Haiti Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ====Post-Aristide era (2004–present)==== {{See also|Haitian crisis (2018–present)}} Amidst the continuing political chaos, a series of natural disasters hit Haiti. In 2004 [[Hurricane Jeanne#Haiti|Tropical Storm Jeanne]] skimmed the north coast, leaving 3,006 people dead in flooding and [[mudslide]]s, mostly in the city of [[Gonaïves]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sfl-0923haitigallery,0,7266223.photogallery |title=Photo Gallery: Jeanne hits Haiti |work=Orlando Sentinel |access-date=16 February 2010 |archive-date=5 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090505105859/http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sfl-0923haitigallery,0,7266223.photogallery |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 2008 Haiti was again struck by tropical storms; [[Tropical Storm Fay (2008)|Tropical Storm Fay]], [[Hurricane Gustav]], [[Hurricane Hanna (2008)|Hurricane Hanna]] and [[Hurricane Ike]] all produced heavy winds and rain, resulting in 331 deaths and about 800,000 in need of humanitarian aid.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-09-10-Haiti-floods_N.htm |title=UN seeks almost US$108 million for Haiti floods | work = [[USA Today]] | date=10 September 2008 |access-date=24 July 2013}}</ref> The state of affairs produced by these storms was intensified by already high food and fuel prices that had caused a food crisis and political unrest in April 2008.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4718790.stm |work=BBC News |title=Preval declared Haiti poll winner |date=16 February 2006 |access-date=4 May 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN1228245020080413 |title=Haiti's government falls after food riots |date=12 April 2008 |access-date=16 February 2010 | work=Reuters}}</ref><ref name="Encylopedia Britannica - Haiti"/> [[File:Haitian national palace earthquake.jpg|thumb|upright=1.6|The [[National Palace (Haiti)|Haitian National Palace]], located in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, heavily damaged after the [[2010 Haiti earthquake|earthquake of 2010]]. This was originally a two-story structure; the second story completely collapsed.]] On 12 January 2010, at 4:53 pm local time, Haiti was struck by a [[moment magnitude scale|magnitude]]-7.0 [[2010 Haiti earthquake|earthquake]]. This was the country's most severe earthquake in over 200 years.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqinthenews/2010/us2010rja6/ |title=Magnitude 7.0 – Haiti Region |access-date=12 January 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100115110510/http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqinthenews/2010/us2010rja6/ |archive-date=15 January 2010 }}</ref> The earthquake was reported to have left between 160,000 and 300,000 people dead and up to 1.6 million homeless, making it one of the [[List of natural disasters by death toll|deadliest natural disasters ever recorded]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Haiti Earthquake Fast Facts|url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/12/world/haiti-earthquake-fast-facts/index.html|website=CNN|date=12 December 2013|access-date=12 January 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Archibold |first= Randal C.|date=13 January 2011|title=Haiti: Quake's Toll Rises to 316,000|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/14/world/americas/14briefs-Haiti.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220102/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/14/world/americas/14briefs-Haiti.html |archive-date=2 January 2022 |url-access=limited |url-status=live|access-date=18 March 2012}}{{cbignore}}</ref> It is also one of the deadliest earthquakes ever recorded.<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://ourworldindata.org/the-worlds-deadliest-earthquakes | title=What were the world's deadliest earthquakes? | journal=Our World in Data | date=2 February 2024 | last1=Ritchie | first1=Hannah | last2=Roser | first2=Max }}</ref> The situation was exacerbated by a subsequent massive [[Haiti cholera outbreak|cholera outbreak]] that was triggered when cholera-infected waste from a [[United Nations]] peacekeeping station contaminated the country's main river, the [[Artibonite River|Artibonite]].<ref name="Bradt20"/><ref>{{cite news|last1=Sontag|first1=Deborah|title=In Haiti, Global Failures on a Cholera Epidemic|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/01/world/americas/haitis-cholera-outraced-the-experts-and-tainted-the-un. |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220102/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/01/world/americas/haitis-cholera-outraced-the-experts-and-tainted-the-un. |archive-date=2 January 2022 |url-access=limited |url-status=live|access-date=21 June 2015}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oxfam.org/en/pressroom/pressrelease/2011-01-06/year-indecision-leaves-haiti-recovery-standstill |title=A year of indecision leaves Haiti recovery at a standstill |publisher=Oxfam.org |date=6 January 2011 |access-date=24 July 2013}}</ref> In 2017, it was reported that roughly 10,000 Haitians had died and nearly a million had been made ill. After years of denial, the United Nations apologized in 2016, but {{as of|2017|lc=y}}, they have refused to acknowledge fault, thus avoiding financial responsibility.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Gladstone|first1=Rick|title=U.N. Brought Cholera to Haiti. Now It Is Fumbling Its Effort to Atone|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/26/world/americas/cholera-haiti-united-nations-peacekeepers-yemen.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220102/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/26/world/americas/cholera-haiti-united-nations-peacekeepers-yemen.html |archive-date=2 January 2022 |url-access=limited |url-status=live|newspaper=The New York Times|date=27 June 2017|access-date=12 January 2018}}{{cbignore}}</ref> General elections had been planned for January 2010 but were postponed due to the earthquake.<ref name="Encylopedia Britannica - Haiti"/> [[2010–11 Haitian general election|Elections were held on 28 November 2010]] for the senate, the parliament and the first round of the presidential elections. The run-off between [[Michel Martelly]] and [[Mirlande Manigat]] took place on 20 March 2011, and preliminary results, released on 4 April, named Michel Martelly the winner.<ref name="Bradt21">Clammer, Paul (2016), ''Bradt Travel Guide – Haiti'', p. 21.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-2951-haiti-inauguration-michel-martelly-56th-president-of-haiti.html |title=Haiti – Inauguration : Michel Martelly, 56th President of Haiti |publisher=Haitilibre.com |date=14 May 2011 |access-date=24 July 2013}}</ref> In 2011 both former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier and Jean-Bertrand Aristide returned to Haiti; attempts to try Duvalier for crimes committed under his rule were shelved following his death in 2014.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/20/world/americas/20haiti.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220102/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/20/world/americas/20haiti.html |archive-date=2 January 2022 |url-access=limited |url-status=live |work= [[The New York Times]] |author=Ginger Thompson |title=Aristide Says He Is Ready to Follow Duvalier Back to Haiti |date=19 January 2011}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/04/jean-claude-duvalier-baby-doc-haiti-dies |title=Jean-Claude Duvalier, former Haitian dictator, dies aged 63 |newspaper=The Guardian |author=Agencies|date=4 October 2014 |access-date=17 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208082446/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/04/jean-claude-duvalier-baby-doc-haiti-dies |archive-date= 8 December 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Kushner2011">{{cite news|first=Jacob |last=Kushner |url=http://www.salon.com/2011/01/17/cb_haiti_ex_dictator_returns/ |title=Haiti's 'Baby Doc' in surprise return from exile |work=Salon |agency=Associated Press |date=17 January 2011 |archive-date=27 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130527224344/http://www.salon.com/2011/01/17/cb_haiti_ex_dictator_returns/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Bradt21"/> In 2013, Haiti called for European nations to pay [[reparations for slavery]] and establish an official commission for the settlement of past wrongdoings.<ref>{{cite book | chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SofDAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT14| chapter=Formulating the Case for Reparations |last=Gifford |first= Lord Anthony| title=Colonialism, Slavery, Reparations and Trade: Remedying The 'Past'? |publisher=Routledge | year=2012 | pages=96|isbn=978-1-136-59792-3}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/news/americas/21587236-pressure-grows-compensation-caribbean-trade-blood-money |title=Slavery reparations: Blood money |newspaper=[[The Economist]] |date=5 October 2013}}</ref> Meanwhile, after continuing political wrangling with the opposition and allegations of electoral fraud, Martelly agreed to step down in 2016 without a successor in place.<ref name="Bradt21"/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/08/world/americas/michel-martelly-haitis-president-departs-without-a-successor.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220102/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/08/world/americas/michel-martelly-haitis-president-departs-without-a-successor.html |archive-date=2 January 2022 |url-access=limited |url-status=live |title=Michel Martelly, Haiti's President, Departs Without a Successor|date=7 February 2016|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=7 February 2016 |last=Robles|first=Frances}}{{cbignore}}</ref> After numerous postponements, partly owing to the effects of devastating [[Hurricane Matthew]], [[November 2016 Haitian presidential election|elections]] were held in November 2016.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-haiti-election-idUSKCN0XM0CC | title=Haiti says election could drag on for months, protests grow | work=Reuters | date=25 April 2016 | access-date=26 April 2016 |last=Guyler Delva |first= Joseph}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-18834-haiti-flash-the-elections-of-october-9-postponed.html |title=Haiti – FLASH : The elections of October 9 postponed |work=Haiti Libre |date=5 October 2016 |access-date=6 October 2016}}</ref> The victor, [[Jovenel Moïse]] of the [[Haitian Tèt Kale Party]], was sworn in as president in 2017.<ref>{{cite tweet |user=cep_haiti |number=803456135873363968 |date=28 November 2016 |title=Résultats préliminaires des élections présidentielles du 20 Novembre 2016 pic.twitter.com/i9GsrkkU8p }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-haiti-elecion-idUKKBN13O08L |title=Businessman Moise wins Haiti election in first round – provisional results |work=Reuters |date=29 November 2016 |access-date=16 November 2017 |location=Port-au-Prince |first=Makini |last=Brice }}</ref> [[Haitian crisis (2018–present)|Protests began]] on 7 July 2018, in response to increased fuel prices. Over time these protests evolved into demands for the resignation of president Moïse.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dw.com/en/haiti-thousands-protest-against-corruption/a-47421473|title=Haiti: Thousands protest against corruption |date=8 February 2019|website=[[Deutsche Welle]]|language=en-GB}}</ref> On 7 July 2021, President Moïse was [[Assassination of Jovenel Moïse|assassinated]] in an attack on his private residence, and First Lady [[Martine Moïse]] was hospitalized.<ref>{{Cite web|date=7 July 2021|title=Official: Haiti President Jovenel Moïse assassinated at home|url=https://apnews.com/article/caribbean-haiti-government-and-politics-b56a0f8fec0832028bdc51e8d59c6af2|access-date=7 July 2021|website=AP NEWS|language=en}}</ref> Amid the political crisis, the government of Haiti installed [[Ariel Henry]] as both the Prime Minister and the President on 20 July 2021.<ref name="haitifactbook">{{cite web |title=Haiti – Background |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/haiti/ |website=The World Factbook |date=15 June 2022 |publisher=CIA |access-date=16 June 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|first1=Caitlin |last1=Hu |first2=Natalie |last2=Gallón |first3=Matt |last3=Rivers |first4=Etant |last4=Dupain |title=Haiti's acting prime minister Claude Joseph to step down amid power struggle after president's assassination |url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/19/americas/haiti-acting-pm-claude-joseph-to-step-down-intl/index.html |date=19 July 2021 |access-date=19 July 2021 |website=CNN}}</ref> On 14 August 2021, Haiti suffered [[2021 Haiti earthquake|another huge earthquake]], with many casualties.<ref>{{Cite news|date=14 August 2021|title=Haiti struck by deadly 7.2-magnitude earthquake|language=en-GB|work=[[BBC News]]|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-58215631|access-date=15 August 2021}}</ref> The earthquake has also damaged Haiti's economic conditions and led to a rise in [[Gang|gang violence]] which by May 2020 had escalated to a long-lasting full-blown [[Gang war in Haiti|gang war]] and other violent crimes.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://blogs.iadb.org/ideas-matter/en/estimating-the-potential-economic-impact-of-haitis-2021-earthquake/|title=Estimating the Potential Economic Impact of Haiti's 2021 Earthquake|first=Eduardo|last=Cavallo|author2=Laura Giles Álvarez|author3=Andrew Powell |website=IDB|date=28 September 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/10/1102062|title=Haiti facing stalled elections, kidnapping surge, rampant insecurity|website=UN News|publisher=United Nations|date=4 October 2021}}</ref> As of March 2022, Haiti still had no president, no parliamentary quorum, and a dysfunctional high court due to a lack of judges.<ref name="haitifactbook" /> In 2022, [[2022 Haitian crisis|protests]] against the government and [[Global energy crisis (2021–present)|rising fuel prices]] intensified.<ref>{{cite news |title=Haiti suffers deadly demonstrations against rise in fuel prices |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2022/09/17/haiti-suffers-deadly-demonstrations-against-rise-in-fuel-prices_5997305_4.html |work=Le Monde |date=17 September 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Haiti reaches a breaking point as the economy tanks and violence soars |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/haiti-reaches-a-breaking-point-as-the-economy-tanks-and-violence-soars |work=PBS |date=4 October 2022}}</ref> In 2023, kidnapping jumped 72% from the first quarter of the previous year.<ref>{{cite news |last=Phillips |first=Tom |title=UN calls for foreign intervention in Haiti as violence surges |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/21/haiti-un-international-specialized-support-force |access-date=26 April 2023 |work=The Guardian |date=21 March 2023}}</ref> Doctors, lawyers, and other wealthy members of society were kidnapped and held for ransom.<ref name="kidnapping">{{cite news |last=Wilentz |first=Amy |title=Haiti, April 2023: Soon There Will Be No One Left to Kidnap |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/world/haiti-gangs-ariel-henry-biden/ |access-date=26 April 2023 |agency=The Nation |date=17 April 2023}}</ref> Many victims were killed when ransom demands were not met, leading those with the means to do so to flee the country, further hampering efforts to pull the country out of the crisis.<ref name="kidnapping"/> It is estimated that amidst the crisis up to 20% of qualified medical staff had left Haiti by the end of 2023.<ref name="medical crisis">{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/17/world/americas/haiti-gang-violence-health.html |title=Haiti's Hospitals Survived Cholera and Covid. Gangs Are Closing Them. |last1=David C. |first1=Adams |first2=Frances |last2=Robles |work=New York Times |date=2024-03-17 }}</ref> In March 2024, Ariel Henry was prevented by gangs from returning to Haiti, following a visit to Kenya.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://apnews.com/article/haiti-prime-minister-gangs-resign-e583a191a2f800bc63752220a47dec0d |title=Haiti's prime minister is locked out of his country and faces pressure to resign |website=[[Associated Press News]] |date=6 March 2024 |access-date=7 March 2024 |archive-date=6 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240306214053/https://apnews.com/article/haiti-prime-minister-gangs-resign-e583a191a2f800bc63752220a47dec0d |url-status=live }}</ref> Henry agreed to resign once a transitional government had been formed. As of that month, nearly half of Haiti's population was living under [[Hunger|acute food insecurity]], according to the [[World Food Programme]].<ref name=":1" /> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page