For months now, Haiti has been shaken by intensifying protests. A deepening economic crisis and growing fuel and food shortages have sent people to the streets, demanding the resignation of US-backed President Jovenel Moise, who has so far resisted stepping down.

The crisis started last year and was compounded by natural disasters that have repeatedly devastated the island nation: Hurricanes destroyed housing, food production, livelihoods and infrastructure and a severe drought dried up the island's water resources.

 

While international media has focused on a familiar story of corruption and mismanagement, what lies beneath this debilitating crisis is much more serious - a deadly combination of neocolonialism, neoliberalism and climate injustice. Indeed, what is happening now in Haiti is extreme and should scare us all, as it foreshadows what could happen to the rest of the planet if we do not take immediate action.