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Fragile states / Comment

A Haiti facing grand challenges

03/07/2008 By Mariano Aguirre Ernst, Amélie Gauthier

Courtesy of Radio Netherlands

The possible designation of the economist Michèle Pierre-Louis as Prime Minister could unblock the situation of paralysis in which Haiti has lived since April, when the crisis begun by the increase in food prices brought down then Prime Minister Jacques Edouard Alexis.

The political standoff manifests itself in an increasing discontent in all areas which wish to see a strategic and long term plan for the government of the country, along with a reactivation of the economy and the beginning of a fight against poverty and exclusion. According to Mariano Aguirre and Amélie Gauthier in this comment for Radio Netherlands, the situation in Haiti at the moment is marked by four main factors: the political crisis, the uncertainty surrounding the future of the UN Mission for the Stabilisation of Haiti (MINUSTAH), reform of the Judiciary and the impact of the economic crisis.

See the comment in Radio Netherlands  (Includes audio from an interview with Mariano Aguirre)

Keywords

European Union Haiti Latin America & Caribbean Spain

Related publications

• Brazil in Haiti: debate over the peacekeeping mission
• Food crisis in Haiti: exposing key problems in the process of stabilisation
• Haiti and the international donor community
• Haiti: voices of the actors, a research project on the UN mission
• Moral and political grounds for the UN mission in Haiti
• Security in Haiti
• South American Intervention in Haiti
• The food crisis in Haiti: a ruptured process?
• The UN Stabilisation Mission in Haiti: analysis and recommendations for future mandates of the Mission
• The United Nations and Spain in Haiti

Bio author: Mariano Aguirre Ernst

Director of the Norwegian Peacebuilding Centre (NOREF), Oslo. Aguirre has been Director of the Director of Peace, Security and Human Rights Programm in FRIDE (Madrid), Director of the Centro de Investigación para la Paz (Madrid) and Coordinator of programmes on peace and conflicts at the Ford Foundation, in New York. Mariano Aguirre publishes articles in various media in Spain and internationally such as OpenDemocracy, Le monde diplomatique, El Correo, La Vanguardia, Maniere de voir, AlertNet, Enjeux Internationaux, Temas, El País, Política Exterior, Debate, BBC World Service, Radio Netherland, Radio Nacional de España, Radio France International, Mediterranean Politics and CNN Spain.

Bio author: Amélie Gauthier

Amélie Gauthier has an MA in International Cooperation and Project Management from the Ortega and Gasset Institute in Madrid and a BA in International Business and Finance from the École des Hautes Études Commerciales (HEC) in Montreal. Prior to joining FRIDE, Amélie worked as a political analyst for the Canadian Embassy in Madrid (2005-2006).