Haiti: A Political Economy Analysis

This analysis of Haiti’s political economy was commissioned by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The author is Wenche Iren Hauge, a senior researcher at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO). Haitian researcher Dr Rachelle Doucet has provided crucial inputs through fieldwork and interviews in the South of Haiti. The analysis focuses on how the economic elite in Haiti has managed to stay in power through alliances with central security actors in the country and with external actors, and how this pattern has affected the general population. It draws lines back to Haitian independence in 1804 and up until today, identifying the current challenges posed by this pattern.