Haiti Humiliated: When the Powerful Trample the Laws They Impose on Others

The scene is worthy of tales from another century: a foreign chargé d'affaires allows himself to send a WhatsApp message to members of the Transitional Presidential Council (CPT) to threaten them with sanctions if they dare to consider dismissing Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé. A diplomat who, far from his traditional role as his country's representative, literally dictates to Haitian authorities the course of action, as one gives directives to subordinates. If further proof were needed that Haiti's sovereignty is nothing more than a diplomatic fiction, here it is. But indignation would be incomplete if we merely pointed fingers at foreign arrogance. For the real tragedy lies elsewhere: our authorities themselves offer their foreheads to the whip, allowing themselves to be humiliated, directed, corrected, and called to order by others. Is it not said, moreover, that to be respected, one must first respect oneself? I. The Repetition of an Old Scenario: Haiti Under Informal Guardianship Since 1804, Haiti has lived under the suspicious, sometimes hostile, often paternalistic gaze of the great powers of the Western world. What is unfolding today is merely the contemporary version of an old pattern. In 1825, Haiti was dictated a ransom of 150 million gold francs. In 1915, the Marines landed and imposed a Convention and a Constitution. In 1994, in 2004, and during every major crisis, the so-called "friends of Haiti" came to safeguard or strengthen their interests. Each era has its instruments: yesterday gunboats, today WhatsApp messages, financial and political sanctions, collective statements, and the international community as reinforcement. What doesn't change: the disguised guardianship of a country treated as a minor incapable of deciding for itself. II. The Powerful Preach Morality, But Trample Their Own Laws International hypocrisy is blatant. The same chanceries that demand strict adherence to democratic principles from Haiti do not hesitate to circumvent these principles when they want to impose a political agenda. How can one justify, for example, a diplomat threatening the authorities of a sovereign country (even when they are neither constitutional nor legitimate) with personal sanctions? Or a foreign representative publicly calling presidential advisors to order like a prefect lecturing local officials? Or a group of embassies dictating the pace, tone, and direction of the transition? International law prohibits this interference.
Diplomatic conventions condemn it. National sovereignty denounces it. But the powerful trample the laws they impose on others because they know that here, no one resists them. III. The Core of the Problem: A Political Elite That Abdicates Its Dignity The fundamental fault is not only external. Haiti is humiliated because those who should defend its honor have ceased to believe in the value of their country. Our political leaders too often behave like colonial governors, awaiting their roadmap from abroad, seeking approval from Washington, Ottawa, Paris for every important decision. This voluntary submission offers foreign powers a power they would never dare to exercise in a country with strong institutions, responsible political leaders, and integral and determined representatives. When a foreign diplomat allows himself to give orders, it's not just that he's arrogant: it's that he knows no one will say no to him. And that is the heart of the problem. IV. A Political Crisis, But Above All a Crisis of Self-Respect Haiti is not humiliated solely by foreign contempt. It is primarily humiliated by internal resignation, the normalization of interference, the habit of dependence.
We have become a country where it is considered normal for an ambassador to arbitrate a political conflict, for a special envoy to support a Prime Minister, for a diplomat to set the red lines of national debate. Yet world history teaches a universal truth: nations that do not defend their dignity lose their voice, their respect, and ultimately their freedom. And Haiti, once a beacon of freedom for oppressed peoples, is today the most painful demonstration of this. Haiti is humiliated not only because the powerful trample the laws they impose on others, but especially because our so-called leaders no longer offer the slightest resistance. This crisis does not only call for a political response. It demands a moral awakening. For as long as we accept being treated as vassals, others will behave as masters. Pierre Josué Agénor Cadet