Haiti facing effects of natural disaster and government collapse

Posted Apr 24, 2024

By Benjamin Larkin

News Editor

Haiti has recently suffered a series of natural disasters and outbreaks of large-scale gang violence, including an attack on the country's largest prison, that have pushed the country to the brink of collapse. 

On Au.14, 2021, a magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck Haiti with its epicenter around 150 miles west of the capital city Port-au-Prince with at least 2,248 deaths and more than 12,200 injured and over 137,500 buildings damaged or destroyed. The effects upon the Haitian economy were large-scale with over 1.6 billion dollars of economic damage which represented roughly 11% of Haiti’s total gross domestic product. This was the most deadly natural disaster of 2021 and can be directly linked to Haiti’s current financial and political circumstances as it resulted in further economic losses and an uptick in crime. 

While foreign aid has been sent to Haiti with the United States providing over 228 million dollars to assist in reconstruction efforts the amount of aid has been what would be required for the Haitian economy to recover and it has continued to drop in value since 2021.

 Public health has also been affected by the national disaster in Haiti with infant and maternal mortality rates having continued to deteriorate since the earthquake and a cholera outbreak on August 27 2023 with 3,835 confirmed cases, this decline in public health can be contributed to the loss of clinics, hospitals, and private finances which can be utilized to purchase medical treatment. The poor health conditions can also be linked to losses of reliable drinking water because of damage done to Haiti’s plumbing systems and water treatment plants. 

On Aug. 17, 2021 a hurricane struck Haiti which was struggling to recover from the devastating earthquake three days prior, the hurricane caused flooding which impeded search and rescue operations as well as foreign aid, and strong winds caused by the hurricane destroyed many buildings that were already damaged by the earthquake. 

The 2021 earthquake was only one in a series of natural disasters that have damaged the nation's economy. An earthquake in 2010 is estimated to have killed 222,570 people, injured 300,000 others, displaced 1.3 million people, destroyed 97,294 buildings, and damaged 188,383 others, and resulted in the nation losing 67% of its GDP and experiencing a cholera outbreak which killed over 3,597 people and had over 340,000 confirmed cases. In 2012 Hurricane Sandy resulted in flooding which killed 108 people, left 12 missing and 200,000 people left homeless. In 2016 Hurricane Matthew caused losses and damages estimated at 13% of the nation's GDP and an estimated 546 deaths with more than 35,000 left homeless. The economic impacts of this series of natural disasters can still be felt in Haiti as the nation continues to reel from damaging earthquakes and hurricanes.

Assassination, murder, rape, theft, all of these have exploded in frequency as political violence and crime overtake Haiti and armed gangs occupy the caribbean nations capital. While Haiti has been seeing an increase in violent crime and political violence since the devastating earthquake of 2010 the assassination of Haitian president Jovenel Moise on July 7 2021 and the subsequent power vacuum and national outrage has led to what appears to be a complete collapse of government authority and public order. 

Since the assassination of president Moise, Haiti has not had a publicly elected head of state, as acting prime minister Ariel Henry has served as both interim president and the head of parliament. This has been met with widespread protests and outbreaks of political violence as many Haitians are opposed to a government that has not held public elections in eight years as well as a government that is headed by one of the primary suspects in the assassination of president Moise. This outbreak of political violence and crime was amplified by the 2021 earthquake and has since escalated into full anti-government revolt with armed gangs seizing control of the majority of Haiti's capital as well as other cities and rural areas such as Autorité Portuaire Nationale, the country's largest port. 

The uprising in the capital started last year when it was announced that elections would be postponed until 2025, causing multiple armed groups to begin an anti government insurgency. While the insurgents attacked and took control of numerous facilities such as airports, sea ports, and the central bank it wasn't until they attacked the country’s two largest prisons and released the inmates, on March 2 and March 3 respectively, that government authority collapsed. Acting prime minister and president Henry has unable to return to Haiti due to the violence within the country and the occupation of its airports and seaports. 

Acting president Henry was in Puerto Rico lobbying for international support when public order in Haiti fully broke down and is currently lobbying Kenya for a deployment of troops to assist in combating the armed gangs in Haiti which have formed an alliance known as the G9 alliance. Currently the capital is mostly occupied by the G9 alliance but government aligned forces such as the Port au de Prince police department and pro government militias are still holding onto territory with the main pockets of resistance around the main police station and the international district and embassies. 

The situation in Haiti continues to deteriorate with the fighting in the capital expanding into the luxury housing districts and the city's outer suburbs and many civilians being caught in the crossfire or becoming the victims of seemingly random attacks by Haitian gangs. Humanitarian aid efforts have so far been stifled by the lack of available air and sea ports with helicopters currently being the main way in and out of the country”s more unstable regions as humanitarian organizations attempt to bring in food, water and medical supplies as well as evacuate as many people as they can with another large obstacle being the gangs themselves as they try to prevent Haitians and foreign citizens from escaping. Many US citizens are still trapped in Haiti and though a small number of citizens have been airlifted so far an official plan to rescue the trapped citizens has not yet been announced by the government.