Overview:
On this op-ed, economist Patrick Alexis requires an ethical, civic and political rupture with Haiti’s post-1986 order. He argues that the nation’s extended disaster stems not from cultural failure or inevitability, however from many years of elite irresponsibility, institutional decay and unaccountable energy. Forty years after the autumn of the Duvalier dictatorship, Alexis urges Haitians to maneuver past symbolism and demand reality, duty and renewal.
PORT-AU-PRINCE — The dictatorship fell, however it was changed by hypocrisy, plunder and irresponsibility. The state by no means recovered.
Freedom was received, however it was by no means organized—harnessed for enduring, constructive change.
For 40 years, visionless elites have seized management of the state, emptied democracy of its substance and deserted the inhabitants to misery and violence. After they failed, they fled — hiding behind empty rhetoric whereas the nation collapsed.
For 4 many years, these same elites have confiscated hope, hijacked democratic establishments and remodeled the state right into a prize to be fought over. The result’s plain to see: fragile establishments, normalized violence, a sacrificed youth and a folks left behind.
Gangs are the end result of betrayal
The gangs wreaking havoc in Haiti at present are the symptom — the product of neglect, impunity and political cowardice. Armed teams usually are not an accident of historical past or a cultural flaw. They’re the end result of a rustic betrayed by those that had been supposed to construct it.
But, Haiti endures — by way of its tradition, its reminiscence and the survival strengths of its folks.
The Haitian individuals are neither incapable nor cursed. They haven’t failed. They’ve been failed.
Forty years after Feb. 7, 1986, we aren’t a second for celebration, however for reality.
With out ethical and civic renewal, no symbolic date will save us. With out accountability, no election, settlement or transition will restore confidence within the state.
Haiti deserves leaders worthy of its folks.
Forty years on, it’s time to identify these accountable, to interrupt the silence and to refuse the normalization of chaos.
Sufficient of symbolic anniversaries.
Haiti is crying out for a break with the previous — now.