A private plane touched down at the Port-au-Prince International Airport one day in February 2019. The U.S. mercenaries on board joined the Haitian President's entourage and walked to the Central Bank of Haiti. The request was as follows: transfer $80 million of certain funds to an account controlled by the Haitian president. But if by any chance they find out, they are sure to be in big trouble.... Is this a scene from a movie? No, these all happened in Haiti.Reality.The question is: What is going on in this small Caribbean country right now? What is happening now in this small Caribbean country?

A man draped in the Haitian flag (acdallahh/ Flickr [CC BY 2.0])

Glorious Independence and Dictatorship
Although Haiti is now considered "the poorest country in Latin America," there was once a time during the French colonial period when it was also called "the richest and most productive region in the world. The major source of income during the French glory period was actually Haiti's sugar cane plantations, and the labor force was500,000-700,000The country was financed by black African slaves. The story of Haiti's independence is also indispensable, as it was the first black republic in the world, created in 1804 when black slaves rose up and won their rights from the French suzerain state. This news provided hope for the liberation movement for the descendants of African slaves spread throughout Latin America, but at the same time it provided an excuse for the West, the beneficiaries of slavery, to interfere with the movement in various ways.

Haitian Revolution (Picture: Auguste Raffet /Wikimedia Commons)

First, Haiti suffered from the huge amount of money that was offered in exchange for recognition as an independent nation.reparationsThe amount was France, which had lost a huge source of income due to Haiti's independence, demanded an amount of150 million gold francsand expensive, Haiti then spent about 120 years of its national budgetAmount equivalent to about 80% of the totalto repay the loan in full.

Interference by the United States was also a factor in Haiti's suffering. After 20 years of U.S. military rule, a period of civil-military turmoil followed. In 1957, popular popularity brought the former doctor François Duvalier (a.k.a. Papa Doc) to the presidency, but he later became dictatorial and was succeeded by his son Jean-Claude Duvalier (a.k.a. Baby Doc). Their dictatorship lasted for about 30 years until 1986. In addition to the privatization of public finances, the control of speech by the secret police, the Tontons Macoutes (officially known as the Volunteer State Security Corps), was also considered problematic. According to a survey by a human rights advocacy group60,000-100,000In 1985, the group killed or disappeared more than 1,000 citizens, and many others were imprisoned and tortured. These dark days seemed to have ended when the military demanded that Duvalier step down following nationwide demonstrations in 1985, and Duvalier fled to France, but demonstrations and human rights abuses continued.

Interference in the name of democratic politics

A new democratic constitution was enacted in 1987. With the poor as his base of support, a man of great promise was the former priest Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who arrived in 1991.

His tenure was tumultuous. Eventually, Aristide lost his job in less than a year due to a coup d'état and was forced into exile in the United States. While Haiti was under military rule, he worked hard to win international support, and to his success, a multinational force was deployed under the United Nations Mission in Haiti, and he returned to the presidency in 1994, albeit with the condition that he remain in office "until 1995, the traditional term of office.

But then, in the throes of political turmoil, homegrown market and policy reforms (*1) were introduced by the US to the Haitian government. The first target was agriculture. Nominally, the solution to Haiti's dire situation was the importation of subsidized U.S. rice, which was then sold to the Haitian government at a reduced price. The resulting plunge in the price of rice, and the destruction of rice cultivation in the country, resulted from the flood of inexpensive rice onto the Haitian market. The damage was so severe that it has lingered to this day. Later, former U.S. President Clinton himself claimed that no offense had been taken.Apologies.but still imports the majority of Haiti's domestic rice consumption.dependenceThere is no fundamental solution.

Piles of rice being transported to Haiti (Photo: Staff Sgt. Robert Waggoner /U.S. Dept. of Defense)

Then, in 2000, after the tenure of René García Preval beginning in 1996, Aristide became president again. Four years later, however, he was far from being allowed to return homeCentral African RepublicThe first time I saw it, it stayed to the Why? Background.America and France, ,CanadaThe coup was orchestrated by the At the time, the Bush administration claimed that Aristide had "voluntarily" defected to the Central African Republic in response to the deteriorating security situation, but he was not told where he was going until just before he landed, effectively kidnapping him.Aristide's claimThe two are at odds with each other. Notably, Aristide had made reparations to France the year before the kidnappingRequested.The minimum wage was to be raised to $350,000 per month. Furthermore, Aristide's stated increase in the minimum wage meant higher production costs for American clothing manufacturers and other companies that were developing factories there. These would by no means be unrelated to the kidnapping.

Contrary to expectations, however, domestic demands for higher wages did not abate after Aristide's departure. WikiLeaks published the U.S.official documentAccording to the "Haitian Economic Report," the U.S. has turned hard-line, and in 2009, the U.S. Embassy in Haiti pressured a subcontractor factory related to the Haitian textile industry to reduce its minimum wage to 24 cents per hour. Although the concession by the Haitian government led to a congressional decision to set the daily wage at $3.00 per day, this was still a fraction of the income needed to support a family of three in Haiti.12.50 USD/dayThis is not far from the

Former President Aristide and U.S. government and military officials smiling and speaking in the 1990s (Photo: Expert Infantry /Flickr [CC BY 2.0])

On January 12, 2010, while the country was still in such a state of confusion, an unprecedented earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 on the Richter scale hit the country. The damage was enormous, and the death toll was300,000 peopleThe number of affected people is about one-third of the nation's population.3.7 millionThe total damage was 7.8 billion yen, or 1.2 times the country's GDP in 2009, and a cholera epidemic broke out. In addition, a cholera epidemic broke out. Amidst this unprecedented chaos, the U.S. intervention policy was about to be deployed once again.

a conservative think tank with significant influence on U.S. government policymaking.Heritage Foundationproposed to the U.S. government less than 24 hours after the earthquake.ContentsThe "Rebuild" proposal was to cancel the public housing project, establish a tax-exempt enterprise zone, and remove the minimum wage clause. Although the proposal put "rebuilding" at the forefront, it was more likely to create jobs and profits for outsourced U.S. companies than for jobs in Haiti. For some reason, this announcement was quickly withdrawn.

Shaky status quo
2011, by the United States, France, and CanadaFunded by contributionsElection.16.7% (16.7%)The singer Michel Martelly was elected president with a low turnout of only 1.8% of the vote. Embezzlement, money laundering, and more,Disturbing topics after the inaugurationIn the past, he was a constant source of support for the Haitian government. For example, Venezuela had been providing financial support to Haiti since 2008 through the supply of oil (the Peter Caribe Fund (*2)), but under Martelly's administration, most of the funds have disappeared. Martelly's successor, current President Jobnell Moise, also appears to have embezzled.Approximately $20 million over 8 yearsThere have also been reports of embezzlement of as much as $3 million in funds.

Demonstration on Peter Caribe (Photo: Medyalokal /Wikimedia Commons [CC BY-SA 4.0])

Finally, however, Venezuela's (*3) economy reached its limits (for more information, seeThis articleto see the "Mere Old Man"), the 2017 Petero Caribe will cease to function. Its impact on Haiti was still unusual, causing oil shortages, electricity shortages, and extreme inflation. In July of the same year, in an attempt to defuse the situation,International Monetary Fund（Under the direction of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)51% price increase for keroseneThe fuel price increase, which included a fuel price hike, was being considered, and demonstrations erupted by citizens in opposition to it. The movement grew, and the prime minister, who stood with the masses, confronted the president,resignThe situation even led to the country being forced into a situation where it was forced into a situation where it was forced to The announcement of a statement by the government of Venezuela's current president, Maduro, who stands shoulder to shoulder with the U.S. and is the country's benefactor, also seems to have upset the people of Venezuela.

It was Haiti's current president, Moise, who panicked. The people are still angry, their sources of income have been cut off, and they are running out of money to try to rebuild the situation. This brings us back to the beginning of the story. The desperate measure to end the situation was to transfer $80 million in oil fund operations from the Central Bank of Haiti to the president's account, which was supposed to be inaccessible without the prime minister's consent. Eventually, this disturbing move was uncovered, the account was frozen, and the mercenaries wereArrested.The mercenaries, however, returned to the U.S. secretly without being brought to court. However, these mercenaries secretly returned to the U.S. without being brought to court.

A girl carrying American rice at a street market in Port-au-Prince (Photo: Fred W. Baker III /Wikimedia Commons)

Since gaining independence as the first slave-led republic, Haiti has ironically been swept away by the military, political, and economic interventions of other countries. In addition to the political instability, the country has been hit by disasters and appears to be stuck at every turn, especially in the face of a lack of funds. What does the future hold for the country?

1 The concept was proposed by journalist Naomi Klein.shock doctrinerefers to "the

2 Petro Caribe is a petroleum alliance consisting of Venezuela, the host country, and 17 member countries. This alliance has allowed Venezuela to,100 per barreland oil supplies at low prices. Haiti is also a member of the Peter Caribe Fund, which, after receiving the physical supply of oil, uses a portion of the profits from those domestic sales as part of the national budget.

3 Venezuela is currently in a state of turmoil due to immigration and refugee issues, in addition to governance by two presidents. For more information.This articlefor more information.

Writer: Yuka Ikeda

Graphic: Saki Takeuchi

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