Haitians Hope for a New Chapter

Apr 11, 2024

Weeks of chaos and violence in Haiti may be coming to an end as an is drawn up this week. Haiti鈥檚 political parties and numerous stakeholder civil society groups have coalesced around the idea of a nine-member council that will remain in power for 22 months, before elections can be held for a new president.

The current crisis peaked when violence broke out across Haiti, prompting Haitian President to announce his resignation in response to pressure from the United States. He had been in Kenya, on the verge of authorizing Kenyan military forces to deploy to Haiti to tackle political violence. Henry had taken over the Haitian presidency from Jovenel Mo茂se, who was in 2021.

Many Haitians are desperate to flee the violence, but face hostile politicians such as , who has deployed the National Guard to the southern part of his state to intercept refugees.聽

Jocelyn McCalla, senior policy advisor to the , spoke with YES! Senior Editor Sonali Kolhatkar on YES! Presents: Rising Up With Sonali about the roots of Haiti鈥檚 political crisis and prospects for peace.

Sonali Kolhatkar joined YES! in summer 2021, building on a long and decorated career in broadcast and print journalism. She is an award-winning multimedia journalist, and host and creator of聽YES! Presents: Rising Up with Sonali, a nationally syndicated television and radio program airing on Free Speech TV and dozens of independent and community radio stations. She is also Senior Correspondent with the Independent 麻豆社事件 Institute鈥檚 Economy for All project where she writes a weekly column. She is the author of聽Rising Up: The Power of Narrative in Pursuing Racial Justice聽(2023) and聽Bleeding Afghanistan: Washington, Warlords, and the Propaganda of Silence聽(2005). Her forthcoming book is called聽Talking About Abolition聽(Seven Stories Press, 2025). Sonali is co-director of the nonprofit group, Afghan Women鈥檚 Mission which she helped to co-found in 2000. She has a Master鈥檚 in Astronomy from the University of Hawai鈥檌, and two undergraduate degrees in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Texas at Austin. Sonali reflects on 鈥淢y Journey From Astrophysicist to Radio Host鈥� in her 2014聽聽of the same name.