By Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer

#Haiti, July 15, 2022 – As we marked a year since the death of former Haitian President Jovenel Moïse on Wednesday July 7 the Caribbean republic’s story remains practically invisible to the world.

On June 7, 2021, Haiti was thrust into turmoil when news broke that the President had been killed and It has been a difficult year for the Caribbean nation.  While the government prepares to honor Moïse in a two day ceremony, that ceremony will take place without the addition of his family as his wife, Martine Moïse, who was also injured in the assassination, still at odds with new Prime Minister Ariel Henry, has rejected their invitations.

The rejection is only one symptom of deeper fissures in the country.

Several persons have been arrested but none have admitted to the murder and the question of why still echoes throughout Haiti unanswered.

Martine told the New York Times someone powerful financed the attack.  Someone with enough money to pay off the 30 to 50 guards that normally protected her husband.

“Only the oligarchs and the system could kill him,” she said.

The world is no closer to a concrete answer but what is clear is that since the assassination gangs have become much more powerful than before, outgunning the police according to officials.  School dropout and unemployment rates are at a new high, kidnappings abound and three times more of Haitians than usual are putting their lives at risk to leave the country on overcrowded fast boats.

Despite all this the situation has taken a backseat to humanitarian crises in other areas of the world. The stories carried internationally are harrowing ones, of kidnapping and murder.  The lopsided coverage leaves the international audience largely unaware of the very real humanitarian crises spreading across the country in waves.

Stories centering Haitians and their experiences are few and far between.  In order for Haiti to get the help it needs this must be corrected.

CARICOM had indicated that more aid would be provided to Haiti in its most recent Intersessional Meeting and Canada and the US have led aid efforts to the Caribbean country donating almost $70 million this year for rebuilding efforts after the earthquake in 2021.

Still despite the monetary assistance the problems persist.

The power vacuum created by the Moïse assassination remains unchecked and suspect.

The UN which pulled its Peacekeeping operatives out of Haiti in 2019 amidst scandals about disease and sexual abuse, now says healthcare and education are suffering.

It is clear, while Haitian people are not running from bombs and air raids, they are trying to eke out some semblance of a decent life and at worst, escape death and torture.