Slew of Presidential Decrees Have Some Wondering If Haiti Is on the Road to Dictatorship
Slew of Presidential Decrees Have Some Wondering If Haiti Is on the Road to Dictatorship
"Continuation down this path, particularly with the lack of the ability of the international community to affect it, would be very concerning," said AS/COA's Eric Farnsworth to Miami Herald.
A chest-thumping Jovenel Moïse was taking on an adversary in Haiti’s business community, blaming him for the country’s electricity woes, when he decided to clear up any doubts about the extent of his presidential power…
“The potential for gross abuse is self-evident,” said Eric Farnsworth, vice president for the Council of the Americas and a former U.S. State Department official. “Democracy with Haitian characteristics, or Moïse’s characteristics, that’s not democracy at all.”
Farnsworth noted that Haiti is no stranger to strong-man rule, which makes the ongoing developments worrisome.
“One would hope that any government would be extra mindful of the potential for abuse and not go down that road. But apparently that’s not the case here,” he said. “The countervailing pressure here would be the international community, of course, which generally means the United States. Speaking from a Washington perspective, it’s hard to see between now and the foreseeable future that these types of issues would rise to the level of top priority in Washington. Therefore you have to assume he might get away with it.”…
While Farnsworth is reluctant to say Moïse is another Hugo Chávez or Fidel Castro in the making, it’s hard to overlook the warning signs.
“If you’re comparing yourself to God, you’re not going to come off favorably in that comparison. There’s a real lack of self-awareness in that,” Farnsworth said. “Clearly some of the things that allowed for the consolidation of dictatorship in Cuba and in Venezuela appear to be working now in Haiti."
“Continuation down this path, particularly with the lack of the ability of the international community to affect it, would be very concerning. He was elected, but so was Chavez. He was elected too and we remember what he did to get into power and to consolidate power.”
