Presidential Council or Guy Philippe:
Choosing Between the Plague and Cholera!

May 6, 2024

This article is translated from issue #314 of Voix des Travailleurs (Workers Voice), the newspaper of the Organization des Travailleurs Revolutionaires (Organization of Revolutionary Workers), a Trotskyist group active in Haiti.

The removal of Prime Minister Ariel Henry by the United States with the assistance of the coalition of gangs “Viv Ansanm” has led to a power vacuum for about six weeks. International diplomacy officially supports the formation of a transitional Presidential Council with representatives from the main political parties. However, some sectors associated with Jovenel Moïse, on the one hand, and unofficially the coalition of gangs, on the other hand, are backing a Presidential Council with Guy Philippe as president. In reality, regardless of the composition of the next government, the working classes have nothing good to expect from it and must continue to rely on themselves.

While under the ferocious dictatorship of gangs, the country sinks deeper and deeper into barbarism and chaos. The possessing classes and their political lackeys engage in a pitched battle to control power and access the trough, too small for the numerous aspirants. After about six weeks of negotiations, a dozen political parties or groupings, among the most prominent, have finally concocted a formula under the auspices of Caricom to form a Presidential Council whose mission is to appoint a Prime Minister for the formation of a new government to replace Ariel Henry’s.

But these political formations, doormats of major Western embassies and the rich classes in Haiti, have all been in power before, either as president of the country, in the government, or in parliament. Through the embezzlement of public funds and the financing of armed bands, they bear their share of responsibility for the country’s catastrophic situation. This Presidential Council is like a famous restaurant, criticized by the public, that changes its name but continues to serve the same reheated and indigestible dishes.

These politicians’ ambition is to drain what remains of the public treasury and place their clientele and relatives in public administration, diplomacy abroad, etc.

Like hungry dogs around a bone, businessmen, politicians, and thugs struggle to find a compromise in their family feud.

Furthermore, a former U.S. Ambassador to Haiti, Pamela White, rumored to have close relations with Martelly’s PHTK, has stated that the solution to the country’s problems lies in negotiations with Guy Philippe and Jimmy Cherizier, known as Barbecue. Barbecue, the spokesperson of the coalition of gangs, was a former police officer. Will international diplomacy, particularly the White House, eventually satisfy the gangs’ desires or find a modus operandi with them to facilitate the functioning of the said Council? It is within the realm of possibility because, in reality, Western embassies, Americans at the forefront, the rich classes in Haiti, politicians, gangs, etc., are somehow part of the same family that vehemently opposes the interests of the working classes.

That is why the latter cannot expect anything from the next government, regardless of its composition. To get out of this quagmire, the poor classes can only rely on their strength and mobilization.