Haiti's president, Jovenel Moise, announced on Sunday that security officers had thwarted an attempt on his life. About 23 people, including a Supreme Court judge and a top police official, were arrested for what he described as an attempted coup.
Leon Charles, the director of Haiti's national police force, said officers had seized cash and several weapons, including assault rifles, an Uzi submachine gun, pistols and machetes from the arrested people.
"These people had contacted national palace security officials, high-ranking officers at the national palace whose mission was to arrest the president… and also to facilitate the installation of a new president," said prime minister Joseph Jouthe.
The alleged coup attempt followed a call by Haiti's opposition leaders to replace Moise with one of the sitting Supreme Court judges. The opposition accused Moise of being authoritarian and pushing Haiti towards economic chaos.
Earlier in the day, anti-government protesters clashed with the police in Port-Au-Prince.
-
Haiti struggles 10 years after catastrophic earthquake
A country in ruins
On January 12, 2010, shortly before 5 p.m., a 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit the Caribbean island nation of Haiti. The destruction was catastrophic. In some areas, 90% of buildings collapsed. At least 200,000 people were killed and more than a million were made homeless. It caused $6.6 billion (€5.9 billion) worth of damage – more than the country's entire gross domestic product.
-
Haiti struggles 10 years after catastrophic earthquake
Disaster in a crisis-ridden nation
January 2011. Crosses on a mass grave near the capital, Port-au-Prince. The earthquake hit a country already plagued with crises. In 2010, Haiti was the poorest nation in the western hemisphere — and it still is. It suffers from overpopulation and corruption. Natural disasters are not uncommon. After the earthquake, thousands more died in a cholera epidemic.
-
Haiti struggles 10 years after catastrophic earthquake
Global solidarity
A carefree moment in a camp for earthquake victims in March 2010. Help came from the UN, NGOs, and private individuals. Money for reconstruction flowed in from around the world. Bert Hoffmann, a political scientist at the German Institute of Global and Area Studies, told DW that many aid organizations were very effective at a local level, for example in building houses, supporting people in need.
-
Haiti struggles 10 years after catastrophic earthquake
Problematic aid
US food aid donations provided short-term help to those affected during the emergency and immediate aftermath of the earthquake, Hoffmann said. "However, in the long term, free rice from the USA massively bankrupted the Haitian rice farmers," he added. "This kind of aid did not create sustainable structures for the country; it increased its dependence."
-
Haiti struggles 10 years after catastrophic earthquake
Crisis after the crisis
Waiting for work: Ten years after the earthquake, quality of life for the majority of Haitians has not improved. More than half the population lives below the poverty line of $2 per day. According to the German aid organization Welthungerhilfe, 35% of Haitians rely on food aid. The aid organization Doctors Without Borders said basic health care is inadequate.
-
Haiti struggles 10 years after catastrophic earthquake
Tödliche Proteste
For the past year and a half, mass unemployment, inflation, criminality and cronyism have driven Haitians onto the streets — as seen here in November. Many people have been killed in clashes between police and protesters. Pirmin Spiegel, director-general of the German Catholic development agency MISEREOR, recently warned that there was an increasing danger that civil war would break out in Haiti.
-
Haiti struggles 10 years after catastrophic earthquake
Moise refuses to go
The anger on the streets is directed at President Jovenel Moise (center), in office since February 2017. The opposition accuses him of embezzling money from a solidarity fund. Moise rejects the allegations and refuses to resign. When the Haitian parliament reconvenes on January 13, most of its representatives will have come to the end of their mandate. Moise could, in theory, rule by decree.
-
Haiti struggles 10 years after catastrophic earthquake
Is change on the horizon?
The opposition is divided, but activists want to keep fighting for change. "We need a government that responds to our needs," said 31-year-old Rese Domini (photo) from the organization MONEGAF. In December, Velina Charlier, a 39-year-old activist, told DW that she was demanding, "Moise's resignation, an anti-corruption trial and a radical change in the system."
-
Haiti struggles 10 years after catastrophic earthquake
'Europe is silent'
Aid organizations are calling on the international community to take action. Local products should be prioritized for food aid "to stimulate the domestic economy," Welthungerhilfe explained in November. MISEREOR's director-general called on Germany and the European Union to push for political change in Haiti.
-
Haiti struggles 10 years after catastrophic earthquake
'Haiti is not hell on earth'
December 2019, Port-au-Prince: Two friends on the beach. Political scientist Bert Hoffmann said the ongoing crisis should not obscure the existence of "many family and local structures that are functioning" in Haiti. The Caribbean state is "not hell on earth," he said. "It's a very poor but generally peaceful country that has a great culture."
Author: Helena Kaschel
Controversy over Moise's term
According to Haiti's constitution, presidential terms last for five years. In the presidential election of October 2015, Moise was elected, but the election was annulled because of fraud. In 2016, another round of elections were held, which was again won by Moise and he was sworn in on February 7, 2017.
Opposition leaders claim that Moise's term began in February 2016 and ended this Sunday. Meanwhile, Moise and his supporters claim 2017 as the year of his ascent. The president has said that he will hand over power to the winner of the elections in October 2021 and will not step down till his term expires in February 2022.
On Friday, the US government urged Haitians to resolve the crisis. Washington said that a new elected president should succeed Moise "when his term ends on February 2, 2022."
am/aw (dpa, Reuters, AFP)
