Haiti In Turmoil

Haiti, a country long besieged by political turmoil, was plunged further into chaos in 2021 when then president Jovenel Moïse was assassinated. Today, gangs run large swaths of the capital city of Port-au-Prince. Schools and businesses have shuttered, food, water and gas shortages have spiraled, and Haitians desperate to leave the country have overrun immigration offices hoping for a passport.

Prime Minister Ariel Henry has been the de facto ruler since Moïse's assassination. There have not been official elections in the country since 2016. In January, its ten remaining senators left office, leaving no single regularly elected official. Henry, whose rule is heavily criticized by many Haitians, says there cannot be new elections until the country is made safer.

Amidst the chaos, calls have risen for the US to help stabilize the country, but a fraught history of US intervention in Haiti has created a climate of mistrust.

Host Michel Martin talks to Pamala White, former ambassador to Haiti, about what options are available to Haiti to quell the country's unrest.

And Marlene Daut, a professor at Yale of French and African-American studies, unpacks the history of US intervention in Haiti.

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