Why is Haiti in a State of Anarchy?

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Last Updated on April 21, 2024 by Karl Thompson

Haiti is currently in a state of anarchy. There is no functioning government and the country is effectively in control of numerous violent street gangs.

There are currently an estimated 300 gangs in Haiti, consisting of around 40 000 members. At the moment the most powerful group of 12 gangs are organised into a federation headed by Jimmy Chérizier, nicknamed Barbecue.

The gangs control most of the capital, Port au Prince, and rule through fear and violence. Kidnappings for ransom are a daily occurrence, which many of the gangs use to raise funds.

40% of the police are corrupt or liaising with the gangs.

Why has Haiti descended into anarchy…?

This was the topic of a recent Radio Four podcast in which Mike Thomson explores the longer term history behind Haiti’s current precarious situation.

At least the following factors explain Haiti’s descent into anarchy:

Longer term structural factors: more than a century of paying reparations to ex-colonial rulers France, more than $20 billion.
Half a decade of brutal dictatorial and military rule in the mid 20th century

Natural disasters – hurricanes and an earthquake since 2000.

All of these have contributed to grinding poverty in Haiti and left a modern day power vacuum which gangs have walked into!

Longer Term Structural Factors

Haiti declared independence from France in 1804, following a revolt from slaves. It was the second country in the Americas to ever gain independence. Haiti was also the first country in world history to gain independence after a successful slave revolt.

Following Haitian independence, Napoleon demanded hundreds of millions of dollars in reparations for the country’s former slave owners. Haiti’s new leaders complied with this in order to avoid going to war with France.

This had a hugely damaging long term effect on the Haitian economy. Over the next several decades an estimated 50-70% of Haiti’s national income was used to service this debt. This scuppered any chances of positive economic and social development.

In 2003 the then president of Haiti calculated that Haiti had paid $21 billion to France over the years. He publicly declared France should pay this back. However, France refused to repay a single cent, let alone apologise for enslaving Haitians in the first place.

All of this is in line with classic dependency theory arguments. Dependency theory argues that the long history of colonialism and exploitation are to blame for underdevelopment today.

20th Century Dictatorships

In 1957 Francois Devalier, popularly known as Papa Doc, won the presidential elections and became ‘President for Life’. He went on to establish a brutal dictatorial rule. He maintained power through his paramilitary wing, the Tonton Macoute. These were well armed and loyal only to Papa Doc and his estate. They drove fear into the majority of Haitians through visible displays of violence on the streets. There was zero tolerance of criticism of the regime, anyone who spoke out against it was imprisoned or killed.

To find out more about Papa Doc’s rule you might like to watch this documentary with Alan Wicker, from the 1960s…

Papa Doc died in 1971 but his son, popularly known as Baby Doc, immediately took over, and carried on the brutal regime for another 15 years.

After almost 30 years of dictatorship an estimated 40 000 people had been killed by the regime.

In 1986 there was a popular uprising that led to the fall of the dictatorship. Baby Doc and his family were forced to leave the country. Celebrations, however, were short lived as this created a power vacuum which was filled by the military.

There were two military coups in the next two years until elections in 1990 brought Jean Bertrande Aristide to Power. However, only six months later he was overthrown in another coup and Astride went into exile in the U.S. for three years.

Astride returned to Haiti 1994 with the help of the then American President Bill Clinton and 20 000 American troops. On his return Astride disbanded the Haitian arm, to prevent further military coups from happening.

This created a security gap which led to street-based military forces forming, in other words this was the beginning of the era of freelance gangs backing a range of political leaders.

These gangs were possibly worse than Papa Doc’s Tonton Acuoute. They were just as brutal as the previous paramilitary wing, but this new wave of gangs lack any structure or accountability, and so there is no control over them.

Post 2000 Natural Disasters and Aid Mismanagement

Grinding poverty in Haiti has long been a fertile recruiting ground for gangs. And a series of natural disasters has made it impossible for standards of living to improve. If anything, living standards have declined over the last few decades.

Haiti was plagued by Hurricanes in the 2000s making it difficult to improve the day to day conditions of the Haitian people.

In 2010 a devastating earthquake struck, killing an estimated 300 000 people. Haiti received more than $13 billion in international aid to reconstruct after the earthquake.

*The aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti in 2010.*

However Haitians themselves had little say in how the aid money was spent. The international aid donors didn’t ask the Haitians what they needed. As a result many development projects got approved but few got off the ground. Many development initiatives weren’t relevant to the Haitians, so the aid did little to promote economic or social development.

In the decade that followed the earthquake, what the country needed was strong leadership, but this was lacking, so there was nothing to keep the gang’s power in check.

Haitian Gangs since 2020

Since 2020 gangs have controlled most of the Haitian capital, Port au Prince, and by 2021 gangs had so much power that the president was assassinated in his own home. This sends out the message that no one in the political elite is safe.

The most powerful body in Port au Prince at the moment is a federation of 12 gangs headed by a former police officer, Jimmy Chérizier, nicknamed Barbecue.

The Federation sees itself as working on behalf of the Haitian people and is resistant to any formal political power base being re-established.

In March 2024 gangs stormed the prison in Port au Prince releasing thousands of prisoners.

There is currently a Transitional Council in Haiti who are working towards setting up elections in 2026, but the Federation is actively trying to stop this from taking place.

Routes out of Anarchy…?

There are plans to put in place some kind of international intervention force. There is a deal for Kenyan forces to entire Haiti to try and restore order and the US has pledged $40 million towards this.

Some people in Haiti are getting nostalgic for the days of Papa Doc’s dictatorship.

They had schools, hospitals and people felt safe as a general rule, as the old style paramilitaries had more of a sense of order.

These new gangs are much more chaotic and unpredictable, and there is a lot of infighting between them.

Possibly the most miraculous thing is that after two centuries of turmoil, the Haitian people still have hope for a better future!