America’s collective amnesia in Haiti
Post Reports
The Washington Post
4.4 • 5.1K Ratings
🗓️ 15 July 2021
⏱️ ? minutes
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Summary
How the killing of Haiti’s former president has sparked a constitutional crisis — and how years of U.S. intervention in the Caribbean country contributed to the chaos we’re seeing now.
Read more:
The assasination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse last week has plunged the country into turmoil, with many unanswered questions left surrounding the attack. The Post’s Widlore Merancourt and Ishaan Tharoor report on what’s known so far about the investigation into killing and what a vacuum of power could mean for the safety and security of Haitians.
The international response to Haiti’s political crisis is made more complicated by the legacy of slavery, colonialism and U.S. occupation — and that shapes how we understand the country today. “Haiti is the poorest country in the hemisphere because of — not despite — foreign intervention,” anthropologist Mark Schuller says in this episode. “Slaveholders punished Haiti for their role in ending slavery.”
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Well, thank you again for doing this. |
| 0:05.0 | And where are you right now? |
| 0:07.0 | Right now, I am in Portland. |
| 0:09.0 | I won't tell you where I am specifically, |
| 0:11.0 | because since Wednesday, I've been living in different places |
| 0:15.0 | because we are in Haiti, and we just have our president |
| 0:18.0 | assassinated, and I think that I should take precaution. |
| 0:27.0 | From the newsroom of the Washington Post, |
| 0:29.0 | this is Post Reports. |
| 0:31.0 | I'm Martin Powers. |
| 0:32.0 | It's Thursday, July 15th. |
| 0:50.0 | In the past week in Haiti, since President Jovenel Moise |
| 0:53.0 | was killed inside his home by a squad of gunmen, |
| 0:56.0 | there has been an incredible series of events |
| 0:59.0 | surrounded by intrigue and rumors and conspiracies. |
| 1:03.0 | And what we're seeing now is both an ongoing security crisis |
| 1:07.0 | in Haiti, but also this constitutional crisis, |
| 1:10.0 | about who is in charge of the country right now. |
| 1:13.0 | We still have a lot of confusion in the country right now, |
| 1:17.0 | because people are asking a lot of questions. |
| 1:21.0 | We talk to journalists, we lore, Maron Cour, |
| 1:24.0 | about what it's been like in Haiti since the death of President Moise. |
... |
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