Another Take: Can foreign intervention save Haiti from gang violence?
The Take
Al Jazeera
4.7 • 748 Ratings
🗓️ 13 July 2024
⏱️ 22 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Every Saturday, we revisit a story from the archives. This originally aired on October 4, 2023. None of the dates, titles, or other references from that time have been changed.
Since last year, Haiti’s government has been asking the international community for help to restore peace and security. This week, the United Nations Security Council approved sending an international police force led by Kenya to Haiti. Kenya signed on to send 1,000 police officers, with Washington pledging $100 million and logistical support. The Caribbean country has been gripped by spiraling gang violence as well as poverty and food insecurity. And if assistance does succeed in pushing back the gangs, there’s still a need to address Haiti’s lack of governance and political power vacuum. The last UN mission there lasted from 2004-2017 and faced accusations of rights abuses, sexual violence, and starting a cholera outbreak that killed more than 9,000 people; so, can this foreign intervention avoid repeating those mistakes?
In this episode:
- Harold Isaac (@HaroldIsaac), journalist in Haiti
Episode credits:
This episode was updated by Tamara Khandaker. The original production team was Miranda Lin, Sarí el-Khalili, Amy Walters, and host Kevin Hirten, in for Malika Bilal.
Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our lead of audience development and engagement is Aya Elmileik and Adam Abou-Gad is our engagement producer.
Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer, and Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera's head of audio.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Al Jazeera Podcasts. |
| 0:09.4 | Hi, I'm Tamara Ken Dacker. |
| 0:12.2 | I'm a producer at The Take coming to you with another take, where we look back at stories from the archives. |
| 0:19.5 | This week, we're back in Haiti. A multinational police force |
| 0:24.5 | led by Kenya has been tasked with restoring order there. For months now, Haiti's been engulfed |
| 0:31.1 | in gang violence. Gangs took over 80% of the capital, and in March, President Ariel Henri resigned. |
| 0:40.1 | The UN-backed force arrived in late June, and this week, the multinational security support |
| 0:45.9 | missions leader made his first public comments, saying there was no room for failure and |
| 0:52.4 | that they were committed to making sure that democratic elections |
| 0:56.3 | happen. |
| 0:57.8 | So far though, Haitians say they haven't really felt their presence. |
| 1:03.6 | Back in October, we heard from Haitian journalist Harold Isaac on Haiti's long history of |
| 1:09.1 | failed foreign interventions about whether this one would be any |
| 1:13.4 | different. This episode originally aired October 4th, 2023. All dates and references are from that time. |
| 1:35.3 | Haiti was once known as a beacon of strength and independence in its region. The world's first black-led republic in 1804, shaking off its French colonizers. |
| 1:42.3 | But the past decades have been defined by one foreign intervention. |
| 1:46.0 | In 1994, the US intervened in Haiti as part of Operation Uphold Democracy. |
| 1:52.0 | After another. |
| 1:54.0 | The United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti, or Minusta, |
| 1:58.0 | an operation that involved more than 100,000 blue helmets. |
| 2:03.6 | Despite these missions, Haiti continues to stand on the brink. |
| 2:06.6 | The Caribbean nation is in turmoil, besieged by political instability, humanitarian crises, |
... |
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