Haiti is once again experiencing Nation wide protests. The country is shut down. Gas is only available on the black market and is currently being sold for $30-40 US dollars a GALLON. Can you imagine living on $2 a day and then having gas be that expensive? Its unfathomable for each of us to imagine paying that ourselves, and then imagine being expected to pay that while living in abject poverty.
Maybe you are wondering what is causing all the tension, or maybe you’re tired of hearing about it all together. The truth is that it’s complicated, and as a foreigner, I only understand part of what’s going on. I will do my best to sum up as much as I understand of the problem.
Part 1: Gas. We’ve been talking about gas shortages, black market gas, and ridiculously high gas prices for almost 3 years now? What is the root of the problem, why can’t Haiti figure it out?
For the past 14 years, the Haitian government has subsidized gas. They have been the only entity authorized to import it into the country, and have required gas stations to sell it at a set price. The going rate for gas, is lower than what it costs the government to import it, so they are loosing hundreds of millions of dollars every year. In 2019, the Late President Jovenel Moise tried to raise the price of gas because the country was in such a deficit that they couldn’t pay their gas bills. The gas companies were refusing to deliver another tanker until the debt was paid. We went several weeks where there literally wasn’t any gas in the country. (This situation was obviously much more complexed than the 2 sentence summary I just gave).
The population wasn’t happy about the proposed increase, so they took to the streets in an unprecedented rate and we had two weeks of intense protest that have since been called “Peyi Lok” (country lockdown). The government eventually paid its bill and gas returned to the country. In order to appease the people, the price was never raised. From time to time, there would be rumors of immanent gas shortages, which would then lead to a self fulfilling prophecy as everyone would chaotically run to the gas station to stock up. The hype would lead to real gas shortages. In turn people would sell gas on the side of the road for higher prices, etc. After a week or two, the hype would ware off and things would return to normal.
The second major fuel insecurity we had was in the Fall of 2021. You see, all gas imported to the country comes in from one depot near the slum of Cite Solie (west of the Capital). This area is controlled by a gang lead by a man named Barbeque. In the fall of 2021, Barbecue decided he was going to take over the road to this port and not allow fuel to enter the country until the current Prime Minister Ariel Henry stepped down (more on the Prime Minister later).
Barbecue and his gang of thugs successfully controlled the port for nearly a month. At the end of this, the entire country was out of their reserves. People were running on fumes, quite literally. Many hospitals shut down because they didn’t have fuel for their generators. Since then many people and organizations have gone to extensive measures to always have a large stock of fuel on hand.
Through all of this, gas station owners learned that they could make way more money selling fuel to the black market than they could selling it at the pump for the government mandated price.
As the entrepreneurs that they are, many have decided to go this route. You can physically watch a tanker truck deliver gas to a station, only to be told that they don’t have any available. They then sell large quantities to their friends who store it in secrete depots around the country, and then sell it on the side of the road for marked up prices. Each gallon of gasoline passes through multiple hands before being purchased by the actual consumer. As such, New Roots hasn’t purchased gas at a gas station for more than 8 months.
The current rumor is that presiding Prime Minister Ariel will be almost doubling the cost of gas to 550 gds per gallon ($4.48 USD). It has once again caused the population to take to the streets.
From our point of view, I can easily understand that the government can NOT keep subsidizing the fuel of the entire country. At some point, the free market has to take over and sell it for a going rate. Although you and I can easily see that having gas readily available and stable for 550 gds a gallon is far better than buying it frantically off the black market for $40 a gallon, the Haitian population is insistent that it needs to remain at 250 gds a gallon.
Thus an on going problem.
Problem 2: Schools are shut down.
In Haiti all schools operate on one set calendar created by the government. They have the same start date, end date, and holidays. This year, the government decided the country was too unsafe to open schools, so they postponed opening for one month. Many believe it’ll be longer than that.
This is very frustrating to me. I fully understand that there are many areas of the country that are legitimately too unsafe for schools to open. Students have become the target unfortunately, and in these areas it is better to keep the kids home. However, I would argue that this truly affects less than 1% of schools across the country. Our rural schools are UNAFFECTED by the tensions happening 7 hours away, yet they aren’t open either, even though their parents have already paid a years worth of fees up front. Money, which of course will NOT be reimbursed.
Many people believe this was actually a political move to destabilize the country even more. They are trying to add fuel to the fire and enrage the population more than they are. And it’s working.
Problem 3: Prime Minister Ariel Henry is suspected to be involved in Assassinating the President and has made no efforts to hold elections.
There is a lot of sketchy stuff and conspiracy theories surrounding the assassination of President Jovenel Moise, and I won’t even pretend to understand it or know the truth. At the time of the assassination, there was no clear second in command to take the presidents place. After a lot of fighting and controversy, Ariel Henry stepped in as Prime Minister and therefore the equivalent of president until a new set of elections could be held.
The elections should have been in September of 2021, however, the international community decided to let Henry stay in power for 1 year while he organized a new election. The one year date has come and gone and no talks of election have taken place. Henry still insists he will hold them, but has done nothing to actually plan for or prepare them.
In addition, quickly after he assumed this roll, fingers started to be pointed at him as being connected to the assassination. Records show he called the main suspect for the assassination just minutes before and quite a few times after the killing took place. Everyone involved in investigating him has either mysteriously been fired, quit, or died before any true evidence can come out.
The population is mad that he is still in office and want him out. They claim he’s done nothing for the country except sit back and watch it fall apart.
Problem 4: Gangs Rule the capital.
There is a growing number of powerful, ruthless gangs that now control a large majority of the capital. The control all 3 of the main roads leading in and out of Port au Prince. Kidnapping for ransom, gang fights, and extortion are now the norm in Port au Prince. It’s become so dangerous that many Haitians and foreigners a like have been forced to flee the country.
The entire population of the capital is terrified to leave home, not knowing if they’ll make it back alive. No one is safe, not the rich, or the poorest of the poor. Everyday horror stories are coming out and they are all true.
The population is tired of living in such a state of high stress. Of not feeling safe. Of loosing their family members. Of not having hope for the future.
Problem 5: Jean Charles Moise is Back and Prime Minister Ariel Henry is out of the country.
Jean Charles Moise (JCM) was the runner up for the presidential election in 2015. He stated that if he did not win the presidency he would burn the country to the ground. JCM grew up in a small village about 3 miles (20 mins) from where New Roots is located. He currently resides in a city called Milot, 4 miles (30 mins) from us.
He leads a gang in this city which, as long as I can remember, has been well armed (even before guns were a thing in Haiti) and known to be ruthless. His gang typically didn’t cause any problems, but if you did get on their bad side, lets just say you weren’t killed nicely or quickly.
JCM has connections and strong holds all over the country. He has caused problems off and on since he lost the last election, but has been relatively quiet until recently. He’s back to making his voice be heard and being accredited for stirring the pot to get the most recent set of manifestations off the ground. His involvement is why Cap Haitian, which is normally calm and quiet compared to Port au Prince, is currently involved.
The Prime Minister, Ariel Henry, is currently out of the country. JCM was encouraging the population to take to the streets and block the roads in order to close all international airports down. If the roads are too dangerous, airport staff can’t get to work, and then the airport is forced to close and airlines can’t fly in. The goal would be to block Ariel Henry from flying back into the country. As of yesterday a few flights had been cancelled but the airports were still running. Agape flights, A missionary flight service that supplies us with mail and cargo has cancelled their flights this week due to lack of staffing at the Cap Haitien Airport. Today there were confirmed reports are that the Cap Haitian airport had road blocks in front of it, but that the staff arrived early and the airport was still open.
Stuck in Florida for who knows how long….
Our family was supposed to fly to Cap Haitien today, but we made the official call to wait out the problems in Florida before returning home. This was not an easy decision, but was the right one in order to protect our family from potential physical as well as emotional harm.
As you can see, there are a lot of issues that are leading Haitians to taking to the streets today. It’s a very complicated situation, and this blog just barely touches on them. It’s so much more complicated than I could even begin to sum up.
My take away for you is not that Haiti is full of danger and lawlessness. It’s not full of horrible people who want to kill and murder for fun. That is not why Haitians are taking to the streets.
Haitians want change, and they want it NOW. Wouldn’t you?
Wouldn’t you want your family to be safe? To have the opportunity to go to school? To dream of a better future? To not have to worry about malnutrition or stray bullets killing your child? To not fear they’ll be kidnapped when they leave home for school?
Wouldn’t you want a leader for your country whose not as blatantly corrupt as this? Wouldn’t YOU protest if your gas cost $40 a gallon and was likely mixed half with water?
Haitians have every right to be upset. They have every right to demand change. You can sit there all day and say yes, they want change, but they shouldn’t go about it like this. They should lobby their government, try to create change in a healthy manner. And although I agree and wished it worked that way, that my friend, is a very closed minded way to see the situation. It’s just not realistic and won’t happen like that for a very long time.
There is too much history of abuse, corruption, etc. Haitians don’t trust each other. They have never had a government (their own or foreign) that has truly looked out for their best interest. They have been used and abused for centuries by theirs and foreign governments.
This is the only way they know how to deal with this situation. It’s the only way they know how to have their voices heard. By taking to the streets, by burning tires, throwing rock/bottles, by shutting the country down.
People will see this situation, hear we got stuck in Florida, and tell us it’s clearly not safe to return. And we agree. It is absolutely NOT safe for us to return to Haiti….. TODAY. And probably not tomorrow, or the rest of this week realistically. Going back today, would NOT be wise. It would put our family and our staff at risk.
This is why we wisely choose to post pone our trip. Why we are staying in Florida at a friends house. It’s why we aren’t going to be booking tickets into Haiti until we know for sure it will be safe to do so.
I also agree that it is not currently safe to return to Port au Prince, today, or any time in the near future. This area is strictly off limits for our family and our staff, and I’m so thankful to not have to return there.
However, just because the streets of Cap Haitian are unsafe TODAY, does NOT mean they will forever and always be unsafe. At some point Cap may sink to the same state as the capital. If Cap Haitian becomes permanently unsafe, we will leave permanently. Until then, we will continue to work and live in Haiti as long as it is safe to do so.
We believe the Haitians cry for change is justified. We see their suffering, and we want to come along side them to give them a hand up instead of a hand out. We are working hard to help create true change in our small rural village. To be the hands and feet of Christ. To create jobs that will bring our community out of generational poverty. To teach the children who have never heard it before, that Jesus loves them. To teach parenting skills that will prevent malnutrition. We are committed to working on the mental health of our community through all of our programs. To creating a place where Haitian children know they are loved, and are physically and emotionally safe. And to create one of the few places in the country right now, where an entire community can safely dream of a better tomorrow.
If you are touched by their cry for help, if you want to show them they are loved and valued, if you want to help create better tomorrow for Haitian children, I ask you to please join our team. Support the work of New Roots. Help be God’s love for our Haitian brothers and sisters. They have suffered enough and it’s time for a change.