ll do things like set up random checkpoints on roads in order to shakedown drivers for money. Them going to Haiti doesn’t seem like it’s really going to help with anything.

Linkerbaan, 2 days ago

Democracy is a strong term as the elections appeared to have foul play

Kenya’s presidential election results lead to accusations of vote-rigging

Kenya’s outgoing Deputy President William Ruto has won a narrow victory in the presidential election over his rival Raila Odinga. However, four of the seven election commissioners have contested the results

paddirn, 2 days ago

Yeah, they’ve had shitty elections for years now. Odinga has been in like every election and contests it everytime, even causing really bad election violence at multiple points. This led to them reviving the role of Prime Minister specifically for him to placate Odinga that election. They’ve literally only ever had two prime ministers in their history (President is their head of state), they abolished it again after Odinga’s term was over.

Linkerbaan, 3 days ago

Some backstory: The Haitans succesfully ousted American puppet Ariel Henri. But we’re not about to let these people have their independence. Time to install another puppet regime!

2022-10-31: Haiti’s Elites Keep Calling for the U.S. Marines

Now, another yell is coming from Port-au-Prince. In October, the government of Ariel Henry, Haiti’s de facto prime minister and president, called for a foreign military intervention—“the immediate deployment of a specialized armed force, in sufficient quantity” to stop the street gangs that are terrorizing the population and cutting off access to Haiti’s ports, most crucially the one that receives and stores Haiti’s imports of oil and gas. He did not specify which nation would oversee this armed force. But anyone with even a cursory knowledge of Haitian history—or access to a map—knew the only country he could be referring to.

In Haiti—which has its own obvious problems with narcotrafficking—the U.S.-supported rot runs even deeper, to the democratic vacuum that a century of U.S. invasions, occupations, and interference has left in its wake. Sending an armed force to do battle with one Haitian gang and its sponsors may briefly win the de facto government (or Chérizier’s other rivals) access to the fuel port, but it will do nothing to make Haiti a safer or more stable place for its people to live in the medium or long term.

NOT_RICK, 2 days ago

I haven’t seen any alternative to this action other than allowing the warlords that are mustering power to run rampant. The most notable of them is a guy known as Barbecue for setting people on fire. I’ve looked into them and I haven’t found a set of political aims from any of these groups; they don’t strike me as revolutionaries

Linkerbaan, 2 days ago

Our newspapers which were very content with Ariel Henry’s coup are now very worried about “gangs”.

American intervention was very much opposed. The Kenyan Army Gang isn’t going to fix this.

Because of Haiti’s close proximity it’s in America’s interest to make sure only American puppet regimes get and stay in power.

NOT_RICK, 2 days ago

Probably won’t fix things, I agree. I just don’t see any good options. I feel terrible for Haiti, they’ve deserved better for as long as they have been a state.

Linkerbaan, 2 days ago

The previous UN intervention force was disastrous. From the article:

Many Haitians resent relentless foreign meddling in their affairs, particularly after the 2004-2017 UN stabilisation force, Minustah, was accused of human rights violations, sexual abuse and causing a devastating cholera outbreak.

“The last UN mission ended disastrously,” said Isaïe Delson, 33, a barber forced to abandon his business in downtown Port-au-Prince by this year’s bloodshed. “Will [the Kenyan force] create more injustices?”.

It’s unlikely that angry revolutionaries will be the best option in the short term but since we keep kicking Haiti when they’re down they cannot build up their country while it remains under puppet regimes.