Haiti Crisis Explained: How Did It Get This Bad?

By Rick Martin First Posted: Sep 18, 2023 08:27 PM EDT

Saying that Haiti is in crisis would be an understatement as gangs run most of the capital, Port-au-Prince, while its neighbor, the Dominican Republic, has just shut down its borders in what may lead to even bigger economic peril for the Caribbean nation. Kidnappings, murder, and violence are now a daily occurrence, while many are still suffering from cholera. How did it get this way, though?

There are plenty of factors that led to this moment, but what many point to its actual start may be the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021 by Colombian mercenaries and a group of Haitian elites who wanted to get power for themselves.

Haiti has not held any free elections since 2019, which was still before the world came to a stop, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. When the president was assassinated, nobody was left to fill the void as Prime Minister Ariel Henry took the mantle for himself without being elected, thus making many in the country feel that he was illegitimate.

With the government in political turmoil that resulted from the assassination, it barely functioned. Now, as The Guardian pointed out, violent gangs have filled the void in Haiti, imposing murderous rule on the territories they conquered.

So far, Haitian police have found themselves outgunned and outmatched as these gangs have brought weapons smuggled from the US. They find funding from various rackets, which include kidnap-for-ransom, often targeting not just foreigners but also some of Haiti's most desperate.

It has gotten so bad in Haiti that Prime Minister Henry is begging the UN to send a peacekeeping force. However, other countries have been very reluctant to send in troops to aid the embattled Haitian military. As it seems, only Jamaica was willing to send in troops, though the country itself is facing its own set of problems at the moment and cannot fully commit.

Earthquakes, Hurricanes, Cholera, and Gangs Make It More Complicated in Haiti

If the political turmoil is not enough, Haiti also faces problems from various natural disasters. Currently, many in the country are still reeling from the 2010 earthquake that happened over a decade ago. Meanwhile, a cholera outbreak is silently killing many.

To make things worse, hurricanes also pound the country annually, and with hurricane season already underway, Haitians are expecting powerful storms and flooding.

According to Vox, the thing that makes ordinary citizens afraid to leave their homes is still the Haitian gangs. With the government in tatters, they now control almost every aspect of Haitian life, with some government officials even beholden to them.

Haiti Still Has the Highest Hunger Rate in the Western Hemisphere

Even before the Haiti Crisis started, the Caribbean country on the island of Hispaniola already had the highest hunger rates in the Western Hemisphere. It is now getting much worse due to the crisis.

According to Concern, around 35% of Haiti's population was hungry, as reported by the Integrated Phase Classification. This meant that 3.7 million people were hungry around that time. By 2021, that number has reached 4.4 million, and the number is still rising.