Caribbean Archive

Since February 2019, when President Jovenel Moise was implicated in the largest corruption scandal Haiti has ever known, the country has been mired in a violent crisis with political, economic and constitutional dimensions. Instead of heeding protesters’ demands to step down or addressing the allegations against him, Moise formed alliances with armed gangs that continue to terrorize the population and quash anti-government demonstrations. Moise, who has been ruling by decree since July 2018 due to his inability to form a government, has also eviscerated the independent institutions that could hold him and his allies accountable. He is clinging to power […]

At the eighth congress of the Communist Party of Cuba last month, Raul Castro stepped down as head of the party, passing the reins to President Miguel Diaz-Canel in a choreographed transition of power. This changing of the guard took place amid rising dissent on the island, as well as a severe economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and strict U.S. sanctions that were imposed by the Trump administration. Despite expectations he would return to a policy of engagement, President Joe Biden has so far chosen to keep Trump’s aggressive policies toward Cuba largely in place. This week on […]

During his campaign for the presidency last year, Joe Biden pledged to reverse what he called “the failed Trump policies” toward Cuba. But now, Biden’s White House is signaling that it is in no hurry to lift the severe sanctions and other measures imposed on Cuba by former President Donald Trump, much less return to the historic detente with Cuba that was pioneered by Biden’s old boss, former President Barack Obama. As the Biden administration bides its time, Cuba’s aging leaders have passed the baton to a new generation. At the Communist Party’s eighth congress last month, Raul Castro stepped […]