There is a concerning development happening in the Caribbean. On March 11th, 2024, Haitian President Ariel Henry resigned amid a massive surge of violence that has been rocking the country, located on the island of Hispaniola. He had been unable to enter the country after attempting to return from Kenya, as gangs had taken control of the capitol’s airport. Henry is currently residing in Puerto Rico, essentially exiled.
This happened after the United States had airlifted all nonessential embassy staff out of the country on March 10th, only leaving behind marines. As of right now, all seats in the legislature, the Haitian National Assembly, are vacant. There is no doubt about it, Haiti, an island long rocked by problems, has achieved anarchy.
This is not to say that there is no informal authority in Haiti. One man, Jimmy Cherizier, better known by his nickname, Barbecue, has taken the mantel of the most powerful gang leader in the country. Mr. Barbecue, who ironically started his career as a police officer before turning to violent crime, has been responsible for many massacres in the country.
Apparently, he had also been responsible for a massacre when he was a police officer as well, way back in 2018, in which 71 people were killed. He was also an ally of the old President, Jovenal Moise, and has been inspired by the Haitian dictator Francois Duvalier.
He claimed responsibility for the attacks that freed thousands of inmates from Haiti’s prison system, and is currently in control of 80% of Port-au-Prince. Mr. Barbecue has remained unavailable for comment on the matters regarding his plans for the country.
Aside from Mr. Barbecue running amok, there are also reports of cannibalism and people being cooked. Cooked like barbecue, ironically enough. Sounds like they are having a jolly good time over there. Hopefully this will have no affect on us.
What does this mean for the US?
Well, if you live in Florida like I do, there is cause for concern. Already, Florida sections of the US Border Patrol are on high alert, expecting a surge in Haitian migration. However, don’t worry, because Blinken is on the case. He has announced 33 million dollars in humanitarian aid and another 100 million dollars for the creation of a multinational task force to the country.
How Blinken thinks throwing money at Haiti will fix this, I have no idea. The country is in anarchy. Where is this money going to go? The government? May as well send it to Mr. Barbecue, because he will most likely be the one who gets it anyhow. Also, is this multinational task force going to include US troops? Apparently it is going to be led by Kenya of all places.
The fact remains that now America has a criminal-run state in our backyard. This is a detriment to our national security, but given Joe Biden’s track record on securing our borders, he will probably let a bunch of cannibals come to Florida for reasons that we cannot comprehend.
I hope that Governor DeSantis is ready to deploy our new State Guard troops if needed. He has been very solid on immigration issues with his support of Texas in the current crisis on the US/Mexico border. If things go how I predict, it will soon be our turn to put up some defenses. Problem is, a coastline is harder to block than a land crossing.
Of course, it would be much easier if this country had a Coast Guard and a Navy that we spend billions of dollars on each year. Wonder where all of that went.
I am not in favor of US boots on the ground to restore order in Haiti. That has been tried numerous times in the past, and we have seen now that it has failed. I do not see how sending Kenyan soldiers is going to make the situation any better, but hey, at least it isn’t our men.
Other countries
If there is anyone I am feeling sorry for right now, it is the Dominican Republic. Imagine how they must be handling things right now, when this chaos is directly on their border. I hope they have invested in a wall or heavily fortified fence.
Actually, if they really want to do something, they ought to just roll their military into Port-au-Prince. Instead of relying on Kenya to do all this work, the DR should pick up some slack. There are almost 60,000 personnel in the Dominican Armed Forces, that is more than enough to launch a campaign.
Ultimately though, Haiti needs to fix itself. No amount of foreign aid or foreign intervention will fix it for them. The Haitians need to sit down and try and figure out what their future will be like. Will they follow Mr. Barbecue down the path of barbarism, or will they attempt to set up a more civilized government?
Conclusion
The Haitian situation is quickly spiraling out of control. We need to enact a policy of containment so this chaos and anarchy doesn’t spread across the region. Anyone engaging in the barbaric action of cannibalism needs to be interned and punished accordingly. Above all, we cannot afford gangs and cannibals arriving on American shores. I do not wish to be turned into a steak. I do not want any of you to be turned into a steak either. The future of Haiti is, at the moment, dark.
