Dear Editor,

Anyone who has been following the flow of events in Haiti would have to agree that Haiti is in a state of profound crisis.

The assassination of President Jovenel Moise has plunged the country into a state of renewed unrest that is threatening to reduced Haiti to an ungovernable State. To date, the authorities in Haiti have not been able to assert sufficient power to guarantee peace and security.

Gang activity in Haiti is reported to have reached such crisis proportions that the Haitian National Police are being overwhelmed and outmatched. Mob justice also seems to be an evolving coping mechanism in some Haitian communities frustrated by the violent and antisocial activities of Haitians gangs.

Secretary general of the UN Antonio Guterres has repeatedly called for an initiative that would help Haitians find a solution to the deepening political crisis. Guterres favoured an initiative that would train and advise the Haitian police in its efforts to deter, capture, and disarm gangs operating in Haiti. The UN secretary general also hoped that the initiative would help to secure strategic installations and major roadways, thus facilitating freedom of movement and laying the foundation for credible and transparent elections in Haiti.

The crimes committed against the Haitian people by US and European powers have made them and the global black collective wary of any Caucasian-led intervention into Haiti. Regrettably, neither the African Union nor the governments of Caricom are willing or able to bankroll an intervention into Haiti. Any intervention will have to be extensive in its time duration and will carry a heavy price tag.

The reluctance or inability of the African Union and the governments of Caricom to devise and implement a rescue plan for the Haitian nation has opened the door for both the UN and the US to once again lead an initiative, albeit involving the African nation of Kenya as the tip of the spear in the new venture.

Neither the UN nor the US can be faulted for stepping forward to redress the untenable situation in Haiti, which had led to a spate of kidnappings, violence, and massive population dislocations. The people who are criticising the involvement of the UN and the US in the Kenyan-led initiative are also likely to be the same people who criticised the European powers for not getting involved in the Rwandan genocide. The UN and the US are, therefore, damned if they do and damned if they don’t.

Perhaps a more helpful approach to the Haitian crisis by the global black collective would be an approach that seeks to explore how the Kenyan-led initiative can be far more sensitive to the needs of the masses in Haiti, thus promoting greater peace and stability in Haiti. Both the African Union and the governments of Caricom should make a financial contribution to help defray the cost of the Kenyan-led initiative. In addition to Jamaica, Antigua and Barbuda, and The Bahamas, many more African and Caribbean states should consider sending personnel to assist in the mission in Haiti.

A few years back I remember being schooled by a former student of mine who reminded me that a little bit of something is better than a whole lot of nothing. Critics of the Kenyan-led initiative would do well to ponder this sage bit of advice offered by my former student. If this initiative is successful in its mandate and manages to disarm the gangs and restore civility and tranquillity in Haiti, it would have proven to be of far greater value to the people of Haiti than the whole lot of nothing that can be currently sourced to the global black collective .

Lenrod Nzulu Baraka

founder of Afro-Caribbean Spiritual Teaching Center

rodneynimrod2@gmail.com