“For historical reasons, the Dominican Republic cannot take part in initiatives that oblige it to take direct action in Haiti.” This is the rebuff that Dominican Foreign Minister Roberto Alvarez gave to our Mélanie Joly. She had announced without consulting the country that Ottawa would set up a “joint security coordination cell” there for Haiti.
“The Dominican government confirms that it has not discussed, agreed or approved the establishment of a coordination office in support of the Haitian National Police in our territory, according to Canadian media reports,” Alvarez insisted in a tweet republished by the Santo Domingo State Department.
It has to be done! How pretentious. Decision to set up a political-police base in a foreign country without notifying it. Joly had babbled meaningless platitudes on social media, saying that this cell in the Dominican Republic will create a sustainable environment for long-term peace and security in Haiti.
Hey! If you want to restore law, order and tranquility to Haiti, settle in Haiti. Not in the next country. Canada has pledged $13 million in development and crime-fighting aid. A good distance from the action.
And good luck! All international missions to restore some semblance of stable government and some semblance of social peace in that country ended with Haiti sooner or later inevitably relapsing into anarchy and discord. All of this is tragically compounded by recurring natural and climatic disasters. Desperate setbacks to zero always occur in Haiti.
No to foreign intervention
Two examples. The UN ended its 15-year peacekeeping mission in October 2019 – with little result but terrible scars. Nepalese peacekeepers introduced cholera there, infecting about 800,000 Haitians and killing more than 10,000. Other UN soldiers demanded sexual services from Haitian women in exchange for food and medicine. In 1915, as violence and chaos swept the country, Washington sent the Marines there. The Americans stayed there for 19 years before throwing in the towel.
For this reason, no doubt, Joe Biden asked Justin Trudeau to embark on this impossible mission. He didn’t want to fall into that trap.
The country has almost always been dominated by criminal gangs. Sometimes a dictator who has managed to monopolize violence and make it less obvious.
Haiti between anarchy and tyranny
Haiti currently has no representative government. The current interim president, Ariel Henry, was elected prime minister in 2021 by former president Jovenel Moïse shortly before his unexplained assassination.
Throughout its pathetic history, the country has vacillated between anarchy and tyranny. The current situation there is more desperate than ever.
One of the country’s insoluble problems, in my opinion, is the flight of its educated elites abroad, particularly to the US, Quebec and France. I don’t see how we can stop it.