Opinion | The assassination of its president puts Haiti at risk of anarchy. The U.N. must intervene. - The Washington Post

The pre-dawn assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse puts one of the Western Hemisphere’s most impoverished countries at risk of anarchy. That poses an immediate humanitarian threat to millions of Haitians and an equally urgent diplomatic and security challenge to the United States and major international organizations. Swift and muscular intervention is needed.

His death is likely to trigger a power vacuum that would only accelerate the spiral of mayhem in the absence of almost any current elected office-holders with a claim to political legitimacy. Even Interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph, himself in office just three months, was about to be replaced by an obscure neurosurgeon nominated by Mr. Moïse the day before he was killed. Simply put, there is no one with any real authority in position to run the country. And Mr. Joseph’s assertion on Wednesday that order will be maintained by Haiti’s police and army, who have proved impotent or complicit in the face of growing disorder, is anything but reassuring.

The country now needs elections to produce a government that would be seen as legitimate in the eyes of most Haitians. The hard truth, at this point, is that organizing them and ensuring security through a campaign and polling, with no one in charge, may be all but impossible. To prevent a meltdown that could have dire consequences, the United States and other influential parties — including France, Canada and the Organization of American States — should push for an international peacekeeping force, probably organized by the United Nations, that could provide the security necessary for presidential and parliamentary elections to go forward this year, as planned.

The U.N. force did manage, however, to bring a modicum of stability to Haiti following the 2004 uprising that deposed President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. At this perilous moment, a modicum of stability would be preferable to most other plausible scenarios. Statements of concern are inadequate; Haiti has been the subject of too many of them, to no effect. The international community must act now.

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"Opinion" - Google News
July 08, 2021 at 01:37AM
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Opinion | The assassination of its president puts Haiti at risk of anarchy. The U.N. must intervene. - The Washington Post
"Opinion" - Google News
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