Haiti Likely To Become New Source of Chaos in Central America

An earthquake has killed more than 20 million people in Haiti. In addition Port au Prince where we still witness that peacekeeping forces are trying to maintain law and order, the rest of the region is in a lawlessness state. After the United States sent approximately 10,000 troops to Haiti, the European Union has given rise to doubts and France even criticized the United States for using the name of providing disaster relief and assistance to Haiti to cover its intention to occupy Haiti. It seems that the political fight for power between Europe and the United States in Haiti has begun earlier than one can expect.

Political Unrest
There are many reasons why the United States wants to bring such a parade of troops to Haiti. First, the earthquake has toppled the whole system of the Haitian Government and it has also provided an excellent opportunity for the anti-US forces to intervene the US influence in Haiti. Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and other neighboring countries have begun to smolder Haiti, which is considered the "back yard of the United States."
According to the US intelligence, the anti-US group led by Venezuela and Cuba, have in recent years deployed its influence and carried out activities in Haiti using the name "peasant revolution". In a "call to arms" declaration filled with revolution phrases, armed peasants claimed that they had declared war on the Haitian Government and intended to take over Port au Prince. Before this anti-US force launches attack on Port an Prince, the United States must control the Haitian military establishment, including the Port au Prince airport and navy port as well as fully responsible for the control of air traffic.
Second, the anti-US forces, the left-wing elements that used to be quiet in Central and South American countries during the last few years finally found a breakthrough when the poor Haitians became unhappy with current situation. Once again, these left-wing forces begin to challenge the Haitian Government's adjusted economic policy. Poverty remains the greatest threat to democracy. Within the Central and South Americans, the relatively more stable countries like Venezuela and Colombia, their democratic systems have also at one time attacked by the military coup. Until today, the political environment in these countries remains restless. As such whether these countries whose democratic system are basically weak can overcome poverty, sustain economic growth, and democracy will have to depend on the crucial factor of whether the situation in Haiti can become stabilize within short period of time
After years of political unrest, those countries in Central America that are popularly known as the "backyard" of the United States have gradually moved on well with their democratic reforms and economic development and shown economic prosperity. If these countries continue to do well, this region can become a potential growth region in the world. After President Barack Obama took office, his Central American policy is not as tough as during the former Bush administration. For Central American countries to walk away from historical shadow and move along with economic development, the key factor will depend on where these countries can curb the unrest factors that exist in their respective society. Their success in overcoming social unrest will provide a better future for the Caribbean region in this Pacific century.
Several factors can affect the future of the Central American countries. First, in handling situation in Haiti, the United States can no longer fall into the similar quagmire as it did in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is likely that President Obama might involve former US President Bill Clinton as the intermediary and continue to support the reelection of Rene Preval as Haiti's national leader in order to stabilize the situation in Haiti first.
Haiti's Political Future

Like many Central American countries, Haiti is still in a position of not able to shake off the shadow of past hatred and political fight. The right-wing assassination groups are still active in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Although Haiti's civil war ended in 2000, Haiti's political parties are still in a row over how they should share power fairly. In addition, two years ago, Haiti almost walked back to the old path of dictatorship. UN observers claim that the Haitian Government has violated human rights. They claimed that the corruption in the Haitian Government was rampant. Of special note is that whether the opposition force led by former Prime Minister Edward can return to Haiti and take part in the general elections, which will also pose critical challenge to Haiti's political future. Moreover, the decision of the precarious Guatemala and El Salvador to choose opening up and reform or continue to raise high the socialism banner can also affect the future development of Haiti and the Caribbean region.
Moreover, the international affairs observers do not have good impression about Haitian leader René Préval. Overall, they criticized his action in 2009 in the closure of the Parliament and court with the support of the military as dictatorial act. They said he was able to hold on to his power with the US support. In the past year, the United Nations urged the international community to contribute to the rebuilding of Haiti, but the response has been poor. The main reason was that many countries could not trust the Haitian Government led by Preval. After the massive earthquake hit Haiti, the humanitarian assistance that poured into Haiti was not channeled to the Preval Government but was directly channeled to the International Red Cross or the peacekeeping units. These are clear indication to show that the UN has lost confidence in the Haitian Government led by Preval.

Policies for Economic Development
In addition, while economic liberalization, corporate privatization, and fiscal consolidation and other economic adjustment policies have become the mainstream policies for economic development, but following such an economic development path can also contribute to wider gap between the rich and the poor.
US President Obama's goal is to integrate the economy of the Central and Southern American countries into the North American Free Trade Agreement. As such under the psychological pressure of trying to join the bandwagon, all countries in central and southern America are speeding up the pace of integration. All these are not what the corrupt Haitian Government led by Preval can bear. This is another thorny problem faced by Haiti in the coming days.