Throughout March 2024, Haiti has plunged into complete chaos. Interim Prime Minister, Ariel Henry, was banished, gangs overtook the capital, 4,000 inmates were freed, and general civil unrest was rampant. Currently, gangs control 80% of the nation’s capital, Port-Au-Prince, and view themselves as the latest worldwide revolutionaries. The country is in a state of emergency, children cannot go to school, and the streets are unsafe. In addition to this, the Haitian public staunchly opposed interim Prime Minister Henry as they felt Henry consolidated power and contributed to the lack of democracy and order throughout the country. Henry traveled to Kenya recently to coordinate a joint task force to combat the chaos in Haiti, though he was unable to return as gangs overtook all major institutions including airports, police stations, and jails in his absence. Thus, Henry ceded his role as Prime Minister to a transition council, leaving the country in further instability. 

Gang leader Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherzier told Reuters last week, “We’re not in a peaceful revolution. We are making a bloody revolution in the country because this is an apartheid system, a wicked system.” Before resigning, Prime Minister Henry issued a final video message for the Haitian public, stating, “The government that I am leading will resign immediately after the installation of a transition council. I would like to thank the Haitian people for the opportunity I had been granted. I’m asking all Haitians to remain calm and do everything they can for peace and stability to come back as quickly as possible.” 

The Haitian transition council should seek coordination with other regional leaders in place of the implementation of Kenyan troops. The United States and the Dominican Republic have an increased stake in regional security as well as more knowledge of the struggles that plague the region surface. Cherzier, the main gang leader in Haiti, views his actions as a revolution to stop abuses to the Haitian democracy, however, Cherzier fails to acknowledge the level of chaos this so-called revolution has brought with it. It is unclear whether the chaos was precipitated by the gang violence in the country which then caused the death of the president and subsequent ascendance of Henry, or if the opposite occurred. What is clear, however, is that the police have been overrun, daily lives have been interrupted, and there has been insufficient outside aid. This violence has not yielded the intended effect of increased stability and instead created more unrest and turbulence. Thus, more peaceful initiatives must be implemented to restore peace and democracy to Haiti.  

Haiti’s history is rife with eras of democratically elected presidents who are then overthrown by the military or other powerful subgroups. Currently, this manifests in the form of powerful gangs. This has been stymied by waves of U.N. or U.S. occupation that sought to bring aid, but none have increased the stability or sustainability of Haiti. The current conflict in Haiti has been spiraling out of control since the assassination of the last democratically elected president, Jovenel Moïse, in 2021. This precipitated a rise in gang violence as the public no longer had faith in the government to rule and maintain peace. The situation has become so severe that, according to the U.N., over 8,000 people were victims of gang violence in Haiti in 2023, more than double the number of victims in 2022. The majority of this violence is in response to the perception that the government does not function for the people as elections are consistently pushed back until “peace is restored.” However, there have never been clear indications of what constitutes peace and for whom. Haitians have been growing restless and many gang members believe they are operating on behalf of the democracy and stability of the country, though these claims fail to account for the disruption and deaths this revolution has caused. 

To rectify the situation in Haiti three key steps must be taken. The U.N. and regional countries must fulfill prior fiscal pledges so that monetary aid can be funneled into the country. At the same time, the transition council must plan elections so that a democratically elected president can take control of the country and quiet much of the civil unrest. Finally, the gangs must be detained so that the government can begin functioning to benefit the greater population of Haitians without influence or pressure from the gangs. International organizations, such as the U.N., will play an instrumental role in reestablishing democracy in Haiti while also bringing sustainable peace to the country, its citizens, and the rest of the region.