A broad coalition of religious and human rights organizations wrote to Joe Biden’s administration yesterday (Thursday, September 15, 2022) asking it to end all support to de facto Prime Minister Ariel Henri. According to these organizations, Ariel Henri and the Haitian Tet Kale Party (PHTK) are responsible for the Haitian crisis.
The situation in Haiti “has deteriorated to a ‘new normal’ characterized by a constant fear of kidnapping and violence, a near total lack of accountability and a growing humanitarian crisis on all fronts,” the organizations’ leaders said in a letter sent Thursday to President Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Deputy Secretary of State Brian Nichols, according to the U.S. newspaper the Hill.
The letter’s signatories believe that “this crisis is the direct result of the corrupt and repressive rule of the Pati Ayisyen Tèt Kale (PHTK) and its associates over the past decade. The PHTK has systematically dismantled democratic institutions, committed crimes against humanity, arbitrarily arrested and removed legitimate judges, targeted journalists, looted the public treasury, supported gangs and generated massive inflation.”
They also advocated for a hands-off approach in Haiti. This, they said, would allow Haiti to avoid chaos.
“It is commendable that the U.S. government wants to help Haitian democracy, and we welcome U.S. support for a truly Haitian-led solution. However, the primary role of the U.S. government is very simple: it must step aside and let the Haitian people take charge of their own government. The U.S. should not support any particular party or sector, nor should it demand that Haitians take a particular path to democracy,” they wrote.
Led by Faith In Action International and the Haiti Response Coalition, the organizations’ leaders regret that the U.S. government continues to support the PHTK regime despite the many acts of corruption and human rights violations committed by Michel Martelly’s party. “In fact, the United States effectively installed the current de facto Prime Minister, Dr. Ariel Henry, in July, and has since consistently supported his government, even though he has no constitutional or popular mandate and despite mounting evidence implicating de facto PM Henry and other PHTK officials in the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July,” according to an excerpt from the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Hill newspaper.
The organizations’ representatives also lamented the fact that Joe Biden’s team had ignored the agreement reached by Montana’s group. “After extensive negotiations, organizations from across Haiti’s political and social spectrum have reached agreement on a consensus plan for a transition to democracy, and have begun to implement that plan,” the groups wrote, recalling that: “Haitians have asked the Biden administration to cease its support for Mr. Henry’s de facto government and, more broadly, the PHTK. They are not asking the U.S. government to support any other party either. They simply want the U.S. to stop interfering and allow a Haitian-led solution to emerge.”
The organizations’ representatives are also supported by members of the U.S. Congress, including Michigan Congressman Andy Levin, co-founder of the Haitian Caucus in the House of Representatives. New York Congressman Adriano Espaillat also expressed concern about the deteriorating situation in Haiti. “Haiti may be in its most fragile state in a long time,” Representative Adriano Espaillat said, according to The Hill.
The Hill’s article can be read through the link below.