US Sanctions Haitian Gangs, Ignores Its Own Role
Al Jazeera reports the US has sanctioned an ex-police officer and a gang leader in Haiti, with the UN Security Council extending an arms embargo. This follows the usual script: Washington identifies a 'problem,' then applies sanctions as if the issue materialized out of thin air. What's consistently omitted is the extensive history of US intervention, coups, and support for brutal dictators that
directly fueled Haiti's instability and the rise of these very gangs. From backing the Duvalier regime for decades to the 2004 coup against democratically-elected Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the US has systematically undermined Haitian sovereignty and institutions. One might wonder if these carefully targeted sanctions are less about genuine stability and more about maintaining plausible deniability
while Haiti descends further into chaos—chaos often profitable for external interests. It's a classic move: 'We broke it, but we'll only acknowledge the final symptom, not our handiwork.' How many times must a nation be 'helped' into ruin before we question the helping hand?