In the Anglophone Caribbean, especially among younger people, Haiti is regarded as a country that happens to be geographically in the West Indies but is very different from the Anglophones.
Indeed, the stereotype of Haiti is an adoption of the North American, that is, it is the most impoverished country in the world with a semi-barbarous population whose religion is witchcraft with a slight overlay of Catholicism and which has never had a stable and non-corrupt government and administration.

This stereotype belongs to the latter half of the 19th and 20th centuries. Before that time, Haiti was regarded as the richest European colony in the world, and in the 18th century, it supplied Europe with most of its sugar. Its planter class were rich, and many of them were cultured, and its system of slavery was not as harsh as in other parts of the Caribbean. Indeed, many plantations were owned by ‘Mulattoes’.

Haiti’s decline began with the Haitian Revolution. In the 1790s, the slaves in Haiti rebelled and successfully defeated the French administration, establishing the second independent state in the Americas after the United States. The Revolution was led by talented leaders such as Toussaint L’Overture and Petion.

France, the defeated colonial power, took whatever measures it could to destabilise the new republic both economically and politically, prevented the export of Haitian agricultural products and succeeded in having a cordon sanitaire around Haiti. In such circumstances, Haiti fell into a tailspin of decline, which we see today.

It should be observed that up to the 19th century, both the Spanish and English-speaking Caribbean regarded Haiti as a brother Caribbean country, and this was manifested when the French planter class left Haiti after the Revolution and settled in various Caribbean countries where they were welcomed and integrated.

In Trinidad, for example, French Creoles became an important class in every field of endeavour – in business, in the arts and even in politics. CARICOM, led by Guyana, is reestablishing that sense of brotherhood, and this is seen in the part CARICOM is playing in endeavouring to help Haiti emerge from its present ” failed state” syndrome.

Criminal gangs have always been a part of Haitian life, but they were always small and never impinged on the mainstream of Haitian life. In February, however, after the assassination of President Jovenal Moise, the gangs grew in number and size and purported to attach a political agenda to their aims and by March 2024, they were in control of 80 per cent of the capital Port-au-Prince. They opened the jails, burnt the pharmacies, terrorised hospital staff, and prevented the movement of food, causing famine among millions, with children suffering the most. All essential services had collapsed, and the Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who had gone to Kenya in connection with having a Kenyan Peacekeeping Force, was stranded in Puerto Rico because the airports were closed. Haiti was in chaos.

CARICOM, UN Secretary General Guterres and Haitian counterparts, especially the latter, have established the Presidential Transitional Council (CPT), which will put in place transitional governance arrangements and have appointed an interim Prime Minister and a Provisional Electoral Council. They will urgently address the security situation regarding the population’s access to food, water, and medical services and ensure that children can return to school. Through this positive involvement in Haiti, CARICOM countries have drawn closer to Haiti and now truly feel it to be part of the Caribbean fraternity. This is emphasised in CARICOM’s final statement: “CARICOM is reminded of the commitments made by the Transitional Presidential Council and stands ready to support them and the Haitian people in their efforts to put Haiti back on the road to constitutional and democratic legitimacy, stability and sovereignty and to ensure the proper functioning of the State’s institutions.”

It is expected that by the end of 2025, almost full normalcy would have returned to Haiti, and the country would have been able to embark on a path of social, economic, and political development. There is now more optimism about this new beginning coming to fruition since other countries are interested and committed to supporting Haiti, and among them are the CARICOM territories. Guyana, for example, may be able to project elements of its agricultural revolution to uplift Haitian agriculture.