February 7, 1986. Thirty-nine years ago, Haitians believed they had overcome the hardest part with the fall of the Duvalier dictatorship, one of the most brutal the country had ever known. Yet, 39 years later, we are far from being out of the woods. The disillusionment is so profound that some even feel nostalgic for that era.

On this February 7, 2025, marking 39 years since the Haitian people chose democracy as their model of governance, there is no cause for celebration. The popular euphoria of February 7, 1986, has turned into widespread disillusionment. The very practices that led to Duvalier’s ousting persist. The gangs haunting the country today eerily resemble the regime’s enforcers who once terrorized the population. As if they had learned from the best, these gangs have become even more ruthless than their predecessors.