Florida state Rep. Marie Woodson (D-Hollywood) PHOTO COURTESY OF FLORIDAPOLITICS.COM

Hollywood – Born in Haiti, state Rep. Marie Woodson left her home country in the 1980s because corrupt government officials were running the Caribbean nation and limited her career options.

As Haiti descended into more chaos after armed gang members took over the capital Port-au-Prince and other cities, Woodson, a Democrat from Hollywood, grows frustrated everyday as she sees no change in sight.

Even with Haiti’s new prime minister Garry Conille and a nine-member transitional council to quell the gang violence and bring the island back under government control, Woodson is still pessimistic about Haiti’s prospects.

Woodson, who’s been serving in the Florida House since 2020, said Haiti should have picked a prime minister without any ties to politics.

Conille was Haiti’s prime minister from 2011 to 2012 under then-President Michel Martelly.

She said Haiti should start off with a clean slate.

“Haiti should have brought in a prime minister who was not part of the previous politics,” Woodson said. “Haiti should’ve brought in a leader with a vision and no ties to politics. To me, this makes sense because politics, power and greed are destroying my home country.”

With Haiti being the first Black nation to win its independence and helped America gain its freedom, Woodson is raising awareness about the country’s rich history despite the political turmoil since the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise.

Armed gang members have allegedly been responsible for thousands of deaths, sieged police stations, burned down hospitals, shut down airports and cut off medical, water and food supplies.

She calls her initiative the wisdom of Gen Z, a completely different generation who has been exposed to so much more, and Woodson recently gathered the community during a town hall meeting at the South Regional Broward College Library in Pembroke Pines for a conversation on possible solutions for the chaos in Haiti.

Multimedia journalist Tania Francois, CBS News Miami and executive producer of Impacting Communities, also took part in the town hall meeting.

“We fought for freedom… to free ourselves from slavery and now Haiti is at the bottom of the barrel,” Woodson told the South Florida Times. “It’s a beautiful island but it’s still corrupt.”

Woodson said Haiti should put people in the hierarchy of the government who can turn the country around, and divide the Caribbean nation into four regions each represented by a leader with the vision to lift Haiti out of poverty and nix the gang violence.

“It would be better to bring new people to put plans in place with a timeline to implement the solutions,” Woodson said. “Maybe Haiti will have a chance.”

Woodson said she has family members in Haiti, but so far they are safe amid the escalating political turbulence.

Woodson is concerned about every citizen in Haiti impacted by the chaos. “Every single person in Haiti is a family member,” she said. “We all (Black and Caribbean Americans) came from Africa and were brought to different parts of the world. Some people went to the U.S., some went to Haiti and some went to other Caribbean nations.

But we are all the same people and family.”

Francois said while many Haitians are desperately trying to flee Haiti, her  80-year-old father decided to stay there by choice.

Like many Haitian Americans, he longs for the glory days of Haiti and says he wants to be on the island when they return.

Francois said her dad fought in Vietnam with the U.S. Airman outfit and since retirement, he splits his time between South Florida and his home on Haiti’s mountainside.

She said he admits he’s never seen Haiti in its current condition.

Francois said she has traveled to Haiti many times for visits.

“There’s a side to the island and to the people not seen enough,” she said.

Woodson said it’s disheartening she can’t visit her home country and see her family members since the gang violence erupted.

“It’s frustrating not being able to go home and see how your family members are doing,” she said. ” Woodson said some Haitian-Americans are blaming the President Biden administration for the increase in gang violence by not sending in U.S. military troops to restore law and order.

This after they expressed a lack of confidence in the UN-backed Kenya force, which is scheduled to arrive in Haiti this month, to subdue armed gang members because of previous failed missions in the Caribbean nation.

Kenya is sending about 1,000 police as the head of a multinational force for the troubled Caribbean nation.

Woodson said Haitian-Americans might not vote for Biden with his potential rematch against former President Donald Trump who was convicted on 34 counts in his hush money trial in New York last week.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on July 11 but told reporters outside the courthouse after his guilty verdict that he plans to appeal his conviction which unlikely will prevent him from running in November.

Woodson said Haitian-Americans shouldn’t blame Biden for the chaos in Haiti.

“Blame the leaders in Haiti for being corrupt,” she said. “The leaders have greed for money and it’s not going to the welfare of the country. We need to vote for Biden.”