Johnny Celestin generally believes that Haiti, which continues to be under heightened violence from armed groups and gangs, must re-establish order on its own.
“My heart is against foreign intervention,” said Celestin, chair of the nonprofit organization Konbit for Haiti. “I firmly believe in Haiti’s agency.”
But now, with armed militias creating an unprecedented level of instability amid a weekslong leadership void, Celestin and others say foreign intervention may be necessary.
“I guarantee you,” Celestin said, “that people who are losing their homes, losing their lives, are not in a space where they’re saying, ‘Let us die because we’re so proud. We don’t want any foreign help to help us.”
Now living in New York City, Celestin is a native of Haiti and has lived there on and off for most of his life. He returned to Port-au-Prince in 2010 and traveled extensively throughout the country for 10 years.
For generations, his beleaguered Caribbean nation has sought to achieve home-grown stability but, following the assassination of its democratically elected President Jovenel Moïse in 2021, armed groups took increasing control of the country’s capital. The violence that immediately ensued put its citizens at yet another crossroads. Some Haitians say their country will only suffer further if foreign intervention is allowed, while others say international support is necessary for Haiti to overcome its political and humanitarian crises.
Attempts have been made in the past to foster solutions at home. For example, the year Moïse was killed, a group of Haitian and non-Haitian religious leaders, women’s rights groups, lawyers, humanitarian workers and more formed the Commission to Search for a Haitian Solution to the Crisis. The commission proposed a two-year interim government with oversight committees tasked with restoring order, eradicating corruption and establishing fair elections. The group is still working to make its plan a…
Read the full article here
