Article written by: Milo Milfort
Prince Port.- On a day like today two years ago and just two weeks after the assassination of President Jovenel Moise, Ariel Henry became Prime Minister of Haiti, a period that has been marked by a lack of action to deal with the troubled and increasingly deteriorated situation in the country.
When he settled in the heart of Port-au-Prince, in the Bicentennial area, now controlled by armed gangs, Henry promised that justice would be done for the murdered Moise, that free, honest and transparent elections would be held as soon as possible and that the order, security and the authority of the State.
However, two years after succeeding Claude Joseph as prime minister, one cannot really speak of any balance sheet of any government, neither on the social, political nor economic level.
A COUNTRY ADRIFTING
Haiti is a country without a rudder. There is no government plan. There are no new projects and no political will to improve the living conditions of the population.
Disorganization reigns in Justice. The large dossiers have not advanced at all. The case of the president’s assassination is not progressing and, according to his widow, Martine Moise, Ariel is one of the main suspects blocking the process from taking off.
Also in the local press, Henry is criticized for having made a series of trips in recent months without any benefit to the country and in which he has limited himself to requesting foreign intervention that does not have the unanimous approval of the population.
In addition, Haitians blame the government for having contributed to putting the country in the critical situation in which it finds itself in all respects.
Security has deteriorated: in the last two years, Haiti has witnessed massacres, rapes of women, kidnappings with hundreds of victims, burning of houses and the displacement of thousands of people.
According to official figures, the number of gangs has increased from 200 to 300. And they are becoming more powerful, to the point that day by day the territories lost by the State are multiplying.
The country is far from being run by Henry. It is the gangs that largely control Haiti, they act with impunity and, according to organizations defending human rights, they are in collusion with members of the Government.
FOOD INSECURITY AND POVERTY
The socioeconomic situation is also deplorable. All indicators are red. Nearly 50% of the Haitian population suffers from food insecurity, despite the implementation of a series of programs announced to great fanfare in press conferences that do not materialize.
Inflation is approaching 50%, tripling or even quadrupling the price of basic necessities, further increasing the cost of living in a country where at least one in two people lives in poverty.
Given all this, more and more Haitians are fleeing the country en masse in search of a better life, a massive exodus that is leaving companies without workforce.
However, despite this bleak picture and not having fulfilled any of his promises, the prime minister has no opposition, no counterpower.
Henry’s meager record as prime minister could be summed up as a reshuffle of ministers, a barrage of promises, countless trips abroad to attend conferences and summits, the maintenance of power without any popular legitimacy or official mandate, and the creation of a High Transition Council without powers of any kind.
Regarding the elections, up to now no consensus has been reached among the political parties for their holding. In addition, insecurity does not bode well for proper elections, so the neurosurgeon Henry will remain in power.
