Own It – Biden Hammered Haiti

Biden needs to own the present chaos in Haiti. Haiti is a poor, endemically distressed Caribbean nation, but Joe Biden’s anti-fossil fuel crusade was the hammer that created this chaos. What he and his administration did to Haiti is, frankly, criminal.

No one is reporting these facts, but here is the sequence. Check facts to exhaustion, they will not change. Haiti is perpetually on the edge, fighting for survival, due to its history and location.

Since it showed up on maps in 1492, after its discovery by Columbus, the nation has been ravaged by hurricanes, colonial exploitation, and political violence. After a 1791 revolution, in which the Haitians shed Napolean, political jockeying intensified and varied nations tried to seed stability.

Successive revolts in the 1800s produced long periods of chaos, fear, and uncertainty, seldom stability.  Between 1915 and 1934, the US sought to stabilize Haiti, after which a series of oppressive leaders took over, some of whom would ring bells, others of whom were obscure.

Haiti’s first civilian president, Estime, held power for five years, followed in turn by a ruthless leader named Francois Duvalier, and his equally ruthless son Jean-Claude Duvalier.  The son was followed by the initially celebrated Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who himself fell to corruption and left in 2004.

Touching history briefly, my State Department bureau – under then-Secretary Colin Powell – in 2004 deployed our air assets, millions in aid, and trained personnel to stabilize the chaotic nation.

Backing up one step, some will recall a similar descent into violence, chaos, and utter lawlessness in 1994, which produced a Clinton-sponsored special mission, led by former President Jimmy Carter, former Democrat Senator Sam Nunn, and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, not yet Secretary, Colin Powell.  That mission was successful, but only for a limited time.

Now, we come to today. The past 15 years in Haiti have been rough, with multiple hurricanes that wiped out power, and an earthquake in 2010 that devastated the nation. Weak institutions, weak infrastructure, and weak leadership meant each year edgy, democracy in the balance.

With the US investing $30 million in election oversight, a new president – Mr. Moise – was inaugurated in 2017, although the elections were challenged, low-level protests occurred in 2019.  While issues abounded, the tenure of Mr. Moise seemed at least survivable, and stable, into 2021.

By way of empirical reference points, Haiti imports almost all its oil (500 million barrels annually) from the US. Haitian life depends on the affordability of that oil – and gas – and all that flows from that energy source.

In 2017, the first year of the Trump administration, the price of a barrel of oil to Haiti was $50.80. That was affordable, kept the population supplied for all the reasons that energy matters, and kept relative political stability. 

Importantly, based on the pro-energy independence policies of Donald Trump, t oil (crude) dropped to $39.68 in 2020. This was a blessing to all who, near and within the US, needed affordable energy.

In 2020, the election went to Biden. On January 20, 2021, Biden began his unremitting – to this day continuous – assault on the US exploration, extraction, production, and marketing of oil and gas.

By a month later, in February 2021, the price of oil had jumped to $68.17. Haiti’s Moise had to try to decouple government support for oil and gas purchases from consumption, infuriating the population, and leading to a new and intense round of protests. These grew worse as his term ended.

Due in part to delays in initiating his term, in part to growing violence in Haiti, Moise sought to conclude his term without chaos, extending it only long enough to stabilize the country. He was assassinated in July 2021, six months after Biden took office, triggering steep energy prices.

The reality never occurred to the Biden team, who have never rethought their crusade on fossil fuels. Between July 2021 and March 2024, Moise’s successor, Ariel Henry, tried to stabilize the country and sought US support as public discontent continued to rise.

By 2022, the price of a barrel of oil in Haiti – most of which comes from the US, again – was $94.53, a far cry from the $39.68 under Trump in 2020. The impact was profound and devastating. Fuel costs spurred mass civil unrest, compounded by other factors, and even with government subsidies, oil for the average Haitian stands at $75.87 a barrel.

Say what you wish about added factors, about the potential for sun and wind, about instability in the Middle East, but Haiti gets virtually all of its oil and gas from the US, and that one factor has been critical to triggering protests, riots, and violence, even compounded by other forces.

In short, like it or not, the present lawlessness, chaos, death, destruction, and another dive into utter chaos, killing women and children, stranding Americans, and producing panic in Haiti – all goes back to this administration’s reckless, indifferent, and incalculably damaging energy policy. Mr. Biden, your star is in retrograde along with Haiti’s – and you put it there. Own it. 

Robert Charles is a former Assistant Secretary of State under Colin Powell, former Reagan and Bush 41 White House staffer, attorney, and naval intelligence officer (USNR). He wrote “Narcotics and Terrorism” (2003), “Eagles and Evergreens” (2018), and is National Spokesman for AMAC.