Caribbean & Central America - October 2017 (ISSN 1741-4458)

President Jovenel Moïse is facing the biggest show of unrest since his Parti Haïtien Tèt Kale (PHTK) government took office in February. Last month, political opposition groups such as Platfòm Pitit Dessalines, the party of former 2015 presidential candidate Jean-Charles Moïse, and unions like Centrale Nationale des Ouvriers Haïtiens (CNOHA) began staging protests. The cause of complaint is the 2017-2018 national budget for G144bn (US$2.3bn), which was promulgated by President Moïse last month and which, these groups complain, lacks transparency and introduces unfair new tax increases and fees.

Approved by the 30-member senate on 6 September and the 119-member chamber of deputies on 9 September, the budget – which introduces new fees for the issuing of passports, registering with the tax authorities, and drivers’ licences – has been routinely slammed by civil-society groups, unions, and the political opposition alike. In a statement signed on 11 September, five leading civil-society and human rights groups warned that it will further exacerbate existing problems of social inequality, injustice, and corruption. The groups to sign the statement were: Centre d'Analyse et de Recherche en Droits de l'Homme (Cardh); Unité de Recherche et d'Action Médico-légale (Uramel); Réseau National de Défense des Droits Humains (RNDDH); Plateforme des Droits Humains (POHDH); and Commission Episcopale Justice et Paix (CE-JILAP).

As well as criticising “illegal taxes” which will directly affect the poorest, CE-JILAP coordinator Jocelyne Colas also flagged up as cause for concern the servicing of the national debt, which increases from G10.352bn to G14.70bn, as well as the allocation of G5bn to President Moïse’s “personal activities”, reportedly without there being any accountability. Another complaint has come from the professional association of magistrates which warns that the allocation of just 0.8% of the budget to the judiciary is far too low.

This rejection of the budget has translated into unrest on the streets. On 11 September several thousand protesters took part in demos in the capital, Port-au-Prince, with the local media reporting that the national police (PNd’H) dispersed crowds with tear gas. On 13 September, the PNd’H reported that two people had been killed in the unrest while 12 people had been arrested. A week later, a local transport organisation, Association des Propriétaires et Chauffeurs d’Haïti (APCH), called a national strike (that was mainly respected in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area) which received the backing of other unions such as CNOHA and the Commission Nationale des Transports Publics (CNTP). With a repeat of the unrest in the capital on 29 September, these protests have also spread. On 27 September ten people were injured in clashes between protesters and the PNd’H in Ouanaminthe town, Nord-Est department, on the border with the Dominican Republic (DR) while between 25 and 27 September, around 50 mayors from the departments of Nord, Nord-Est and Artibonite also went on strike in protest.

Concessions

The government has since offered some concessions to the transport sector. On 30 September the media reported that it had abandoned proposed increases in fines for drivers while the cost of obtaining tax discs had been reduced from G1,000 to G250. Talks are reportedly still underway over another bone of contention – the costs of drivers’ licences. The concessions have left the transport sector divided: one union, l’Association Syndicale Front Unifié des Transporteurs et des Travailleurs d’Haïti, has called off further strike action, while others have yet to follow suit. At the time of writing a further six days of protest had been called to take place between 5 and 17 October in Port-au-Prince as well as other parts of the country.

• Three-day investment forum

The unrest led the local private sector organisation Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie d'Haïti (CCIH) last month to call for a moment of “reflection” and “dialogue” on the part of the country’s different sectors. The CCIH press release came as a three-day forum on competitivity and investment in Haiti, organised by the government’s investment facilitation centre, concluded on 22 September. Attracting investment to strategic areas like energy, agriculture, and construction remains a priority for the PHTK government. The most recent (August 2017) report by the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America & the Caribbean (Eclac) on foreign direct investment (FDI) into Haiti shows that FDI was relatively stable in 2016, reaching US$105m.