Haiti’s Struggle for Black Liberation

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The Current Crisis in Ayiti1: 2010-2026

Content Warning.

Violence, Urban Warfare, Sexual Assault, Death.

Introduction.

In terms of modern human history, and despite contemporary perceptions, Ayiti has been one of the most influential countries in the world. Ayiti is not only the world’s first Black republic, but the second oldest independent republic in the Western hemisphere. The success of the Revolisyon Ayisyen of 1804 laid bare the dishonesty and racism within France and the United States’ liberal values, and the punitive response of France and the US confirmed this truth. The retributory strangulation of Ayiti by capital-colonialist powers has not only set the tenor for projects across the global south for over two centuries but assured that Ayiti and the Ayisyen diaspora remain trapped in a cycle of perpetual crises for just as long. In terms of crises, the first quarter of the 21st century has been perhaps the most severe.

2017-2021: The Moïse Administration.

On 12 January, 2010, Ayiti’s capital Pòtoprens was hit with a magnitude 7 earthquake. The disaster killed hundreds of thousands in a country who was already trying to recover from a series of brutal hurricanes exacerbated by global heating in 2008. In the wake of the earthquake, Pòtoprens’ infrastructures, already crudely constructed due to the country’s widespread poverty, were gravely damaged. For example, the Palè Nasyonal, Ayiti’s equivalent to the White House, collapsed and remains derelict to this day. However, the citizenry were those most effected, as roads, homes, hospitals, and other constructions and infrastructures were damaged even more severely. Those who the earthquake had spared were left with rubble and little more. The people of Ayiti were desperate for a change. As such, politicians, particularly those of the right-wing Tèt Kale party (from the Ayisyen term Shaved Head) such as Jovenel Moïse, began to center infrastructure repairs and improvements in their policy-making, alongside other promises to improve the cost of living in the country. However, these promises often acted as a Trojan horse for corruption, with politicians pocketing funds that were meant to improve the lives of the citizenry.

One such example is found in Ayiti’s energy infrastructure. Ayiti, lacking in oil reserves and other fuel sources, depends on imports for functionally all of its energy needs. Furthermore, neoliberal austerity policies of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2018 threatened to exacerbate fuel shortages, with prices projected to rise by up to 51%. The PetroCaribe program, ran by Venezuela, offered Caribbean nations oil at discounted rates. PetroCaribe was a lifeline for the country, as it assured a greater access to fuel at more affordable prices when compared to oil from the US and other countries.

In 2017, US sanctions on Venezuela under the first Trump administration made Ayiti unable to make further payments to the program, essentially cutting the country off. In a 2019 article, scholar of Ayisyen society Greg Beckett makes the reason for this action clear:

“For the [Ayisyen] government, the end of imports through PetroCaribe has meant the country must now buy its oil from U.S. providers, in U.S. dollars, continuing a long-standing project of U.S. energy imperialism in the Caribbean.”2

However, imperialist aims were not the only problem that the country would face in this regard. In 2018, it came to light that Ayiti was missing around $4 billion from the PetroCaribe program, with half of the missing money being from unpaid oil purchases and the other half being funds stolen from the PetroCaribe Development Fund. Tèt Kale was directly implicated in this theft, sparking massive protests against the Ayisyen government throughout 2019 and 2020. Beckett states:

“In the streets of [Pòtoprens], protesters are calling for an end to mizè (misery), grangou (hunger), and blakawout (blackouts) – problems that they are linking to the economic policies of the government and international community and to the corruption of what some have called the ‘predator state.’”

These protests were met with state repression which escalated tensions until Moïse was assassinated in 2021. This event would launch Ayiti into a new era even more precarious than that lived the decade prior.

2021-2026: Babekyou and the KPT

After the death of Moïse, the international community backed Ariel Henry as the de facto Head of State within Ayiti, bypassing elections even as other elected officials’ terms drew to a close. This, of course, proved unpopular among the people of Ayiti, who had spent the previous 3 years protesting an opaque and corrupt government. With Henry’s legitimacy coming from without the country rather than within, the death of Moïse had effectively created a power vacuum. This vacuum would soon be exploited by gangs, who capitalized on public resentment of the state to bolster their own power and legitimacy.

The situation came to a head in late winter of 2024. Henry had left the country on a trip to Kenya, and, in his absence, a coalition of gangs would soon grow and lay siege of Pòtoprens. When Henry tried to return to the country, the coalition managed to block his return, effectively ending his mandate. In a 2025 article for the North American Congress on Latin America, Beckett explains:

“By March 2024, the transformation of [Ayisyen] political power was complete. Gangs prevented Prime Minister Henry’s return from Kenya, where he’d gone to arrange an international policing mission. Armed gangs demonstrated their ability to dictate terms to what remained of the government. They showed no interest in taking over the state but made clear they could decide whether any government would govern.”

This coalition of gangs was lead by the Jimmy Chérizier, who goes by the alias Babekyou (Barbecue). Before becoming a gangster, Babekyou was police officer and ally to the Tèt Kale party, eventually fired in 2017 for his implication in a grievous massacre. This firing, however would not end relationships with Tèt Kale. According to a profile published on PBS News, a report released by Harvard found that “‘Residents believe they were targeted [by Babekyou] for their political affiliations in an effort to secure election support for (Moïse) and his party.’” It was this proximity to power and experience with combat which gave him status among the warring gangs in Ayiti. Under Babekyou, the neighborhood gang Delmas 6 would grow into the G9 gang federation by 2022 and eventually coalesce into the Viv Ansanm (Live Together) federation in 2024.

Despite his close ties to the Moïse administration and his own position in the corrupt regime, Babekyou has traded on populist and revolutionary language to try and legitimate his actions among the people of Ayiti.

“We [Ayisyens] have to decide who is going to be the head of the country and what model of government we want,” said Chérizier, who leads the gang federation G9 Family and Allies. “We are also going to figure out how to get [Ayiti] out of the misery it’s in now.”3

Statements like this show a political inclination, as he is aligning himself as fighting on the side of Ayisyens and against corruption. However, it is evidently clear that his primary targets are the poor and working class, who he has tortured through rape and the razing of homes in turf wars. Furthermore, he has stated publicly to journalists that he takes for inspiration the dictator François “Papa Doc” Duvalier, who ruled Ayiti for much of the 20th century. Babekyou does not represent libète for the people of Ayiti, but simply the newest medium for oppression.

After Henry’s resignation, the member states of the Caribbean founded the Konsèy Prezidensyel Tranzisyon (KPT). This body would be responsible for restoring order and preparing elections within the country. However, this would not come to pass. Once again, internal corruption among and between KPT members would continue to fuel political gridlock, keeping the government of Ayiti powerless. By 7 February 2026, the KPT’s mandate would end, leaving the countries’ newly appointed (not elected) Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé the sole head of state with no existing checks or balances. This move was supported by the Trump administration, who claims that the complete consolidation of power around Fils-Aimé will be necessary to put an end to gang violence; this despite the fact that US manufactured weapons are the majority of those used by Haitian gangs.

The transition from the KPT to Fils-Aimé comes shortly after confirmation of private military contractors (PMC) from the US being active in Pòtoprens. The PMC Vectus Global owned by United States billionaire Erik Prince carried out an operation in the Delmas neighborhood against Babekyou on 16 January 2026. Videos of buildings collapsing after drone bombings have circled across Ayisyen social media after the raid. A piece in the Haitian Times quotes Ayisyen security official Mario Andrésol as saying: “With these personnel on the ground, I wouldn’t say progress is being made with significantly greater professionalism, but you can feel more cohesion.”4 In spring of 2025, the KPT signed a 10 year contract with Vectus Global, ensuring Prince’s influence within Ayiti. It is then interesting to note that Prince is also the founder of Blackwater, a PMC who has worked closely with the Trump administration to bolster the DHS and ICE within the United States.

Diaspora Disaster: Deportations and Death in the United States.

In the 2024 Presidential race, insurrectionist, convicted rapist, and Epstein associate Donald J Trump claimed upon the debate stage that Ayisyen migrants living in Springfield, Ohio under TPS protections were “eating the dogs, … . They’re eating the cats, they’re eating the pets.” This was obviously a disgusting and anti-Black claim that paints Ayisyens as uncivilized barbarians rather than recognizing them as the victims in one of the worst humanitarian disasters of the 21st century. However, these claims were an important rhetorical tactic by MAGA, as ethnic cleansing through deportations was a primary element of the Republican Party campaign platform. Upon the reelection of Trump, this rhetoric would be made reality through the increased and visible mobilization of ICE across the country. Ayisyen migrants, of course, were a primary target. In January of 2026, as urban warfare between Vectus Global and Viv Ansanm was underway, the DHS under Kristi Noem announced the end of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Ayisyens. Fortunately, this was blocked by a federal judge at the 11th hour, but threats to TPS for the community remain ever present.

In December of 2025, Jean-Wilson Brutus, an Ayisyen migrant residing in New Jersey, was detained by ICE. He died within 24 hours of his confinement within the ICE detention center. In the public announcement of his death, ICE would label Brutus as a “criminal illegal alien,” despite the fact that he was living in the country under Temporary protected status. To make this claim, ICE has leaned on Brutus’ previous legal record, which contains infractions for trespassing and property damage. It is unclear, however, whether these charges are civil or criminal in nature. Brutus was the second Ayisyen to die in ICE custody in 2025, following the death of Marie Ange Blaise on 25 April. Blaise had no criminal record.

The death of Brutus also preceded the murders of Keith Porter, Renee Good, and Alex Pretti. Finally, it is another clear example of the brutalization of families, particularly migrant families and families of color, as now the families of both Brutus and Porter, but even those of Good and Pretti, are stuck grappling with the grievous loss and the fight for justice as Blackwater and other PMCs continue to profit from the chaos.

However, while the Trump administration is directly responsible for these deaths and countless others through the rollback of USAID and climate regulations, this catastrophe cannot be pinned solely on MAGA. Indeed, the Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA) released statements throughout the course of the Biden administration, condemning the Democrat- controlled White House for its continued deportation of Ayisien migrants. These condemnations came as late as 19 December 2024, even after Harris feigned offense towards Trump’s comments during the debate and just weeks before the transition of power into the second Trump administration, with Guerline Jozef of the HBA stating:

It is unconscionable that the Biden-Harris Administration, which claims to represent the “soul of America,” is sending [Ayisyen] asylum seekers back to [Ayiti], effectively condemning them to a death sentence. … By perpetuating anti-Black immigration policies, particularly against asylum seekers of African decent, the Administration continues to violate domestic and international law.

This liberal disrespect of international law is also present back home, with Akron’s House Representative Emilia Sykes voting to express gratitude towards ICE in 2025. In the case of both Harris and Sykes, these are Black politicians continuing to push anti- Black policies so as to gain favor among racist whites for their own power. With this in mind, we cannot reasonably say that the Democrat establishment values Black Ayisien lives more than MAGA; the difference is simply a matter of decorum.

Conclusion.

The Martinican anti-colonialist Aimé Césaire stated:

… before being the victim [of fascism], we [Europeans] were its accomplice; … we supported it before we suffered from it, we absolved it, we closed our eyes to it, we legitimated it, since, until then, it was only applied to non-European people; …5

As we have seen here, this dynamic is at the very heart of the crises both in Ayiti and in the US. Through constant neoliberal meddling in its affairs, based in anti-Blackness and coloniality, the United States has forced Ayiti to live the first quarter of the 21st century in violent agony. Now this violence has come home through ICE raids and neo- McCarthyist persecution. If we wish to free ourselves from the fascism gripping our nation, we must stand in solidarity with the people of Ayiti, within its borders and abroad, and realize that our liberation will not come from increased militarization and violence, but through We the People of Ayiti and the United States taking back control over our democracies, our governments, and the means of production.

Notes

  1. As a sign of solidarity with the Ayisyen working class, who speak Ayisyen rather than French or English, as well as in accordance with our belief in decolonization, we have opted in this document to default to the Ayisyen spellings of places, landmarks, and important concepts within the country. We encourage the reader to read these words out loud, in Ayisyen, in observance of that solidarity.
  2. Beckett, “Haiti at the Crossroads,” 2019.
  3. Beaumont and Taylor, “Haiti PM Ariel Henry resigns,” 2024.
  4. Blaise, “Erik Prince-Linked Mercenaries,” 2026; italics added.
  5. Césaire, Discours sur le colonialisme, 1955; translated by Ryan V.

Works Cited.

Further Exploration.

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