The month of October was quite stormy for the people of Haiti as thousands of people in the crisis-torn nation took to the streets of the capital Port-au-Prince, against the government’s decision to seek foreign military assistance to quell gang-related violence.
The protesters have declared that they are not happy with the current government which is essentially backed by the west. The demonstrators demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who had asked international partners for “the immediate deployment of a specialised armed force, in sufficient quantity” to stop the “criminal actions” of armed gangs across the country. This voice of dissent was crushed by the police. Several people were shot and one person was reportedly killed during the police firings. So, one could easily understand that the condition of the nation is unquestionably really volatile.
Meddlers enter the spectrum!
The UN and the US intervened to defend Prime Minister Ariel Henry’s action against the protesters. Ariel is regarded as a pro-Western leader as he has Western backing.
According to reports, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed his support for the Haitian government and advocated for the swift arrival of a special international force. The ambassador of Haiti to the US also suggested that the US and Canada take the initiative in constructing a force to combat Haitian “gangs”.
You see, Western forces have always held onto Haiti.
Back in history, Haiti was made into a slave nation during the French Revolution, and subsequently, it was divided into two. The nations were later unified, but the abject poverty made it apparent that the country never truly prospered.
During its first century of independence, Haiti was plagued by political instability, isolation from the rest of the world, and a burdensome debt owed to France. The United States invaded the nation from 1915 to 1934 as a result of political unrest.
Haiti welcomed the 21st century with coup d’état which was orchestrated by the US and that in turn prompted the U.N. intervention. Also, Haiti got hit by a catastrophic earthquake, killing over 250,000 people, which worsened the whole situation further.
Now, Haiti is going through a socioeconomic and political crisis that has got exaggerated by riots and protests, along with widespread hunger.
No chance to prosper!
These all incidents have altogether impoverished Haiti into an era of darkness despite the fact Haiti has a bed of natural resources beneath its blanket of poverty.
According to a recent study, Haiti possesses some of the greatest oil reserves in the world. According to estimates, the oil reserves could be greater than that of Venezuela’s. It is predicted that its untapped reserves could include up to 941 million barrels of crude oil and 1.2 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
Furthermore, the nation is thought to have gold deposits worth about $20 billion. But, sadly companies such as Majescor Resources from Canada have a major say in the usage of this gold. Haiti also has considerable deposits of metals like copper and stones like limestone and marble. Despite this, Haiti has zero say in using most of its natural resources due to interference by Western powers like USA and Canada.
Read More: For the Global Media, The Caribbean does not exist. Not anymore!
The west does not and will not allow Haiti to prosper, because, these natural resources of Haiti are worth trillions of dollars. The nation has a preferential trade agreement with the US that enables tariff-free access to its goods to its larger northern neighbor. West recognizes it as a free market economy. But, because of this, Haiti has never had the opportunity to use its natural resources to fill its own coffers and prosper. The nation remains in the dark while the West dines over its resources.
