The future in Haiti looks bleak. It is already the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, and now it is beset by continuing violence following the resignation of President Gen. Prosper Avril, who fled to Florida. Haiti has been left leaderless.
Weeks of intense pressure and violent street protests forced Avril out of office. He had agreed to step down after negotiations reportedly involving the U.S. and French embassies, the Roman Catholic Church and opposition political parties.Avril came to power in a September 1988 revolt by soldiers who professed disdain for political killings and other abuses by the previous military ruler, Lt. Gen. Henri Namphy.
Namphy had ruled the country most of the time since the popular uprising that ousted Jeane-Claude Duvalier. There have been three coups and four governments in Haiti since February 1986, when Duvalier fled the country after a popular uprising. In fact, this Caribbean nation of 6 million people has been ruled mainly by the military since it gained independence from France in 1804.
Opposition leaders have chosen a Supreme Court justice, Ertha Trouillot, to head a provisional government to succeed Avril, which would take control within two days.
If this happens, she would be the first woman to hold the post in Haiti's history. In the meantime, Maj. Gen. Herard Abraham, head of the army, supposedly holds the reins of power but has in effect declined to function. This means that Haiti is effectively without government.
Abraham moved Avril's Presidential Guard Battalion out of the Presidential Palace in order to negate the threat of Avril partisans regaining power. In doing so, he left both the palace and the nearby armed forces headquarters building only lightly guarded. Security is at a standstill.
Violence in the capital over the weekend was extensive. At least 18 people were reported killed. Escalating violence and unrest in this impoverished Caribbean nation will only get worse until a formal government can get established.
Right now, the choice in Haiti is not between dictatorship and democracy, it is between anarchy and some kind of public order.
A new government must assume control quickly to begin to bring the violence to an end. Haitians can only hope that such control does not bring another despotic regime with it.
Avril and his military junta are gone, but there are clearly multiple problems remaining in this precarious and vulnerable country.