Thread by @gathara

As "civilized" Europe, including France which had looted Haiti for a century to compensate former slavers, dissolved into WW1, the US robbed the Haitian National Bank then used the killing of the Haitian President as a pretext for a 19-year occupation.
antillean.org/american-occup…

The US government today describes its holding up the Haitian National Bank on behalf of US's Citibank as a selfless act of "safekeeping".
history.state.gov/milestones/191…

The story of "independent" Haiti, deliberately looted, impoverished and invaded from the start, then blamed for the resulting instability, is the story of colonialism and "independence" in Africa.
aljazeera.com/opinions/2019/…

Today, in the wake of the assassination of another President, there are calls for more intervention by the same countries and organizations that for centuries have immiserated Haiti. Remember Clinton's euphemistically named Operation Uphold Democracy?
time.com/5682135/haiti-…

Maybe what Haiti needs is less "intervention" on behalf of US banks. Maybe it needs less to be forced into exploitative relationships and more the return of its looted wealth from New York and Paris. Perhaps fewer troops bringing cholera and sexual abuse might be a good thing.

After all, what have recent US military interventions and occupations, from Somalia to Afghanistan, actually achieved in the long run? What would yet another intervention in Haiti achieve apart from drive the hooks of exploitation still deeper into the country's back?