Politics, Business & Culture in the Americas

Podcast: #PetroCaribeChallenge, Haiti’s Anti-Corruption Movement

Reading Time: < 1 minuteJacqueline Charles discusses how an anti-corruption movement emerged in Haiti after revelations of embezzlement, and what that means for President Jovenel Moïse.
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HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP/GETTY

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Haitians are calling for the resignation President Jovenel Moïse after revelations of widespread graft among Haiti’s private and public sector leaders. Street protests began with the hashtag “#petrocaribechallenge,” a call for answers regarding embezzled funds from Venezuelan oil import program PetroCaribe. “We had about $2 billion in PetroCaribe…so where did the money go?” asks Jacqueline Charles, Caribbean correspondent for the Miami Herald. She attributes Haiti’s unrest to a young population and newly restricted migration to former destinations like the U.S., Canada and Chile. Charles spoke with AQ editor-in-chief Brian Winter about Haiti’s battle against corruption, and how it echoes scandals in Brazil, Guatemala and Peru.

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