Maria Zakharova on Haiti

The following is the English translation of a recent post from Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, on her Telegram channel. It is not about the Ukraine war or the Middle East crisis, two of the topics I normally cover, but on the disastrous situation in Haiti, which you may have heard about a while ago, but it has not received much coverage in the MSM recently. You will soon find out why! So here we go… (all formatting original, except for bold, which is my own emphasis).

I have reported on how life is in Haiti, the “most American” republic outside the US, on numerous occasions (1, 2).

Hunger, poverty, disease, banditry and total devastation.

Now something else has been added.

There is information in the media that Washington is looking for outlets for one of the politicians (was), oppositionists (was), rebel leaders (was), public figures (was), criminal authorities. This time the Americans are trying to make a deal with mob boss Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherisier, who heads the G9 ("Big Nine") group.

Do you know why he's called Barbecue?

According to one version - because he prefers to roast people alive. Such a talented opposition leader and anti-corruption fighter becomes a promising manager in Haiti, a republic destroyed by decades of American “humanitarian interventions”. A suitable protégé for Washington, in the spirit of U.S. foreign personnel policy of recent decades.

Barbecue and his gangs now control 4/5 of Port-au-Prince, the capital, and have no plans to stop there: prisons have been smashed and thousands of criminals have escaped. In all, there are already more than 200 gangs armed with American weapons operating in the country, some of which occupy only a couple of neighbourhoods. The gangs kidnap girls and nuns from convents. Countries in the “collective West” are hastily evacuating embassies.

All American plans to restore order in the country have already failed [*]. Haiti is in chaos. In fact, the state no longer exists, it remains only in documents and passports.

Responsible for this anarchy is Washington. Despite promises of aid and promises (from US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to fix things, it is America that has brought the republic to such a deplorable state.Here are the words of former US special envoy for Haiti Daniel Foote from a recent interview: “The constant interference over the last 220 years has made Haiti a failed state. The people there have no voice, they do not decide anything about their future, the so-called international mediators have made Haiti a puppet state.”

By the way, it was Blinken who the other day forced the current Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry to resign. The Americans even appointed a new ambassador. But it is all to no avail, the settlement formula does not and cannot work when power is in the hands of criminal gangs. This is about Haiti, if anything, not the US.

The Americans are looking for a way to get the Presidential Council up and running, which, according to their plan, is supposed to fill the power vacuum after five years of chaos. And why was this power vacuum created? Let me remind you: because mercenaries associated with American PMCs killed the previous president - Jovenel Moïse.

And as a cherry on the cake - Washington offers to place Haitian refugees as a humanitarian action... in Guantanamo Bay.

Haiti is the clearest example of what happens when you let the US interfere in your country.

Let the elites in power who believe that the US umbrella is the way to salvation remember this. We can start with defence cooperation and end with ruin and the fate of President Moïse.

Note to Zelensky.

[*] The original link in the Telegram post is the following one, but it is not working:
https://www.state.gov/the-u-s-strategy-to-prevent-conflict-and-promote-stability-10-year-strategic-plan-for-haiti/
However, the one I have provided (also below) works and covers the same topic:
https://www.usaid.gov/conflict-prevention-and-stability/fact-sheets/mar-12-2024-us-strategy-prevent-conflict-and-promote-stability-haiti

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