![]() has continuously failed Haiti, from the time it occupied Haiti in 1915 until today. has not done enough, or, you know, has the U.S. MARTÍNEZ: I mean, you mentioned how it feels like the world is just watching this like some kind of TV show. And they let them go after the school paid the ransom. And the gangs took the bus and just kept everyone – there were about 14 of them – and demanded ransom. And luckily, they were let go because it was – my understanding of how the kidnapping happened, it was a group of people who was teaching at a school, at a missionary school in Port au Prince, and they were in a bus. And I have a close family member who was kidnapped about three weeks ago. I mean, I have – I still have family, friends, colleagues. MARTÍNEZ: Do you still have family and friends in Haiti? And if so, do you talk to them often? What are they saying to you?ĪCCILIEN: Yeah. And the outside world is just looking at it as if it’s on television, as if it’s a bad movie. But this is the first time I think we have seen this level of lawlessness, this level of gang violence where people’s lives do not matter. And make no mistakes, I grew up under dictatorship, so I’m not idealizing the Haiti I grew up under. And that breaks my heart because this is not the Haiti I grew up in. I mean, how does that feel to know that Haiti is in this predicament?ĪCCILIEN: I mean, the country is essentially in a civil war. I mean, what you described sounds – I mean, it just sounds like there’s so much uncertainty that it would just shake me, if I was in your situation knowing that my country, the country I was born in, is in such a unstable spot. You came to the United States when you were about 11 years old. MARTÍNEZ: Cecile, I know that you were born in Haiti. This is how we are going to move forward. We don’t have any real investigation that say this is how it happened. I mean, the gang situation doesn’t help, but how can you have elections when after the president was killed, to this day, there’s nothing tangible. Like, the lawlessness, that is happening at all levels, both in terms of the gang and in terms of the government itself. You have a de facto prime minister, and you don’t have any elected officials – do you? (ph) – in a country that is lawless. She says since President Jovenel Moise’s assassination in 2021, Haiti has been without legitimate leadership.ĬECILE ACCILIEN: The country is being run illegally. She’s the president of the Haitian Studies Association, a professor of Haitian studies who’s based in Atlanta. Now, to understand how the nation got to this point, we spoke with Cecile Accilien. Haiti’s de facto leader, Prime Minister Ariel Henry, has yet to make good on repeated pledges to hold general elections. What remains of the government is struggling to maintain security as gangs overrun the country. The country’s 10 remaining senators left office last week after their terms expired. Haiti is a country in crisis, and now it has lost its last few democratically elected government officials. ![]()
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