Target: Joe Biden, President of the United States
Goal: Help Haiti restore democratic institutions and ensure the people have a say in their futures.
During the dead of night, Haitian President Jovenel Moise was assassinated in his home. The shocking act of violence roiled a country already beset by serious humanitarian crises. In the wake of the attack, the U.S. Ambassador to Haiti called on America and the world for assistance. Requested military aid, however, should not be the solution.
Previous attempts at military intervention have failed miserably, with the last effort resulting in the United States restoring a leader to power who became an autocrat a short time later. Before this disaster, the U.S. fully supported a dictatorship in Haiti for decades simply because the dictator in question condemned Communism. Even the recently deceased president faced long-standing accusations of authoritarian overreach. Among other questionable acts, he dismantled the country’s Parliament.
Despite foreign aid, Haiti still remains the poorest nation on the Western side of the globe. Structured society and services citizens can depend upon are in critically short supply. As just one example, the estimated number of people who have received a COVID-19 vaccine in the country stands at exactly zero.
One principle that the people of Haiti have never truly experienced could help put the battered nation on the long and slow road to real recovery: self-governance and self-determination. The United States, despite its frequent proclamations about democracy, has helped compound Haiti’s struggles with achieving this goal. Its investments via the U.S. Agency for International Development have gone almost exclusively to American companies in the region, not native enterprises. The U.S. has also shown little opposition to the continued delays of elections that have been ongoing for nearly a year. And the man serving as Interim Prime Minister—the man who requested military aid—just declared martial law.
Sign the petition below to urge American leadership to devote more resources to helping Haiti in ways that can make a true and lasting impact.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear President Biden,
The United States likely feels responsibility for Haiti due to its support of a dictatorship from the 1960s to the 1980s. Since then, humanitarian aid and wrongheaded military interventions have ruled Haitian policy, with frequent gaps in U.S. interest in the region. After the world’s focus once again attuned to this nation following the shocking assassination of its president, the time for a different but fundamentally more transformative type of aid is now.
Rather than answer the Interim Prime Minister’s request for military assistance (a prospect that has never ended well in this region), hold him to a promise for those long-delayed elections. Haiti needs decision-makers with integrity and leaders who will ensure the people have a voice. Competent leadership free from corruption will help this country emerge from the ashes of its fractured society. Further, you understand the comprehensiveness and scope of infrastructure. You can be the best partner for Haiti by demanding investments from the U.S. Agency for International Development go directly into the hands of Haitians who can best aid in building the nation from the ground up.
Help Haiti by helping this resilient country help itself.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo Credit: Polina Kovaleva
309 Signatures