With no elected leadership currently in place, Haiti’s governance crisis would be helped by a new election to put in place a legitimate government that can begin solving the country’s challenges. It’s a simple recommendation that quickly becomes complicated by the country’s current situation as well as its recent and distant past.
Violence and corruption in Central America, particularly in the Northern Triangle countries, is causing a wave of outward migration. Since taking office, the Biden administration has pledged to tackle the root causes of the problem, which the Trump administration’s restrictive measures and pressure on regional governments did nothing to address. Meanwhile, efforts at reform across the region face opposition from entrenched interests that benefit from the status quo.
There is no silver bullet for solving the humanitarian challenge on display in the Darien Gap, which thousands of migrants pass through daily. But any solution must involve creating sustainable economic opportunities for residents of border towns, so they are not drawn into the lucrative business of human smuggling.
Given that so many rebel groups seek to radically restructure society, it comes as no surprise that they would also concern themselves with regulating marriage. So while much of the coverage of rebel marriages is sensationalistic and shallow, marriage is a critical but underappreciated aspect of rebels’ wartime activities.