Thursday, October 5, 2023:
Hi subscribers, It’s certainly been a busy week for US politics and policy. Today we’re going to keep the domestic updates coming while also catching you up on what’s been playing out on the international stage. Here’s what you may have missed:
Up first: The world is intervening in Haiti — again.
In other news: Biden builds more border wall, the world’s hottest September, and Dianne Feinstein’s funeral.
— Rachel DuRose, Future Perfect fellow
|
|
|
The world is intervening in Haiti — again. |
Richard Pierrin/AFP via Getty Images
|
On Monday, the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution authorizing a multinational security mission intended to tackle gang-related violence in Haiti’s capital city Port-au-Prince.
In 2021, following the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse, Ariel Henry — a neurosurgeon who was in line for the prime ministership — took control of the government. Under Henry’s leadership, public institutions collapsed and armed members of the G9 and G-PEP gang federations effectively took control of Port-au-Prince. These groups traffic drugs, recruit children, and kidnap and murder civilians.
Led by Kenya’s national police force, the international security mission aims to stop the violence in the city and train Haiti’s underpaid and outgunned National Police force. However, given Haiti’s colonial history and its negative experiences with past international security missions, some fear this newest mission will do more harm than good. The lowdown: The year-long Multinational Security Support mission (MSS) will likely begin on January 1, 2024, and be reviewed after nine months. -
Kenya will send 1,000 national police officers, and several other countries from the Caribbean, Asia, Africa, and Latin America will likely offer support. The focus of the mission will be helping the Haitian police force to identify and neutralize gang structures and funding streams.
-
Kenya said it wanted to lead the mission due to its “commitment to Pan Africanism” and the “reclaiming of the Atlantic crossing,” a reference to the people Europeans once kidnapped and enslaved in Haiti. Critics worry the Kenyan National Police force will bring its track record of human rights abuses to Haiti. The US — which has its own problematic history with Haiti — was reluctant to lead the mission, as were other nations like Canada and Brazil.
-
Past peacekeeping efforts and international missions to the island nations have seen mixed success. In 1994 and 2004 peacekeeping missions were unsuccessful in stabilizing Haiti in the long-term, and even more concerning, the peacekeepers from the 2004 mission were likely responsible for a cholera outbreak that killed 10,000 Haitians.
The stakes: Even if the MSS can mitigate gang violence and stabilize Port-au-Prince, it will do nothing to address the government’s lack of political legitimacy. While officially the MSS is not in support of any political leader or party, the US and the UN have effectively treated acting Prime Minister Henry as Haiti’s legitimate government representative, which isn’t a view shared by most Haitians.
Henry has allowed gang violence to worsen and hollowed many of Haiti’s institutions. The judiciary can no longer prosecute gang-related crimes, and the country’s last remaining senators’ terms expired in January. This means Haiti has no elected officials in government, and Henry is stalling any efforts to establish a transitional government or hold elections.
“This is a very specific mission, I’m told — get boots on the ground, stop the killings, extortions, kidnappings, and rapes so people can have some semblance of normalcy, get out. It’s not meant to address the root causes of why the gangs became so powerful in the first place,” Ellen Ioanes, a weekend reporter with Vox, told me. “There has got to be a concerted effort from international actors to support a political settlement in which Ariel Henry steps down and Haitian people are able to hold elections and build and strengthen their public institutions.”
Read Ellen’s full piece here.
|
|
|
President Biden approves new section of border wall |
Photo by Michael Robinson Chávez/The Washington Post via Getty Images |
Yesterday, the Biden administration waived 26 federal laws to allow border wall construction in south Texas. The 20 miles of border wall will be built in Starr County, Texas, where officials report a high number of people crossing the US-Mexico border. -
There’ve been over 245,000 migrant crossings at the Rio Grande Valley area of the Mexico-US border this year. US Border Patrol apprehended 181,059 people along the southern border in August, and Mexico's president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, said that 10,000 people arrived at the border every day last week. [BBC]
-
Some of the federal laws the Biden administration waived included the Clean Air Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, and Endangered Species Act. The waivers bypass reviews and lawsuits that could challenge the construction of the wall, which spans parts of the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge. Environmentalists say construction will cause irreparable harm. [The Hill]
-
This decision is a stark reversal by the Biden administration. The administration was previously dismissive of the effectiveness of walls at keeping out migrants; a 2021 proclamation stated: “building a massive wall that spans the entire southern border is not a serious policy solution.” [Reuters]
-
Administration officials, however, claim nothing has changed about their stance. Customs and Border Protection claims this expansion is consistent with the 2021 policy, stating that Congress appropriated funding for the “barrier” in 2019 and that those funds must be used for their designated purpose. Congressionally appropriated funds, however, have gone unused in the past. [ABC]
-
The policy turnaround comes ahead of the looming 2024 election and in the wake of unprecedented migration to northern American cities. Democratic mayors across the US, including Mayors Eric Adams of New York and Brandon Johnson of Chicago, have called on the Biden administration to do more, as GOP-led states have continued to send migrants north. [NBC]
|
|
|
🗣️“A border wall is a 14th century solution to a 21st century problem. It will not bolster border security in Starr County. I continue to stand against the wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars on an ineffective border wall.” |
|
|
The world’s still really hot. This September was the hottest September on record, and it follows the hottest August and hottest July (the hottest month ever recorded). The hot weather is the result of high levels of carbon dioxide emissions and the natural climate phenomenon El Niño. [The Guardian]
-
Some school districts are stocking up on the life-saving medication naloxone. Others aren’t. Last school year, naloxone — a nasal spray that can counteract fentanyl overdoses — was administered 31 times in LAUSD, the second-largest school district in the country. This year, only 11 of the 20 largest school districts stocked the drug, but a national movement to make naloxone available at every school is gaining momentum. [NPR]
Late Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s funeral services begin today in San Francisco, California. Feinstein, who died at the age of 90, was born in San Francisco and became the first female mayor of the city. Feinstein served as a senator for California for over 30 years. [CNN]
-
The Drew Barrymore Show writers will not return post-strike. While production extended offers to the former co-head writers to return to the daytime show, the three writers declined the offer. [NBC]
|
|
|
|
We Need to Talk About Kevin |
As House speaker, Kevin McCarthy worked with Democrats to keep the government open. Then Matt Gaetz worked with Democrats to get McCarthy fired. Semafor’s Jordan Weissmann returns to explain an unprecedented moment in American politics. |
|
|
Enjoying the Sentences newsletter? Forward it to a friend, they can sign up for it right here.
As always, we want to know what you think. We recently changed the format of this newsletter. Any questions, comments, or ideas? Write us at newsletter@vox.com or just reply to this email.
|
|
|
This email was sent to you. Manage your email preferences or unsubscribe. If you value Vox’s unique explanatory journalism, support our work with a one-time or recurring contribution.
View our Privacy Notice and our Terms of Service. Vox Media, 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, Floor 12, Washington, DC 20036.
Copyright © 2023. All rights reserved. |
|
|
|
