Haiti after USAID: After the Dance, the Drum Is Heavy

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One of the new U.S. administration’s first targets, USAID has at best a contradictory legacy in Haiti and beyond. While a movement successfully brought the government to trial regarding PetroCaribe funds, USAID has not received the same public reckoning. Haiti is a graveyard of failed NGO projects, tattered signs announcing unfinished projects sticking up like tombstones. Humanitarian aid triggers long-term ruptures to communities, weakening solidarity ties, undermining local civic institutions, and depoliticizing development and inequality. However, communities are not passive victims nor mere recipients, and their understandings of the system highlight creative attempts at regaining agency and sovereignty, asserting local responsibility. The current moment in Haiti as well as the U.S. demands a bold, clear vision of international aid, rooted in solidarity and reparations.

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