Fils-Aimé’s Washington “offensive” reveals a government more eager to curry favor with foreign masters than confront Haiti’s spiraling collapse at home.
Opinion | The Haitian Pulse | July 17, 2025
It would be laughable if it weren’t so tragic. While Haiti descends further into chaos—its streets ruled by gangs, its people suffocating under economic despair—Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé is in Washington, proudly announcing what he calls a “diplomatic offensive.”
Photos from Capitol Hill show him all smiles, shaking hands with U.S. congressional leaders like Hakeem Jeffries, Maxine Waters, and Gregory Meeks. He speaks of “restoring stability” and “securing humanitarian protections” for Haitian migrants abroad. Back home, his people starve in silence.
Diplomacy or Dependence?
Let’s not sugarcoat this: Haiti’s leaders are not in Washington to negotiate as equals. They are there as supplicants, pleading for crumbs from a table that was never theirs. The same United States that has propped up corrupt regimes, armed gangs through porous borders, and stifled true Haitian sovereignty is now treated as Haiti’s last hope.
“This isn’t diplomacy,” says political commentator Jules Bernard. “This is a vassal state sending envoys to its masters.”
Meanwhile in Haiti…
While Fils-Aimé sips coffee in air-conditioned offices on Capitol Hill, Port-au-Prince residents ration drinking water as armed groups tighten their stranglehold on entire neighborhoods. Hospitals shut down for lack of supplies. Roads remain impassable. And those who can flee do so at any cost, risking everything on dangerous sea crossings.
“Does the Prime Minister not see what’s happening here?” asks Marie, a vendor in Gonaïves. “Or is he too busy begging the white man to notice?”
Haitians Abroad Are Not Amused
The diaspora has taken note of Fils-Aimé’s Washington photo-ops, and many are not impressed. Social media is ablaze with biting commentary.
“Flying to Washington while your house burns is not leadership—it’s cowardice,” tweeted one Haitian-American activist.
“Don’t let these staged smiles fool you,” said another. “They’re not fighting for us. They’re securing their visas for when the country collapses entirely.”
The Masters and the Servants
It’s a familiar ritual: Haitian leaders, with their nation in shambles, running to foreign capitals to beg for help. They speak of “partnerships” and “support,” but the power dynamic is painfully clear. The U.S. sets the terms; Haiti nods and obeys.
In exchange for what? A few million in conditional aid? Token statements about democracy? Meanwhile, billions in Haitian wealth continue to flow out of the country through corrupt contracts and foreign-controlled industries.
“This isn’t partnership,” says historian Claude Michel. “It’s plantation politics, 21st century style.”
The Voices at Home
Inside Haiti, frustration boils over. In Cap-Haïtien, a young teacher shook her head as news of the Washington trip played on the radio.
“What good are meetings abroad when gangs are forcing schools to close here?” she asked. “Will Jeffries or Waters send their kids to our classrooms?”
In Les Cayes, a fisherman’s words were sharper: “These leaders sold us out long ago. Now they travel to America to make sure their masters are satisfied while the rest of us die.”
The Only Way Forward
True sovereignty cannot be won in Washington. It must be built in Haiti, from the ground up. It requires dismantling the corrupt elite networks that thrive on foreign dependence. It demands a leadership willing to confront both domestic looters and international meddlers.
Haiti’s salvation will not come from photo-ops in U.S. offices but from a fearless reckoning with the systems—both foreign and local—that keep the nation on its knees.
As long as the government continues this charade of diplomacy while neglecting its people, Haiti will remain trapped in the same cycle: crisis, begging, temporary relief, and collapse.
The Haitian Pulse Perspective
At The Haitian Pulse, we expose the hypocrisy of leaders who pretend to serve while surrendering our sovereignty. We amplify the voices of Haitians on the ground and in the diaspora who demand a break from this endless dependency.
History will not be kind to those who bowed in Washington while their nation burned.
We invite you to leave your thoughts below. Do you see Fils-Aimé’s trip as diplomacy—or disgrace? Your voice matters in shaping Haiti’s next chapter.
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