He brings star power and loads of contacts in the
U.S. administration, along with multilateral donors
and investors. But can he fix what really ails
the hemisphere’s poorest country—
its ineffectual, feckless government?
HAITI:
Our Man in
Bill Clinton
BY GARRY PIERRE-PIERRE
Since his recent appointment as United Nations Special Envoy to Haiti, former President Bill Clinton has been called, half-se- riously, “president of Haiti” and “viceroy.” The lofty nicknames reflect Haitians’ belief that they have at last found a figure whose international prominence will open a new window of
opportunity for this deeply troubled Caribbean nation of roughly 9 million
people, where the vast majority eke out a living on less than $1 a day.
Clinton’s selection was warmly received in Washington DC, in Port-au-Prince and among Haitians living overseas—the key stakeholders in Haiti’s
future well-being. But that Clinton was brought to the scene at all was a
tacit admission that the UN, which has had a force of 7,000 soldiers and
more than 1,000 police personnel in Haiti since 2004, lacked the power to
turn things around by itself.
The force, known by its French acronym, MINUS TAH, has withstood criticism from almost every quarter in Haiti for failing to curb violence and, in
some instances, for abusing Haitians. Still, MINUSTAH’s work has been a
catalyst for renewed optimism in Haiti and abroad.
AMERICASQUARTERLY.ORG
