In March, amid a surge in gang violence in Haiti, the United States announced that Haitian refugees fleeing for their lives would not be allowed into the country. Instead, preparations were being made to divert any potential mass maritime migration of US-bound Haitian refugees to the naval base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. General Laura Richardson, head of the US Southern Command, stated that they had a contingency plan in place and were ready to deal with such a situation. Media reports clarified that intercepted Haitians would be sent to a migrant processing facility at Guantanamo, separate from the complex that houses terrorist suspects.
This would not be the first time that the US has blocked Haitian refugees from entering the country by sending them to Guantanamo Bay. In the 1990s, following a US-backed military coup in Haiti, thousands of Haitians were detained at the naval base as they tried to flee the country. Guantanamo was also considered as a potential holding pen for Haitian refugees after the 2010 earthquake that devastated the country. A plane was dispatched to broadcast a message warning Haitians not to rush on boats to leave the country as US doors would not be open to them.
In the early 1900s, US elites targeted Haiti after the country was forced to take out loans to pay reparations to France for its liberation from French colonial rule and slavery. US Marines subsequently invaded Haiti and occupied the country for nearly two decades, imposing forced, unpaid labor to build a road system for military and commercial control. The US supported brutal dictators in Haiti in later years, contributing to widespread violence and repression in the country.
Haiti continues to suffer from economic and physical violence, with most firearms and ammunition in the country coming from the US. Gang brutality in Haiti has displaced hundreds of thousands of people and left many homeless, with the threat of famine looming. The US has also played a role in perpetuating economic hardship in Haiti, as revealed in WikiLeaks documents showing efforts to block an increase in the minimum wage for Haitian workers in assembly zones.
The present Guantanamo “contingency plan” for Haitian refugees highlights the ongoing impact of US imperialism on Haiti. It remains to be seen whether history will repeat itself, with Haitian refugees potentially being sent to a US military base on Cuban land. The article concludes that there is no contingency plan for ending imperial hypocrisy and calls attention to the role of the US in creating the conditions that lead Haitians to flee their country.
