NOREF - Power struggle creates vacuum as Haiti waits

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Augusto Varas Fernández

Augusto Varas is currently co-vice chair of the Advisory Board of the Latin American Programme (Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars), a member of the FLACSO-Chile Advisory Council, director of InterSocietas Research Group, and chairman of Equitas Foundation (Chile). He holds a PhD i...
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Power struggle creates vacuum as Haiti waits

Augusto Varas Fernández , 14 February 2010

Summary

Chaotic relief efforts and lack of coordination in the reconstruction of the country have revealed a silent rivalry between the United States, Brazil and the Secretary General of the United Nations in the bid to provide governance in the country. Meetings held between the Group of Friends member countries, as well as in Unasur, on providing some coherence to international assistance, have demonstrated the different agendas of the actors involved.

Given the array of actors, all of whom declare that the Haitian government is “in charge,” the power vacuum can only be filled through strategic political negotiations that prioritise victim protection, and long-term planning for the construction of a different society in Haiti.