As chaos and armed gangs rule, who can help Haiti?

Haiti is once again at the edge of national collapse.

As a second week of chaos begins with armed gangs threatening to overtake the National Palace to install their own president, Caribbean leaders prepared to meet in Jamaica on Monday for a oneday emergency session on the escalating crisis. In South Florida, Haitian leaders held news conference to express their concerns.

In Haiti, a state of emergency has been imposed, following fears that the Haitian National Police will be overwhelmed by violent gang lords before a long-planned multinational mission led by Kenya arrives. Outgunned Haitian police have been battling a united front of gangs and losing key firefights. A power void — who is in charge here? — makes matters worse.

“The government could fall at any time,” a U.S. official told McClatchy last week.

If a collapse occurs, the impact will be felt not just in Haiti but also in South Florida, where some 250,000 Haitians live. Our community is filled with families now in serious fear for their loved ones’ safety in what has become almost a lawless land.

McClatchy and Miami Herald Caribbean Correspondent Jacqueline Charles are chronicling the situation. The next concern is the potential for a mass exodus of Haitians heading to South Florida to escape the chaos.

The Biden administration is moving to expedite the deployment of a Multinational Security Support mission, or MSS, that has been in the works for over a year. We hope it’s not too little, too late.

It’s been 14 months since the U.S. began pushing for a United Nations solution to the increasingly fraught situation in Haiti. Kenya agreed to send 1,000 police officers to control the violent gangs, but the plan hit snag after snag. Today, a solution is even more difficult to craft. Can police officers really restore order in a country?

The U.N. Security Council met last week behind closed doors to address the violence and gang rule. The meeting unfolded as the U.S. met with Haitian stakeholders in the hope of finding a consensus on implementing a system to carry out democratic elections.

In play is a proposal to remove Prime Minister Ariel Henry, in charge of governing since the 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise.

In a strange alliance, the U.S. , Caribbean leaders and violent gangs all want Henry gone.

Meanwhile, life in Haiti continues to worsen. In the capital of Port-auPrince, armed gangs are in control, terrorizing citizens and plunging the country deeper into chaos. The airport has been seized, prisons emptied by gangs, and innocent lives lost daily.

From South Florida, it’s heartbreaking to see the seemingly-never-ending suffering of the Haitian people. After enduring so many years of oppression, military dictatorships, natural disasters and now raging gang warfare, how much more can the citizens of Haiti take?

But their country continues to be failed by weak governments, political instability and a lack of security. Fundamental rights such as safety, stability and justice remain a distant dream.

The international community must do more to help resolve Haiti’s political crisis and restore law and order. The U.S. remains caught in a Catch-22: Help and be viewed as imperialist? Or don’t help and watch things get worse?

Many Haitians, like Miami-Dade Commissioner

Marleine Bastien, want a “Haitian-based solution,” not foreign intervention.

“The United States must immediately stop propping up the corrupt, repressive government that has generated this crisis; do more to stop the flow of heavy weapons and ammunition to Haiti and stop all efforts to intervene in Haiti,” Bastien told the Miami Herald Editorial Board.

Bastien wants civil society to take the leadership in organizing a transitional committee to work on an emergency plan to stop violence, bring security to the population and build a path toward free and fair elections.

However, ultimately, long-term solutions require addressing the roots of poverty, inequality and lack of opportunity, which fuel instability.

The Haitian people deserve the chance at a peaceful and prosperous future they have been denied for far too long.