
Haiti is a country situated on the western third of the island of Hispaniola and the smaller islands of La Gonâve, La Tortue (Tortuga), Grande Caye, and Ile a Vache in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba; the Dominican Republic shares Hispaniola with Haiti. Its total land area is 10,714 square miles (27,750 square km) and its capital is Port-au-Prince on the main island of Hispaniola. A former French colonization of the Americas, it was the first country in the Americas after the United States to declare its independence. In spite of its longevity, it is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. {| border=1 align=right cellpadding=4 cellspacing=0 width=300 style="margin: 0 0 1em 1em; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%;" |+Repiblik d Ayiti
'''République d'Haïti''' |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="center" colspan="2" | {| border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" | align="center" width="140px" | | align="center" width="140px" | |- | align="center" width="140px" | Flag of Haiti | align="center" width="140px" | |} |- | align="center" colspan=2 | ''National motto: L'Union Fait La Force
(French language: Union Makes Strength)'' |- | align=center colspan=2 style="background: #fff;" | |- | Official languages | Haitian Creole language, French language |- | Capital | Port-au-Prince |- | List of Presidents of Haiti | Boniface Alexandre (interim) |- | List of Prime Ministers of Haiti | Gérard Latortue |- | Area
- Total
- % water | List of countries by area
27,750 square kilometre
0.7% |- | Population
- Total (Year)
- Population density | List of countries by population
7.5 million (July 2003)
271/km² |- | Gross Domestic Product
- Total (Year)
- GDP/head |
$10.6 billion (2002)
$1,400 |- | Currency | Gourde (HTG) |- | Time zone | Coordinated Universal Time -5 (no Daylight Saving Time) |- | Independence
- Declared
- Recognised | (from France)
January 1, 1804
1825 (Fr), 1863 (USA) |- | National anthem | ''La Dessalinienne'' |- | Top-level domain | .ht |- | List_of_country_calling_codes | 509 |} ==History== ''Main article: History of Haiti'' ===1804: Independance=== Freed Blacks and mulattos joined with slaves against Napoleonic France to achieve the Carribean's first successful revolution for independance. The largely Black nation remained isolated politically throughout the 19th century, though penetrated economically by international capitalism. ===1915: U.S. Occupation=== American President Woodrow Wilson sent the first sailors and marines to Port-au-Prince on July 28, 1915. Within six weeks, representatives from the United States controlled Haitian customs houses and administrative institutions. For the next nineteen years, Haiti's powerful neighbor to the north guided and governed the country. During this period the legal government of Haiti was (both technically and effectively) the U.S. Marine Corps. The specific order from the Navy to the invasion commander, Admiral William Deville Bundy, was to "protect American and foreign" interests. Representatives from the United States wielded veto power over all governmental decisions in Haiti, and Marine Corps commanders served as administrators in the provinces. Local institutions, however, continued to be run by Haitians, as was required under policies put in place during the presidency of Woodrow Wilson. "Cacos" was the US term for the Haitian rebels who opposed the occupation of the island after the Americans took control in 1915. Opposition to the Occupation began right after the Marines enterd Haiti in 1915. The rebels, vehemently tried to resist American control of Haiti. In response, the Haitian and American governments began a vigorous campaign to disband the rebel armies. Philippe Sudre Dartiguenave, the mulatto president of the Senate, agreed to accept the presidency of Haiti after several other candidates had refused on principle. With a figurehead installed in the National Palace and other institutions maintained in form if not in function, Admiral Caperton declared martial law, a condition that persisted until 1929. In 1917 President Dartiguenave dissolved the legislature after its members refused to approve a constitution written by United States Assistant Secretary of the US Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt. A referendum subsequently approved the new constitution (by a vote of 98,225 to 768), however, in 1918. Generally a liberal document, the constitution allowed foreigners to purchase land. Dessalines had forbidden land ownership by foreigners, and since 1804 most Haitians had viewed foreign ownership as anathema. ===1918: Rebellion=== The occupation by the United States had several effects on Haiti. An early period of unrest culminated in a 1918 rebellion by up to 40,000 former cacos and other disgruntled people. The scale of the uprising overwhelmed the Gendarmerie, but marine reinforcements helped put down the revolt at the estimated cost of 2,000 Haitian lives. Thereafter, order prevailed to a degree that most Haitians had never witnessed. The order, however, was imposed largely by white foreigners with deep-seated racial prejudices and a disdain for the notion of self-determination by inhabitants of less-developed nations. These attitudes particularly dismayed the mulatto elite, who had heretofore believed in their innate superiority over the black masses. The whites from North America, however, did not distinguish among Haitians, regardless of their skin tone, level of education, or sophistication. This intolerance caused indignation, resentment, and eventually a racial pride that was reflected in the work of a new generation of Haitian historians, ethnologists, writers, artists, and others, many of whom later became active in politics and government. Still, as Haitians united in their reaction to the racism of the occupying forces, the mulatto elite managed to dominate the country's bureaucracy and to strengthen its role in national affairs. The occupation greatly improved some of Haiti's infrastructure. Roads were improved and expanded through the use of forced-labour gangs. This violent form of "corvee labour", with chain-gangs and armed guards permitted to shoot anyone who fled compulsory service, was widely regarded as tantamount to slavery. The education system was re-designed from the ground up; however, this involved the destruction of the pre-existing system of "Liberal Arts" education inherited (and adapted) from the French. It is to be observed that the william bundy Marine corps was even less successful in creating a system of education for Haitians than the contemporary government of the U.S. was in providing access to education for its own Black population. Also, due to its emphasis on vocational training, the American system that replaced the French was despised by the elite. Thus, among the two major infrastructural programs carried out by the government of occupation, the use of forced labour enraged the lower classes of rural Haiti, and the educational "reform" enraged the urban elite. ===1922: Louis Borno=== In 1922 Louis Borno replaced Dartiguenave, who was forced out of office for temporizing over the approval of a debt consolidation loan. Borno ruled without the benefit of a legislature (dissolved in 1917 under Dartiguenave) until elections were again permitted in 1930. The legislature, after several ballots, elected mulatto Sténio Vincent to the presidency. The occupation of Haiti continued after World War I, despite the embarrassment that it caused Woodrow Wilson at the Paris peace conference in 1919 and the scrutiny of a congressional inquiry in 1922. By 1930 President Herbert Hoover had become concerned about the effects of the occupation, particularly after a December 1929 incident in Les Cayes in which marines killed at least ten Haitian peasants during a march to protest local economic conditions. Hoover appointed two commissions to study the situation. A former governor general of the Philippines, W. Cameron Forbes, headed the more prominent of the two. The Forbes Commission praised the material improvements that the United States administration had wrought, but it criticized the exclusion of Haitians from positions of real authority in the government and the constabulary, which had come to be known as the Garde d'Haïti. In more general terms, the commission further asserted that "the social forces that created [instability] still remain--poverty, ignorance, and the lack of a tradition or desire for orderly free government." ===1934: U.S. Withdrawal=== The Hoover administration did not implement fully the recommendations of the Forbes Commission, but United States withdrawal was under way by 1932, when Hoover lost the presidency to Roosevelt, the presumed author of the most recent Haitian constitution. On a visit to Cap Haïtien in July 1934, Roosevelt reaffirmed an August 1933 disengagement agreement. The last contingent of marines departed in mid-August, after a formal transfer of authority to the Garde. As in other countries occupied by the United States in the early twentieth century, the local (U.S.-trained) military was often the only cohesive and effective institution left in the wake of withdrawal. This sowed the seeds for a sequence of military-backed dictatorships, all attached to American patronage, which would define the next 50 years of Haiti's history. ===The Rise of Duvalier=== A medical doctor, François Duvalier was not allowed to establish his own practice due to racist customs in Haiti (he was black). After securing employment with an American medical project that was fighting widespread tuberculosis, Duvalier had the opportunity to see the poverty that existed in the countryside. This fueled his interest in politics, and despite the fact that the Haitian government was predominantly mulatto, Duvalier was able to gain a following and joined forces with powerful union leader Daniel Fignole. Together they formed the popular ''Mouvement Ouvriers Paysans (MOP)'' party. They continued to gain public support and waited for their moment to seize the power. Both men wanted to take the top job of President, therefore the party was split and in 1957 Fignole became president of Haiti. His position lasted only 18 days, however, because Duvalier was able to overthrow him and began what was to become a 29-year dynasty. ===1957-1986: Duvaliers and Aborted freeport=== Duvalier, also known as "Papa Doc," became president in 1957 and dictator in 1964. He was known for his army of sunglasses-clad volunteers, the Tonton Macoute. In 1967 proposals were made to construct a freeport on the Haitian island of Tortuga by a consortium formed in the United States by Don Pierson of Eastland, Texas. These plans reached maturity in 1971 when a 99-year contract was entered into by François Duvalier on behalf of the Haitian government. Although construction of infastructure and a new international airport was commenced, two other events brought about the sudden demise of the whole venture. When François Duvalier suddenly died in 1971 his son Jean-Claude Duvalier ("Baby Doc") took over at the age of 19. The advisers soon concluded that Haiti needed a new image to attract economic assistance, tourism, and investment. In 1974 it became known that the freeport had entered into a multimillion dollar contract with the Gulf Oil corporation to advance development on the island. This news prompted "Baby Doc" to expropriate the venture for himself, under prompting from his advisors including his mother, Simone Ovide Duvalier; Defense and Interior Minister Luckner Cambronne; Gen. Claude Raymond, commander of the army, and his brother, Foreign Minister Adrien Raymond; and Minister of Coordination and Information Fritz Cinéas. This move by the regency caused the collapse of the freeport venture. Under the Baby Doc regime some political prisoners were released, press censorship eased, and a policy of "gradual democratization of institutions" was professed. But in fact no sharp changes from previous policies occurred. No political opposition was tolerated, and all important political officials and judges were still appointed by the president. Haiti continued a semi-isolationist approach to foreign relations, although the government actively solicited foreign aid. In 1980 Duvalier married Michèle Bennett, who later supplanted his hard-line mother in Haitian politics. In the face of increasing social unrest, however, Duvalier and his wife left the country early in 1986, leaving the entire country in poverty and lacking international commercial development. A six-member council replaced Duvalier when he fled to southern France, where he lived in luxury in Cannes until his wife left him and took his children and most of their cash. He now lives in modest circumstances in Paris. ===1986: After Duvalier Regime=== After Duvalier fled, US installed a military regime, The National Council of Government (CNG), headed by General Henry Namphy. It was supposed to design a new Constitution and arrange for democratic elections within two years, but didn't step down until 1990, when Jean-Bertrand Aristide was elected president. Most of his term was usurped by a military coup d'etat, but he was able to return to office in 1994 and oversee the installation of a close associate to the presidency in 1996. In the late 1970s, a time of increasing militancy against the brutal regime of Jean-Claude Duvalier, Aristide urged change and often found himself at odds with his superiors in the Roman Catholic Church. In 1986, the year Duvalier was driven from power, Aristide survived the first of many assassination attempts. In 1990, when a notorious Duvalierist announced his candidacy for president, progressive-centre forces united to urge Aristide to run for the office. He was elected in Haiti's first free democratic election on Dec. 16, 1990, with an overwhelming 67% of the vote. Aristide's campaign motto, "Lavalas" (Creole for "flood"), became the name for a diverse coalition of parties that symbolized hope for the Haitian people (80% of whom earned less than $150 a year). In his seven months as president in 1991, Aristide proposed raising the minimum wage, initiated a literacy campaign, dismantled the repressive system of rural section chiefs, and oversaw a drastic reduction in human rights violations. A coup on Sept. 30, 1991, led by the military and financed by members of Haiti's elite, declared that such reforms would not be tolerated. The coup's leaders: General Raul Cedras, Colonel Michel Francois, and general Philippe Biamby, were all graduates of the US Army School of the Americas in Fort Benning, Georgia. After three years of exile, a U.S. invasion allowed Aristide to return and resume his presidency on Oct. 15, 1994. The economy was in shambles, infrastructure almost nonexistent, and more than 4,000 people had been killed. Barred constitutionally from immediate reelection, he stepped down in 1996. The old Lavalas coalition fractured, and in November 1996 he launched a new political party, Fanmi Lavalas (Lavalas Family). ===2000-2004: Crisis and the post-Aristide era=== In May 2000, Haiti held legislative and local government elections. The Family Lavalas Party won over 50% of the vote in nearly all the contests but a dispute arose about the method used to tabulate the percentages for the Senate elections. The OAS and the international community condemned the results for the Senate elections as fradulent. The Haitian government refused to re-calculate the percentages. In response, most of the opposition parties refused to acknowledge the results or take part in second-round run-offs. In the months leading up to the Presidential election at the end of the year, numerous negotiations failed to produce a settlement. Therefore, most opposition groups boycotted the Presidential election. Aristide easily won this election, but due to the earlier dispute, the opposition parties never accepted his victory as legitimate. Aristide took office on February 7, 2001, but his presidency was mired in controversy, and his government was undermined by the political impasse and the use of armed gangs, called 'chimeres', to enforce his rule. By 2003, the country was deeply divided between pro-and anti-Aristide camps.This finally led to an armed conflict which increased in intensity on February 5, 2004, 200 years after the Haitian Revolution, when an armed rebel group calling itself the Revolutionary Artibonite Resistance Front took control of the Gonaïves police station. This rebellion then spread throughout the central Artibonite province by February 17 and was joined by opponents of the government who had been in exile in the Dominican Republic. Aristide was forced to resign and go into exile again (Central African Republic, Jamaica, South Africa). ===2004: Hurricane Jeanne=== ==Politics== ''Main article: Politics of Haiti'' Haiti is a presidential republic with an elected president and National Assembly. However, some claim it to be an authoritarian government in practice. On 29 February 2004, a rebellion culminated in the defacto resignation of president Jean-Bertrand Aristide and it is unknown if the current political structure will remain. The constitution was introduced in 1987 and is modeled on those of the United States and France. Having been either completely or partially suspended for some years, it was fully reinstated in 1994. ==Departments== ''Main article: Departments of Haiti'' Haiti is divided into nine departments (provinces): *Artibonite *Centre, Haiti *Grand'Anse, Haiti *Nord, Haiti *Nord-Est, Haiti *Nord-Ouest, Haiti *Ouest, Haiti *Sud, Haiti *Sud-Est, Haiti ''Main article: Geography of Haiti'' Haiti's terrain consists mainly of rugged mountains with small coastal plains and river valleys. The east and central part is a large elevated plateau. The biggest city is the capital Port-au-Prince with 2 million inhabitants, followed by Cap-Haïtien with 600,000. ==Economy== ''Main article: Economy of Haiti'' Haiti remains the least-developed country in the Western Hemisphere and one of the poorest in the world. Comparative social and economic indicators show Haiti falling behind other low-income developing countries (particularly in the hemisphere) since the 1980s. Haiti now ranks 150th of 175 countries in the UN’s Human Development Index. About 80% of the population lives in abject poverty, making it the second poorest country in the world. Nearly 70% of all Haitians depend on the agriculture sector, which consists mainly of small-scale subsistence farming and employs about two-thirds of the economically active work force. The country has experienced little job creation since President René Préval took office in February 1996, although the informal economy is growing. Failure to reach agreements with international sponsors have denied Haiti badly needed budget and development assistance. ==Demographics== ''Main article: Demographics of Haiti'' Although Haiti averages about 270 people per square kilometer, its population is concentrated most heavily in urban areas, coastal plains, and valleys. About 95% of Haitians are of African descent. The rest of the population is mostly mulatto, or mixed Caucasian-African ancestry. A few are of European or Levantine heritage. About two thirds of the population live in rural areas. French language is one of two official languages, but it is spoken by only about 10% of the people. Nearly all Haitians speak Haitian Creole(Creole), the country's other official language. English is increasingly spoken among the young and in the business sector. Roman Catholicism is the state religion, which the majority professes. Some have converted to Protestantism. Many Haitians also practice voodoo traditions, seeing no conflict with their Christian faith. ==Culture== ''Main articles: Culture of Haiti'' ==Miscellaneous topics== * Communications in Haiti * Transportation in Haiti * Military of Haiti * Foreign relations of Haiti == External links == *[http://www.alterpresse.org AlterPresse], news briefs in several languages. *[http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ha.html CIA World Fact Book - Haiti] *[http://www.KonbitKreyol.com./ FAU Haitian Student Association] *[http://www.HavenWorks.com/world/haiti Haiti News] *[http://www.haitisupport.gn.apc.org/ Haiti Support Group] *[http://www.nchr.org National Coalition for Haitian Rights] *[http://www.palaisnational.info/ National Palace] *[http://www.port-haiti.com/cgibin/search/port-haiti.cgi/ Port Haiti] *[http://www.travelinghaiti.com/ Haitian History, Maps and News] *[http://www.rehred-haiti.net/membres/papda/ Le Site haitien du développement alternatif] *[http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/1982.htm US Senate Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs - Haiti] *[http://haitiforever.com Windows on Haiti] *[https://listhost.uchicago.edu/mailman/listinfo/haiti-news Haiti-news list], news about Haiti *[http://www.numismondo.com/pm/hti/ Haiti Paper Money] - Private, Colonial and Government Issues from 1790 to 2004 (bicentennial). Approximately 450 different banknotes displayed along with relevant original articles. Caribbean Haiti Caribbean countries CARICOM_member_states French America Francophonie ht:Ayiti lv:Haiti ms:Haiti zh-min-nan:Haiti nds:Haiti
What is the United State's past and present relationship to Haiti? Also, why wasn't it mentioned that after the slaves won their emancipation they said that they would stop at nothing to end slavery all over the world? That the elite are attempting to remove a democratically elected president to keep Haiti a breading ground for US multi-national corporations? :As to the commitment to stop slavery: You might want to add another sentence if this actually lead to something. As for the last part: We might have a NPOV problem here, yet if you can present it in a neutral way, please add something about it. User:Drz 14:59, 27 Feb 2004 (UTC) I'm waiting for permission from a source to provide this evidence. I don't understand why it would be a NPOV problem. Neutral from who's perspective? People who live in Haiti or in the United States? User:ALC 8:04, 1 March 2004 Also, nothing present about indigenous or new religious traditions (i.e., Catholicism or Vodun). User:Muaddib 18:39 2004 Feb 24 (CST) I am surprised that the template has not been applied to this article. -- User:Kaihsu 20:42, 2004 Feb 10 (UTC) ---- Which country is poorer than Haiti? User:Andres 21:14, 14 Mar 2004 (UTC) == There is plenty of proof available online == There is enough unimpeachable evidence available thru the Internet -- i.e. links to haitian organizations -- to demonstrate that this article is unacceptably inaccurate. Whether the writer is aware of it or not, they are taking a definite pro-imperial stance by "alleged" this, etc. Popularly-elected Aristide was overthrown by the U.S., and he was personally kidnapped by the U.S.; the deathsquads are U.S., elite and Dominican-backed, etc. These facts are only disputed by U.S. propaganda organs like Fox -- which have a very definite agenda that has almost nothing to do with facts. Please change this entry ASAP. :I agree. The article does not pay any attention to the fact that this issue is being heavily discussed all over the place. The world, that is. .~. ::I have two complaints. One is regarding the complaints before this. They ask someone else to fix what they can fix. Then there is the related question of the freeport project which was cancelled under very strange circumstances. By the way, I contributed the original information - while using my identity (the compaints above are from unknown sources.) But on the freeport issue, if this project had gone ahead as planned then development money would have flowed into Haiti. From what I have read but not posted, there is a lot more to this story than meets the eye and that goes to the question of why Haiti is the poverty problem that it is. No one is addressing this issue. Of course the elections were corrupted, but the people running for office in Haiti have been no shining angels either. I agree that something is wrong with this story but it goes far deeper than a liberal/conservative or FOX/CBS type of story. Instead of complaining I suggest that all interested parties contribute the missing information. Since the writers have enough interest to write their comments on this subject - then perhaps they have enough interest to do the research to find the answers as well. After all, that is what everyone else is trying to do on Wikipedia: contribute knowledge. User:MPLX 17:17, 17 Dec 2004 (UTC) == When you have to turn to the internet for proof... == ...you're hurting. There is internet "proof" about alien abductions, too. There is no credible evidence to back up your U.S. conspiracy claims. I think this article is fine. Agreed. Too much emphasis has been placed on a possible U.S. kidnapping of Aristide. Aristide's claims lacked credibility and hence, his claims should not receive the amount of consideration they have been given in the article. == The U.S. == == The U.S.'s own account of the Occupation == The following account of the U.S. Occupation is from the official version written by the U.S. Army for the Library of Congress. Thus, it has an obvious "pro-US bias", yet it is nevertheless much more of an indictment of the American Occupation of Haiti than this pathetic Wiki Article! Obviously, if you read sources written from the Haitian perspective, you get an even better idea of what a crushing blow this was to Haitian independence. ----------------------------- THE UNITED STATES OCCUPATION, 1915-34 Representatives from the United States wielded veto power over all governmental decisions in Haiti, and Marine Corps commanders served as administrators in the provinces. Local institutions, however, continued to be run by Haitians, as was required under policies put in place during the presidency of Woodrow Wilson. In line with these policies, Admiral William Caperton, the initial commander of United States forces, instructed Bobo to refrain from offering himself to the legislature as a presidential candidate. Philippe Sudre Dartiguenave, the mulatto president of the Senate, agreed to accept the presidency of Haiti after several other candidates had refused on principle. With a figurehead installed in the National Palace and other institutions maintained in form if not in function, Caperton declared martial law, a condition that persisted until 1929. A treaty passed by the Haitian legislature in November 1915 granted further authority to the United States. The treaty allowed Washington to assume complete control of Haiti's finances, and it gave the United States sole authority over the appointment of advisers and receivers. The treaty also gave the United States responsibility for establishing and running public-health and public-works programs and for supervising routine governmental affairs. The treaty also established the Gendarmerie d'Haïti (Haitian Constabulary), a step later replicated in the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. The Gendarmerie was Haiti's first professional military force, and it was eventually to play an important political role in the country. In 1917 President Dartiguenave dissolved the legislature after its members refused to approve a constitution purportedly authored by United States assistant secretary of the navy Franklin D. Roosevelt. A referendum subsequently approved the new constitution (by a vote of 98,225 to 768), however, in 1918. Generally a liberal document, the constitution allowed foreigners to purchase land. Dessalines had forbidden land ownership by foreigners, and since 1804 most Haitians had viewed foreign ownership as anathema. The occupation by the United States had several effects on Haiti. An early period of unrest culminated in a 1918 rebellion by up to 40,000 former cacos and other disgruntled people. The scale of the uprising overwhelmed the Gendarmerie, but marine reinforcements helped put down the revolt at the estimated cost of 2,000 Haitian lives. Thereafter, order prevailed to a degree that most Haitians had never witnessed. The order, however, was imposed largely by white foreigners with deep-seated racial prejudices and a disdain for the notion of self-determination by inhabitants of less-developed nations. These attitudes particularly dismayed the mulatto elite, who had heretofore believed in their innate superiority over the black masses. The whites from North America, however, did not distinguish among Haitians, regardless of their skin tone, level of education, or sophistication. This intolerance caused indignation, resentment, and eventually a racial pride that was reflected in the work of a new generation of Haitian historians, ethnologists, writers, artists, and others, many of whom later became active in politics and government. Still, as Haitians united in their reaction to the racism of the occupying forces, the mulatto elite managed to dominate the country's bureaucracy and to strengthen its role in national affairs. The occupation had several positive aspects. It greatly improved Haiti's infrastructure. Roads were improved and expanded. Almost all roads, however, led to Port-au-Prince, resulting in a gradual concentration of economic activity in the capital. Bridges went up throughout the country; a telephone system began to function; several towns gained access to clean water; and a construction boom (in some cases employing forced labor) helped restore wharves, lighthouses, schools, and hospitals. Public health improved, partially because of United States-directed campaigns against malaria and yaws (a crippling disease caused by a spirochete). Sound fiscal management kept Haiti current on its foreign-debt payments at a time when default among Latin American nations was common. By that time, United States banks were Haiti's main creditors, an important incentive for Haiti to make timely payments. In 1922 Louis Borno replaced Dartiguenave, who was forced out of office for temporizing over the approval of a debtconsolidation loan. Borno ruled without the benefit of a legislature (dissolved in 1917 under Dartiguenave) until elections were again permitted in 1930. The legislature, after several ballots, elected mulatto Sténio Vincent to the presidency. The occupation of Haiti continued after World War I, despite the embarrassment that it caused Woodrow Wilson at the Paris peace conference in 1919 and the scrutiny of a congressional inquiry in 1922. By 1930 President Herbert Hoover had become concerned about the effects of the occupation, particularly after a December 1929 incident in Les Cayes in which marines killed at least ten Haitian peasants during a march to protest local economic conditions. Hoover appointed two commissions to study the situation. A former governor general of the Philippines, W. Cameron Forbes, headed the more prominent of the two. The Forbes Commission praised the material improvements that the United States administration had wrought, but it criticized the exclusion of Haitians from positions of real authority in the government and the constabulary, which had come to be known as the Garde d'Haïti. In more general terms, the commission further asserted that "the social forces that created [instability] still remain--poverty, ignorance, and the lack of a tradition or desire for orderly free government." The Hoover administration did not implement fully the recommendations of the Forbes Commission, but United States withdrawal was well under way by 1932, when Hoover lost the presidency to Roosevelt, the presumed author of the most recent Haitian constitution. On a visit to Cap Haïtien in July 1934, Roosevelt reaffirmed an August 1933 disengagement agreement. The last contingent of marines departed in mid-August, after a formal transfer of authority to the Garde. As in other countries occupied by the United States in the early twentieth century, the local military was often the only cohesive and effective institution left in the wake of withdrawal. Source: U.S. Library of Congress "The haiti page really needs to be updated to deal with the post Aristide occupation by the U.N. and the current human rights abuses as well as the repression and murder of activist civilians and Aristide supporters by the death squads and Canadian trained police force. There is information all over the internet and some smaller newspapers and radio stations about this although the mainstream corporate controlled press is on lockdown on the subject; especially in the three imperial countries that backed and helped support the coup against Aristide (U.S., France, Canada) 205.250.145.30 == HSKI: Haitian Death Squads and Child Murders == My name is Michael Brewer, RN, an American who lives in Port au Prince, Haiti, where I have an organization and home for street kids and runaway restavek slave children. Being as intimately close to the problem of homeless children as I am, I feel I must let someone know about a very disturbing trend that has begun to surface again in Haiti. Carloads of men referred to as "ancient military," who are actually members of the now disbanded military, as well as members of the Haitian National Police, have began patrolling the streets of Port au Prince and are indiscriminately murdering street children for no reason other than sport. These men prowl the streets of the city in groups of 6 to 10 with high-powered military assault rifles, shotguns and 9mm pistols, wearing all-black uniforms with black ski masks over their heads to conceal their identities. They justify the murders of these boys by referring to them as "vagabonds" and say that they are "cleaning the streets". An example of the merciless slaughter of these children happened last Thursday on the 11th of November between 7:pm and 8:pm in the evening, in a well-known park located in the Petionville section of Port au Prince named Plais Bois. Many homeless boys of all ages sleep in this park at night due to lack of facilities and helping organizations available to them. We are one of the very few advocacy and residential organizations in Port au Prince that offer these boys help and refuge in times of great need. But due to critically deficient support, our capability to take more of them in on a permanent basis is very limited. Here is what happened: At approximately 7:pm in the evening, a carload of these ex-military members, whom the people wrongly refer to as "police," drove by the park and stopped where 20 to 30 children were sleeping. The ones that were not asleep alerted the others, and they all began to run. Three were caught by the men: one 7-year old by the name of Linxson, one 12-year-old and a 15-year-old. The boys were first beaten severely. Black bags were then put over their heads and tied around their necks, and then they were shot and killed. The bodies were placed in the trunk of the car and taken away from the scene. One week earlier, a nine-year-old named Emmanuel was running from a group of these men after he refused to come to them when they called him. They shot him in the leg with an assault rifle to stop him. Three of the men casually walked up to where the child was lying on the ground and crying. They ridiculed him, then shot him again with pistols and a shotgun, for a total of 4 more times. One of my children, a 14 year old boy named Makinzi, was murdered as he was walking down the side of the road about three weeks ago. His face was terribly scared from previous abuse suffered while sleeping on the streets before coming to our home. While sleeping, passer-bys poured flaming liquid of some sort over his face and shoulders, resulting in thick, dark scaring from third degree burns. His self-appointed executioners were heard to say that they thought he was wearing a mask, and assumed that he must be a thief. Summary executions of these children have become almost commonplace. The children are living in fear and their already difficult existence has become comparable to an unarmed soldier in a war zone. One inspection alone of the morgue at Haitis General Hospital, yielded 4 bodies of massacred street children; one 10 and one 13 year old riddled with bullets, laying along side two other young boys who had been decapitated. The incidents I have given as examples are just a very few of the daily murders of these children that are committed by these groups of men every day and night in every part of the city. There are "dump zones" where the decomposing bodies of little boys can be found any day of the week. I have found many. This is blatant genocide. The merciless atrocities committed on these defenseless, harmless and innocent street children go completely unnoticed, unreported, and uninvestigated. The United Nations forces do nothing and completely ignore this crisis. There is no "real" or effective police for them to turn to due to the children's inability to "pay" for the services or protection of the police. In many cases, the police are participants in the abuse rather than protectors. I also find it very ironic that the Brazilian military forces, now constituting the bulk of the UN presence in Haiti, are from the very country so well known for the murder and abuse of street children in their own country. Their inaction and lack of concern regarding these heinous acts is not difficult to understand when viewed in that context. An effective way must be found to put an end to this ongoing tragedy that has become an epidemic. This is no less than urban terrorism with the most vulnerable, the most innocent, and the most defenseless citizens as its targets and victims. The urgent and critical nature of this problem dictates that decisive action may be taken now if we are to prevent more children from being terrorized and slaughtered. The terror, insecurity and misery being placed upon these children, whose lives are already far more difficult and painful than any child should be forced to endure, is now at an unprecedented level. There is no one for them to turn to for protection or help except for people like me, and organizations such as mine, who are in reality powerless to do anything real to stop this. Our support is at a point now, where we have many days we are unable to feed them more than once, or even once per day, and our efforts to improve the support for the children renders very little results so far. Humanitarian assistance to Haiti should be expanded to allow non-profit organizations such as our, to directly apply for assistance and on-going support. The small NGOs that work on the ground, directly with the children, are the ones that suffer and have the most difficult time receiving funds and assistance to survive. It is a heartbreaking situation when a young boy comes to our gates in a panic, begging to be let in so that he may escape the dangers he is being forced to live with on the streets, and we are unable to let him in due to limited space and funding to care for him. If anyone is interested in offering assistance with our efforts to rescue and sustain these children, any and all donations would be gratefully appreciated. 100% of your donations will go toward the medical, educational, nutritional and personal needs of these children. Any type of food assistance would also be appreciated. As support for HSKI increases, more frightened and suffering kids will be able to escape the dangers and misery of the streets and be admitted into the home. All donations are tax deductible. Our U.S. mailing address for donation is: Haitian Street Kids, Inc. 5209 Rain Forest Drive McKinney, Texas USA 75070 Our non-profit EIN number is: Family Circle Inc. dba: Haitian Street Kids, Inc. (HSKI) No. 74-3116886 Haitian Non-Profit Authorization: STC-02671 Thank you for caring and we hope to hear from you soon. Respectfully, Michael W. Brewer, RN Haitian Street Kids, Inc. Supporting article: http://quicksitemaker.com/members/immunenation/Pacific_News_Service_Killings.html == Map == A controversy has erupted over the choice of map for this article. The two candidates are shown here, along with any others that other Wikipedians may choose to enter. Feel free to make any comments. The lower map may also appear in the corresponding Geography article for this country. User:Kelisi 03:26, 2 Apr 2005 (UTC) I prefer the lower kelisi version, --User:SqueakBox 03:31, Apr 2, 2005 (UTC) == Whoa!! This article needs some work. == I can't help but notice that this article contains nothing about the US governments role in 2004 rebellion. Like the part where the US military kidnapped Aristide User:TitaniumDreads 09:39, 13 Jun 2005 (UTC)
Caribbean countries French America Francophonie
{| |- ! Template Preview ! What to type ! Also consider |- | || || |- | style="font-size: 80%;" colspan="3" | ''See more country templates on:'' Wikipedia:Country referencing templates |} Haiti
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Haiti
Haiti is a country situated on the western third of the island of Hispaniola and the smaller islands of La Gonâve, La Tortue (Tortuga), Grande Caye, and Ile a Vache in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba; the Dominican Republic shares Hispaniola with Haiti. Its total land area is 10,714 square miles (27,750 square km) and its capital is Port-au-Prince on the main island of Hispaniola. A former French colonization of the Americas, it was the first country in the Americas after the United States to declare its independence. In spite of its longevity, it is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. {| border=1 align=right cellpadding=4 cellspacing=0 width=300 style="margin: 0 0 1em 1em; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%;" |+Repiblik d Ayiti
'''République d'Haïti''' |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="center" colspan="2" | {| border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" | align="center" width="140px" | | align="center" width="140px" | |- | align="center" width="140px" | Flag of Haiti | align="center" width="140px" | |} |- | align="center" colspan=2 | ''National motto: L'Union Fait La Force
(French language: Union Makes Strength)'' |- | align=center colspan=2 style="background: #fff;" | |- | Official languages | Haitian Creole language, French language |- | Capital | Port-au-Prince |- | List of Presidents of Haiti | Boniface Alexandre (interim) |- | List of Prime Ministers of Haiti | Gérard Latortue |- | Area
- Total
- % water | List of countries by area
27,750 square kilometre
0.7% |- | Population
- Total (Year)
- Population density | List of countries by population
7.5 million (July 2003)
271/km² |- | Gross Domestic Product
- Total (Year)
- GDP/head |
$10.6 billion (2002)
$1,400 |- | Currency | Gourde (HTG) |- | Time zone | Coordinated Universal Time -5 (no Daylight Saving Time) |- | Independence
- Declared
- Recognised | (from France)
January 1, 1804
1825 (Fr), 1863 (USA) |- | National anthem | ''La Dessalinienne'' |- | Top-level domain | .ht |- | List_of_country_calling_codes | 509 |} ==History== ''Main article: History of Haiti'' ===1804: Independance=== Freed Blacks and mulattos joined with slaves against Napoleonic France to achieve the Carribean's first successful revolution for independance. The largely Black nation remained isolated politically throughout the 19th century, though penetrated economically by international capitalism. ===1915: U.S. Occupation=== American President Woodrow Wilson sent the first sailors and marines to Port-au-Prince on July 28, 1915. Within six weeks, representatives from the United States controlled Haitian customs houses and administrative institutions. For the next nineteen years, Haiti's powerful neighbor to the north guided and governed the country. During this period the legal government of Haiti was (both technically and effectively) the U.S. Marine Corps. The specific order from the Navy to the invasion commander, Admiral William Deville Bundy, was to "protect American and foreign" interests. Representatives from the United States wielded veto power over all governmental decisions in Haiti, and Marine Corps commanders served as administrators in the provinces. Local institutions, however, continued to be run by Haitians, as was required under policies put in place during the presidency of Woodrow Wilson. "Cacos" was the US term for the Haitian rebels who opposed the occupation of the island after the Americans took control in 1915. Opposition to the Occupation began right after the Marines enterd Haiti in 1915. The rebels, vehemently tried to resist American control of Haiti. In response, the Haitian and American governments began a vigorous campaign to disband the rebel armies. Philippe Sudre Dartiguenave, the mulatto president of the Senate, agreed to accept the presidency of Haiti after several other candidates had refused on principle. With a figurehead installed in the National Palace and other institutions maintained in form if not in function, Admiral Caperton declared martial law, a condition that persisted until 1929. In 1917 President Dartiguenave dissolved the legislature after its members refused to approve a constitution written by United States Assistant Secretary of the US Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt. A referendum subsequently approved the new constitution (by a vote of 98,225 to 768), however, in 1918. Generally a liberal document, the constitution allowed foreigners to purchase land. Dessalines had forbidden land ownership by foreigners, and since 1804 most Haitians had viewed foreign ownership as anathema. ===1918: Rebellion=== The occupation by the United States had several effects on Haiti. An early period of unrest culminated in a 1918 rebellion by up to 40,000 former cacos and other disgruntled people. The scale of the uprising overwhelmed the Gendarmerie, but marine reinforcements helped put down the revolt at the estimated cost of 2,000 Haitian lives. Thereafter, order prevailed to a degree that most Haitians had never witnessed. The order, however, was imposed largely by white foreigners with deep-seated racial prejudices and a disdain for the notion of self-determination by inhabitants of less-developed nations. These attitudes particularly dismayed the mulatto elite, who had heretofore believed in their innate superiority over the black masses. The whites from North America, however, did not distinguish among Haitians, regardless of their skin tone, level of education, or sophistication. This intolerance caused indignation, resentment, and eventually a racial pride that was reflected in the work of a new generation of Haitian historians, ethnologists, writers, artists, and others, many of whom later became active in politics and government. Still, as Haitians united in their reaction to the racism of the occupying forces, the mulatto elite managed to dominate the country's bureaucracy and to strengthen its role in national affairs. The occupation greatly improved some of Haiti's infrastructure. Roads were improved and expanded through the use of forced-labour gangs. This violent form of "corvee labour", with chain-gangs and armed guards permitted to shoot anyone who fled compulsory service, was widely regarded as tantamount to slavery. The education system was re-designed from the ground up; however, this involved the destruction of the pre-existing system of "Liberal Arts" education inherited (and adapted) from the French. It is to be observed that the william bundy Marine corps was even less successful in creating a system of education for Haitians than the contemporary government of the U.S. was in providing access to education for its own Black population. Also, due to its emphasis on vocational training, the American system that replaced the French was despised by the elite. Thus, among the two major infrastructural programs carried out by the government of occupation, the use of forced labour enraged the lower classes of rural Haiti, and the educational "reform" enraged the urban elite. ===1922: Louis Borno=== In 1922 Louis Borno replaced Dartiguenave, who was forced out of office for temporizing over the approval of a debt consolidation loan. Borno ruled without the benefit of a legislature (dissolved in 1917 under Dartiguenave) until elections were again permitted in 1930. The legislature, after several ballots, elected mulatto Sténio Vincent to the presidency. The occupation of Haiti continued after World War I, despite the embarrassment that it caused Woodrow Wilson at the Paris peace conference in 1919 and the scrutiny of a congressional inquiry in 1922. By 1930 President Herbert Hoover had become concerned about the effects of the occupation, particularly after a December 1929 incident in Les Cayes in which marines killed at least ten Haitian peasants during a march to protest local economic conditions. Hoover appointed two commissions to study the situation. A former governor general of the Philippines, W. Cameron Forbes, headed the more prominent of the two. The Forbes Commission praised the material improvements that the United States administration had wrought, but it criticized the exclusion of Haitians from positions of real authority in the government and the constabulary, which had come to be known as the Garde d'Haïti. In more general terms, the commission further asserted that "the social forces that created [instability] still remain--poverty, ignorance, and the lack of a tradition or desire for orderly free government." ===1934: U.S. Withdrawal=== The Hoover administration did not implement fully the recommendations of the Forbes Commission, but United States withdrawal was under way by 1932, when Hoover lost the presidency to Roosevelt, the presumed author of the most recent Haitian constitution. On a visit to Cap Haïtien in July 1934, Roosevelt reaffirmed an August 1933 disengagement agreement. The last contingent of marines departed in mid-August, after a formal transfer of authority to the Garde. As in other countries occupied by the United States in the early twentieth century, the local (U.S.-trained) military was often the only cohesive and effective institution left in the wake of withdrawal. This sowed the seeds for a sequence of military-backed dictatorships, all attached to American patronage, which would define the next 50 years of Haiti's history. ===The Rise of Duvalier=== A medical doctor, François Duvalier was not allowed to establish his own practice due to racist customs in Haiti (he was black). After securing employment with an American medical project that was fighting widespread tuberculosis, Duvalier had the opportunity to see the poverty that existed in the countryside. This fueled his interest in politics, and despite the fact that the Haitian government was predominantly mulatto, Duvalier was able to gain a following and joined forces with powerful union leader Daniel Fignole. Together they formed the popular ''Mouvement Ouvriers Paysans (MOP)'' party. They continued to gain public support and waited for their moment to seize the power. Both men wanted to take the top job of President, therefore the party was split and in 1957 Fignole became president of Haiti. His position lasted only 18 days, however, because Duvalier was able to overthrow him and began what was to become a 29-year dynasty. ===1957-1986: Duvaliers and Aborted freeport=== Duvalier, also known as "Papa Doc," became president in 1957 and dictator in 1964. He was known for his army of sunglasses-clad volunteers, the Tonton Macoute. In 1967 proposals were made to construct a freeport on the Haitian island of Tortuga by a consortium formed in the United States by Don Pierson of Eastland, Texas. These plans reached maturity in 1971 when a 99-year contract was entered into by François Duvalier on behalf of the Haitian government. Although construction of infastructure and a new international airport was commenced, two other events brought about the sudden demise of the whole venture. When François Duvalier suddenly died in 1971 his son Jean-Claude Duvalier ("Baby Doc") took over at the age of 19. The advisers soon concluded that Haiti needed a new image to attract economic assistance, tourism, and investment. In 1974 it became known that the freeport had entered into a multimillion dollar contract with the Gulf Oil corporation to advance development on the island. This news prompted "Baby Doc" to expropriate the venture for himself, under prompting from his advisors including his mother, Simone Ovide Duvalier; Defense and Interior Minister Luckner Cambronne; Gen. Claude Raymond, commander of the army, and his brother, Foreign Minister Adrien Raymond; and Minister of Coordination and Information Fritz Cinéas. This move by the regency caused the collapse of the freeport venture. Under the Baby Doc regime some political prisoners were released, press censorship eased, and a policy of "gradual democratization of institutions" was professed. But in fact no sharp changes from previous policies occurred. No political opposition was tolerated, and all important political officials and judges were still appointed by the president. Haiti continued a semi-isolationist approach to foreign relations, although the government actively solicited foreign aid. In 1980 Duvalier married Michèle Bennett, who later supplanted his hard-line mother in Haitian politics. In the face of increasing social unrest, however, Duvalier and his wife left the country early in 1986, leaving the entire country in poverty and lacking international commercial development. A six-member council replaced Duvalier when he fled to southern France, where he lived in luxury in Cannes until his wife left him and took his children and most of their cash. He now lives in modest circumstances in Paris. ===1986: After Duvalier Regime=== After Duvalier fled, US installed a military regime, The National Council of Government (CNG), headed by General Henry Namphy. It was supposed to design a new Constitution and arrange for democratic elections within two years, but didn't step down until 1990, when Jean-Bertrand Aristide was elected president. Most of his term was usurped by a military coup d'etat, but he was able to return to office in 1994 and oversee the installation of a close associate to the presidency in 1996. In the late 1970s, a time of increasing militancy against the brutal regime of Jean-Claude Duvalier, Aristide urged change and often found himself at odds with his superiors in the Roman Catholic Church. In 1986, the year Duvalier was driven from power, Aristide survived the first of many assassination attempts. In 1990, when a notorious Duvalierist announced his candidacy for president, progressive-centre forces united to urge Aristide to run for the office. He was elected in Haiti's first free democratic election on Dec. 16, 1990, with an overwhelming 67% of the vote. Aristide's campaign motto, "Lavalas" (Creole for "flood"), became the name for a diverse coalition of parties that symbolized hope for the Haitian people (80% of whom earned less than $150 a year). In his seven months as president in 1991, Aristide proposed raising the minimum wage, initiated a literacy campaign, dismantled the repressive system of rural section chiefs, and oversaw a drastic reduction in human rights violations. A coup on Sept. 30, 1991, led by the military and financed by members of Haiti's elite, declared that such reforms would not be tolerated. The coup's leaders: General Raul Cedras, Colonel Michel Francois, and general Philippe Biamby, were all graduates of the US Army School of the Americas in Fort Benning, Georgia. After three years of exile, a U.S. invasion allowed Aristide to return and resume his presidency on Oct. 15, 1994. The economy was in shambles, infrastructure almost nonexistent, and more than 4,000 people had been killed. Barred constitutionally from immediate reelection, he stepped down in 1996. The old Lavalas coalition fractured, and in November 1996 he launched a new political party, Fanmi Lavalas (Lavalas Family). ===2000-2004: Crisis and the post-Aristide era=== In May 2000, Haiti held legislative and local government elections. The Family Lavalas Party won over 50% of the vote in nearly all the contests but a dispute arose about the method used to tabulate the percentages for the Senate elections. The OAS and the international community condemned the results for the Senate elections as fradulent. The Haitian government refused to re-calculate the percentages. In response, most of the opposition parties refused to acknowledge the results or take part in second-round run-offs. In the months leading up to the Presidential election at the end of the year, numerous negotiations failed to produce a settlement. Therefore, most opposition groups boycotted the Presidential election. Aristide easily won this election, but due to the earlier dispute, the opposition parties never accepted his victory as legitimate. Aristide took office on February 7, 2001, but his presidency was mired in controversy, and his government was undermined by the political impasse and the use of armed gangs, called 'chimeres', to enforce his rule. By 2003, the country was deeply divided between pro-and anti-Aristide camps.This finally led to an armed conflict which increased in intensity on February 5, 2004, 200 years after the Haitian Revolution, when an armed rebel group calling itself the Revolutionary Artibonite Resistance Front took control of the Gonaïves police station. This rebellion then spread throughout the central Artibonite province by February 17 and was joined by opponents of the government who had been in exile in the Dominican Republic. Aristide was forced to resign and go into exile again (Central African Republic, Jamaica, South Africa). ===2004: Hurricane Jeanne=== ==Politics== ''Main article: Politics of Haiti'' Haiti is a presidential republic with an elected president and National Assembly. However, some claim it to be an authoritarian government in practice. On 29 February 2004, a rebellion culminated in the defacto resignation of president Jean-Bertrand Aristide and it is unknown if the current political structure will remain. The constitution was introduced in 1987 and is modeled on those of the United States and France. Having been either completely or partially suspended for some years, it was fully reinstated in 1994. ==Departments== ''Main article: Departments of Haiti'' Haiti is divided into nine departments (provinces): *Artibonite *Centre, Haiti *Grand'Anse, Haiti *Nord, Haiti *Nord-Est, Haiti *Nord-Ouest, Haiti *Ouest, Haiti *Sud, Haiti *Sud-Est, Haiti ''Main article: Geography of Haiti'' Haiti's terrain consists mainly of rugged mountains with small coastal plains and river valleys. The east and central part is a large elevated plateau. The biggest city is the capital Port-au-Prince with 2 million inhabitants, followed by Cap-Haïtien with 600,000. ==Economy== ''Main article: Economy of Haiti'' Haiti remains the least-developed country in the Western Hemisphere and one of the poorest in the world. Comparative social and economic indicators show Haiti falling behind other low-income developing countries (particularly in the hemisphere) since the 1980s. Haiti now ranks 150th of 175 countries in the UN’s Human Development Index. About 80% of the population lives in abject poverty, making it the second poorest country in the world. Nearly 70% of all Haitians depend on the agriculture sector, which consists mainly of small-scale subsistence farming and employs about two-thirds of the economically active work force. The country has experienced little job creation since President René Préval took office in February 1996, although the informal economy is growing. Failure to reach agreements with international sponsors have denied Haiti badly needed budget and development assistance. ==Demographics== ''Main article: Demographics of Haiti'' Although Haiti averages about 270 people per square kilometer, its population is concentrated most heavily in urban areas, coastal plains, and valleys. About 95% of Haitians are of African descent. The rest of the population is mostly mulatto, or mixed Caucasian-African ancestry. A few are of European or Levantine heritage. About two thirds of the population live in rural areas. French language is one of two official languages, but it is spoken by only about 10% of the people. Nearly all Haitians speak Haitian Creole(Creole), the country's other official language. English is increasingly spoken among the young and in the business sector. Roman Catholicism is the state religion, which the majority professes. Some have converted to Protestantism. Many Haitians also practice voodoo traditions, seeing no conflict with their Christian faith. ==Culture== ''Main articles: Culture of Haiti'' ==Miscellaneous topics== * Communications in Haiti * Transportation in Haiti * Military of Haiti * Foreign relations of Haiti == External links == *[http://www.alterpresse.org AlterPresse], news briefs in several languages. *[http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ha.html CIA World Fact Book - Haiti] *[http://www.KonbitKreyol.com./ FAU Haitian Student Association] *[http://www.HavenWorks.com/world/haiti Haiti News] *[http://www.haitisupport.gn.apc.org/ Haiti Support Group] *[http://www.nchr.org National Coalition for Haitian Rights] *[http://www.palaisnational.info/ National Palace] *[http://www.port-haiti.com/cgibin/search/port-haiti.cgi/ Port Haiti] *[http://www.travelinghaiti.com/ Haitian History, Maps and News] *[http://www.rehred-haiti.net/membres/papda/ Le Site haitien du développement alternatif] *[http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/1982.htm US Senate Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs - Haiti] *[http://haitiforever.com Windows on Haiti] *[https://listhost.uchicago.edu/mailman/listinfo/haiti-news Haiti-news list], news about Haiti *[http://www.numismondo.com/pm/hti/ Haiti Paper Money] - Private, Colonial and Government Issues from 1790 to 2004 (bicentennial). Approximately 450 different banknotes displayed along with relevant original articles. Caribbean Haiti Caribbean countries CARICOM_member_states French America Francophonie ht:Ayiti lv:Haiti ms:Haiti zh-min-nan:Haiti nds:Haiti
Haiti
What is the United State's past and present relationship to Haiti? Also, why wasn't it mentioned that after the slaves won their emancipation they said that they would stop at nothing to end slavery all over the world? That the elite are attempting to remove a democratically elected president to keep Haiti a breading ground for US multi-national corporations? :As to the commitment to stop slavery: You might want to add another sentence if this actually lead to something. As for the last part: We might have a NPOV problem here, yet if you can present it in a neutral way, please add something about it. User:Drz 14:59, 27 Feb 2004 (UTC) I'm waiting for permission from a source to provide this evidence. I don't understand why it would be a NPOV problem. Neutral from who's perspective? People who live in Haiti or in the United States? User:ALC 8:04, 1 March 2004 Also, nothing present about indigenous or new religious traditions (i.e., Catholicism or Vodun). User:Muaddib 18:39 2004 Feb 24 (CST) I am surprised that the template has not been applied to this article. -- User:Kaihsu 20:42, 2004 Feb 10 (UTC) ---- Which country is poorer than Haiti? User:Andres 21:14, 14 Mar 2004 (UTC) == There is plenty of proof available online == There is enough unimpeachable evidence available thru the Internet -- i.e. links to haitian organizations -- to demonstrate that this article is unacceptably inaccurate. Whether the writer is aware of it or not, they are taking a definite pro-imperial stance by "alleged" this, etc. Popularly-elected Aristide was overthrown by the U.S., and he was personally kidnapped by the U.S.; the deathsquads are U.S., elite and Dominican-backed, etc. These facts are only disputed by U.S. propaganda organs like Fox -- which have a very definite agenda that has almost nothing to do with facts. Please change this entry ASAP. :I agree. The article does not pay any attention to the fact that this issue is being heavily discussed all over the place. The world, that is. .~. ::I have two complaints. One is regarding the complaints before this. They ask someone else to fix what they can fix. Then there is the related question of the freeport project which was cancelled under very strange circumstances. By the way, I contributed the original information - while using my identity (the compaints above are from unknown sources.) But on the freeport issue, if this project had gone ahead as planned then development money would have flowed into Haiti. From what I have read but not posted, there is a lot more to this story than meets the eye and that goes to the question of why Haiti is the poverty problem that it is. No one is addressing this issue. Of course the elections were corrupted, but the people running for office in Haiti have been no shining angels either. I agree that something is wrong with this story but it goes far deeper than a liberal/conservative or FOX/CBS type of story. Instead of complaining I suggest that all interested parties contribute the missing information. Since the writers have enough interest to write their comments on this subject - then perhaps they have enough interest to do the research to find the answers as well. After all, that is what everyone else is trying to do on Wikipedia: contribute knowledge. User:MPLX 17:17, 17 Dec 2004 (UTC) == When you have to turn to the internet for proof... == ...you're hurting. There is internet "proof" about alien abductions, too. There is no credible evidence to back up your U.S. conspiracy claims. I think this article is fine. Agreed. Too much emphasis has been placed on a possible U.S. kidnapping of Aristide. Aristide's claims lacked credibility and hence, his claims should not receive the amount of consideration they have been given in the article. == The U.S. == == The U.S.'s own account of the Occupation == The following account of the U.S. Occupation is from the official version written by the U.S. Army for the Library of Congress. Thus, it has an obvious "pro-US bias", yet it is nevertheless much more of an indictment of the American Occupation of Haiti than this pathetic Wiki Article! Obviously, if you read sources written from the Haitian perspective, you get an even better idea of what a crushing blow this was to Haitian independence. ----------------------------- THE UNITED STATES OCCUPATION, 1915-34 Representatives from the United States wielded veto power over all governmental decisions in Haiti, and Marine Corps commanders served as administrators in the provinces. Local institutions, however, continued to be run by Haitians, as was required under policies put in place during the presidency of Woodrow Wilson. In line with these policies, Admiral William Caperton, the initial commander of United States forces, instructed Bobo to refrain from offering himself to the legislature as a presidential candidate. Philippe Sudre Dartiguenave, the mulatto president of the Senate, agreed to accept the presidency of Haiti after several other candidates had refused on principle. With a figurehead installed in the National Palace and other institutions maintained in form if not in function, Caperton declared martial law, a condition that persisted until 1929. A treaty passed by the Haitian legislature in November 1915 granted further authority to the United States. The treaty allowed Washington to assume complete control of Haiti's finances, and it gave the United States sole authority over the appointment of advisers and receivers. The treaty also gave the United States responsibility for establishing and running public-health and public-works programs and for supervising routine governmental affairs. The treaty also established the Gendarmerie d'Haïti (Haitian Constabulary), a step later replicated in the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. The Gendarmerie was Haiti's first professional military force, and it was eventually to play an important political role in the country. In 1917 President Dartiguenave dissolved the legislature after its members refused to approve a constitution purportedly authored by United States assistant secretary of the navy Franklin D. Roosevelt. A referendum subsequently approved the new constitution (by a vote of 98,225 to 768), however, in 1918. Generally a liberal document, the constitution allowed foreigners to purchase land. Dessalines had forbidden land ownership by foreigners, and since 1804 most Haitians had viewed foreign ownership as anathema. The occupation by the United States had several effects on Haiti. An early period of unrest culminated in a 1918 rebellion by up to 40,000 former cacos and other disgruntled people. The scale of the uprising overwhelmed the Gendarmerie, but marine reinforcements helped put down the revolt at the estimated cost of 2,000 Haitian lives. Thereafter, order prevailed to a degree that most Haitians had never witnessed. The order, however, was imposed largely by white foreigners with deep-seated racial prejudices and a disdain for the notion of self-determination by inhabitants of less-developed nations. These attitudes particularly dismayed the mulatto elite, who had heretofore believed in their innate superiority over the black masses. The whites from North America, however, did not distinguish among Haitians, regardless of their skin tone, level of education, or sophistication. This intolerance caused indignation, resentment, and eventually a racial pride that was reflected in the work of a new generation of Haitian historians, ethnologists, writers, artists, and others, many of whom later became active in politics and government. Still, as Haitians united in their reaction to the racism of the occupying forces, the mulatto elite managed to dominate the country's bureaucracy and to strengthen its role in national affairs. The occupation had several positive aspects. It greatly improved Haiti's infrastructure. Roads were improved and expanded. Almost all roads, however, led to Port-au-Prince, resulting in a gradual concentration of economic activity in the capital. Bridges went up throughout the country; a telephone system began to function; several towns gained access to clean water; and a construction boom (in some cases employing forced labor) helped restore wharves, lighthouses, schools, and hospitals. Public health improved, partially because of United States-directed campaigns against malaria and yaws (a crippling disease caused by a spirochete). Sound fiscal management kept Haiti current on its foreign-debt payments at a time when default among Latin American nations was common. By that time, United States banks were Haiti's main creditors, an important incentive for Haiti to make timely payments. In 1922 Louis Borno replaced Dartiguenave, who was forced out of office for temporizing over the approval of a debtconsolidation loan. Borno ruled without the benefit of a legislature (dissolved in 1917 under Dartiguenave) until elections were again permitted in 1930. The legislature, after several ballots, elected mulatto Sténio Vincent to the presidency. The occupation of Haiti continued after World War I, despite the embarrassment that it caused Woodrow Wilson at the Paris peace conference in 1919 and the scrutiny of a congressional inquiry in 1922. By 1930 President Herbert Hoover had become concerned about the effects of the occupation, particularly after a December 1929 incident in Les Cayes in which marines killed at least ten Haitian peasants during a march to protest local economic conditions. Hoover appointed two commissions to study the situation. A former governor general of the Philippines, W. Cameron Forbes, headed the more prominent of the two. The Forbes Commission praised the material improvements that the United States administration had wrought, but it criticized the exclusion of Haitians from positions of real authority in the government and the constabulary, which had come to be known as the Garde d'Haïti. In more general terms, the commission further asserted that "the social forces that created [instability] still remain--poverty, ignorance, and the lack of a tradition or desire for orderly free government." The Hoover administration did not implement fully the recommendations of the Forbes Commission, but United States withdrawal was well under way by 1932, when Hoover lost the presidency to Roosevelt, the presumed author of the most recent Haitian constitution. On a visit to Cap Haïtien in July 1934, Roosevelt reaffirmed an August 1933 disengagement agreement. The last contingent of marines departed in mid-August, after a formal transfer of authority to the Garde. As in other countries occupied by the United States in the early twentieth century, the local military was often the only cohesive and effective institution left in the wake of withdrawal. Source: U.S. Library of Congress "The haiti page really needs to be updated to deal with the post Aristide occupation by the U.N. and the current human rights abuses as well as the repression and murder of activist civilians and Aristide supporters by the death squads and Canadian trained police force. There is information all over the internet and some smaller newspapers and radio stations about this although the mainstream corporate controlled press is on lockdown on the subject; especially in the three imperial countries that backed and helped support the coup against Aristide (U.S., France, Canada) 205.250.145.30 == HSKI: Haitian Death Squads and Child Murders == My name is Michael Brewer, RN, an American who lives in Port au Prince, Haiti, where I have an organization and home for street kids and runaway restavek slave children. Being as intimately close to the problem of homeless children as I am, I feel I must let someone know about a very disturbing trend that has begun to surface again in Haiti. Carloads of men referred to as "ancient military," who are actually members of the now disbanded military, as well as members of the Haitian National Police, have began patrolling the streets of Port au Prince and are indiscriminately murdering street children for no reason other than sport. These men prowl the streets of the city in groups of 6 to 10 with high-powered military assault rifles, shotguns and 9mm pistols, wearing all-black uniforms with black ski masks over their heads to conceal their identities. They justify the murders of these boys by referring to them as "vagabonds" and say that they are "cleaning the streets". An example of the merciless slaughter of these children happened last Thursday on the 11th of November between 7:pm and 8:pm in the evening, in a well-known park located in the Petionville section of Port au Prince named Plais Bois. Many homeless boys of all ages sleep in this park at night due to lack of facilities and helping organizations available to them. We are one of the very few advocacy and residential organizations in Port au Prince that offer these boys help and refuge in times of great need. But due to critically deficient support, our capability to take more of them in on a permanent basis is very limited. Here is what happened: At approximately 7:pm in the evening, a carload of these ex-military members, whom the people wrongly refer to as "police," drove by the park and stopped where 20 to 30 children were sleeping. The ones that were not asleep alerted the others, and they all began to run. Three were caught by the men: one 7-year old by the name of Linxson, one 12-year-old and a 15-year-old. The boys were first beaten severely. Black bags were then put over their heads and tied around their necks, and then they were shot and killed. The bodies were placed in the trunk of the car and taken away from the scene. One week earlier, a nine-year-old named Emmanuel was running from a group of these men after he refused to come to them when they called him. They shot him in the leg with an assault rifle to stop him. Three of the men casually walked up to where the child was lying on the ground and crying. They ridiculed him, then shot him again with pistols and a shotgun, for a total of 4 more times. One of my children, a 14 year old boy named Makinzi, was murdered as he was walking down the side of the road about three weeks ago. His face was terribly scared from previous abuse suffered while sleeping on the streets before coming to our home. While sleeping, passer-bys poured flaming liquid of some sort over his face and shoulders, resulting in thick, dark scaring from third degree burns. His self-appointed executioners were heard to say that they thought he was wearing a mask, and assumed that he must be a thief. Summary executions of these children have become almost commonplace. The children are living in fear and their already difficult existence has become comparable to an unarmed soldier in a war zone. One inspection alone of the morgue at Haitis General Hospital, yielded 4 bodies of massacred street children; one 10 and one 13 year old riddled with bullets, laying along side two other young boys who had been decapitated. The incidents I have given as examples are just a very few of the daily murders of these children that are committed by these groups of men every day and night in every part of the city. There are "dump zones" where the decomposing bodies of little boys can be found any day of the week. I have found many. This is blatant genocide. The merciless atrocities committed on these defenseless, harmless and innocent street children go completely unnoticed, unreported, and uninvestigated. The United Nations forces do nothing and completely ignore this crisis. There is no "real" or effective police for them to turn to due to the children's inability to "pay" for the services or protection of the police. In many cases, the police are participants in the abuse rather than protectors. I also find it very ironic that the Brazilian military forces, now constituting the bulk of the UN presence in Haiti, are from the very country so well known for the murder and abuse of street children in their own country. Their inaction and lack of concern regarding these heinous acts is not difficult to understand when viewed in that context. An effective way must be found to put an end to this ongoing tragedy that has become an epidemic. This is no less than urban terrorism with the most vulnerable, the most innocent, and the most defenseless citizens as its targets and victims. The urgent and critical nature of this problem dictates that decisive action may be taken now if we are to prevent more children from being terrorized and slaughtered. The terror, insecurity and misery being placed upon these children, whose lives are already far more difficult and painful than any child should be forced to endure, is now at an unprecedented level. There is no one for them to turn to for protection or help except for people like me, and organizations such as mine, who are in reality powerless to do anything real to stop this. Our support is at a point now, where we have many days we are unable to feed them more than once, or even once per day, and our efforts to improve the support for the children renders very little results so far. Humanitarian assistance to Haiti should be expanded to allow non-profit organizations such as our, to directly apply for assistance and on-going support. The small NGOs that work on the ground, directly with the children, are the ones that suffer and have the most difficult time receiving funds and assistance to survive. It is a heartbreaking situation when a young boy comes to our gates in a panic, begging to be let in so that he may escape the dangers he is being forced to live with on the streets, and we are unable to let him in due to limited space and funding to care for him. If anyone is interested in offering assistance with our efforts to rescue and sustain these children, any and all donations would be gratefully appreciated. 100% of your donations will go toward the medical, educational, nutritional and personal needs of these children. Any type of food assistance would also be appreciated. As support for HSKI increases, more frightened and suffering kids will be able to escape the dangers and misery of the streets and be admitted into the home. All donations are tax deductible. Our U.S. mailing address for donation is: Haitian Street Kids, Inc. 5209 Rain Forest Drive McKinney, Texas USA 75070 Our non-profit EIN number is: Family Circle Inc. dba: Haitian Street Kids, Inc. (HSKI) No. 74-3116886 Haitian Non-Profit Authorization: STC-02671 Thank you for caring and we hope to hear from you soon. Respectfully, Michael W. Brewer, RN Haitian Street Kids, Inc. Supporting article: http://quicksitemaker.com/members/immunenation/Pacific_News_Service_Killings.html == Map == A controversy has erupted over the choice of map for this article. The two candidates are shown here, along with any others that other Wikipedians may choose to enter. Feel free to make any comments. The lower map may also appear in the corresponding Geography article for this country. User:Kelisi 03:26, 2 Apr 2005 (UTC) I prefer the lower kelisi version, --User:SqueakBox 03:31, Apr 2, 2005 (UTC) == Whoa!! This article needs some work. == I can't help but notice that this article contains nothing about the US governments role in 2004 rebellion. Like the part where the US military kidnapped Aristide User:TitaniumDreads 09:39, 13 Jun 2005 (UTC)
Haiti
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{| |- ! Template Preview ! What to type ! Also consider |- | || || |- | style="font-size: 80%;" colspan="3" | ''See more country templates on:'' Wikipedia:Country referencing templates |} Haiti
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