Global capitalism, Haiti, and the flexibilisation of paramilitarism

This paper looks at the shifting manner in which paramilitarism has been reproduced in Haiti, examining how it has evolved from the Cold War into the era of capitalist globalisation. The central argument of this article is that paramilitarism has not disappeared but has been altered, and that this has occurred in part due to the changing strategies of elites in the global era. Rather than a permanent and widespread force, paramilitary groups are utilised in smaller numbers and only in certain ‘emergency periods’, serving a purpose of containment: targeting political threats and beating down those large populations whose social reproduction is not required by transnational capital. This has been a difficult situation for elites to manage, as they often have only limited control over such ruthless, corrupt and violent elements, which they sometimes require. Following the 1991 and 2004 coup d’états in Haiti, a military–paramilitary–bourgeoisie grouping has repeatedly worked to recover its impunity and revamp its coercive apparatus. Under these conditions, and even more increasingly in the wake of the 2010 earthquake, a variety of elites and technocrats (most importantly, US policymakers) have sought to politically remake the country alongside processes of economic restructuring promoted by transnational capital.