It has been eight years since Haitians last went to the polls. The positions of mayor, member of parliament and even president are vacant. The chair of the interim prime minister, Ariel Henry, has also been empty since his return was obstructed by armed gangs. Challenged by the Haitian people, Henry finally agreed to resign on Tuesday, March 12. He promised to step down "following the establishment of a transitional council," the specifics of which have yet to be determined.

His decision comes after a week-long state of emergency in Haiti, which is plagued by violence from armed groups spreading terror across the country. Hospitals have been attacked. Several thousand inmates have escaped from prison. Criminal gangs, which control 80% of the capital, Port-au-Prince, have also attacked roads leading to the rest of the country, as well as police stations and courts. The country was even threatened by a gang leader, in a press interview, with a "civil war that will lead to genocide" if the prime minister, now stranded in Puerto Rico after a trip abroad, set foot in the country again.

These events are likely the "culmination of a development that can be traced back at least 40 years," according to Jean-Marie Dulix Théodat, a lecturer at the Université Panthéon-Sorbonne in Paris and head of research at both the École Normale Supérieure in Port-au-Prince and the State University of Haiti. Dulix Théodat believes the "transition to democracy has been a failure." Researcher Chalmers LaRose, co-director of the Americas Observatory at the University of Quebec in Montreal, sees this as "symptomatic of a long history of exclusion of part of the population from economic and political affairs, monopolized by a colonial elite that continues to dominate. This is why the political arena has become an extremely violent one."

Over the past 40 years, Haiti's political landscape has been shaken by coups, foreign interference, army insurrection and rigged elections. According to historian Catherine Eve Roupert, this political instability has "plunged it into the current chaos."

The Duvalier dictators' militia

Until 1986, Haiti was ruled by members of the Duvalier family. They came to power in 1957 after rigged elections, with François Duvalier, known as "Papa Doc," at the helm. When he died in 1971, his son Jean-Claude Duvalier (1951-2014) – known as "Baby Doc" – took over. Even at that time, illegal armed forces were already inflicting violence on the population. Called the Tontons Macoutes, this militia killed at least 30,000 people, explained the historian.

You have 64.89% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.