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Haiti
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The Republic of Haiti is a country
situated on the western third of the island of
Hispaniola and the smaller islands of La Gonâve,
La Tortue (Tortuga), Les Cayemites, and Ile a
Vache in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba; Haiti
shares Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic.
The total land area of Haiti 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 colony, 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. Haiti is currently in a
state of transition following a rebellion (see
2004 Haiti Rebellion) which deposed President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide on February 29, 2004; he
had been re-elected in 2000 in an election which
several opposition parties boycotted due to
disputes with the vote counting of the
parlimentary elections.
1804: Independence
Freed blacks and mulattos joined with slaves
under Pierre-Dominique Toussaint L'Ouverture
against Napoleonic France in 1801 to achieve the
Caribbean's first successful revolution for
independence. The largely black nation remained
isolated politically throughout the 19th
century, though penetrated economically by
international capitalism.
1915-1934: U.S. Occupation
Main article: United States occupation of Haiti
(1915-1934)
From July 28, 1915 until mid-August 1934, Haiti
was under the occupation of the U.S. Marine
Corps, effectively making Haiti a colony in all
but name. Efforts were made to improve Haiti's
infrastructure and education systems in
particular, but because of the imposed nature of
these reforms, with little regard for Haitian
customs or traditions, these generally were not
well-received nor especially effective.
The Rise of Duvalier
A medical doctor, François Duvalier was not
allowed to establish his own practice due to
racist customs in Haiti. 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
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.
2000-2004: Second Aristide Term and Ensuing
Crises
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 Organization of American States
(OAS) and the international community condemned
the results for the Senate elections as
fraudulent. 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
won this election by 90% of the popular vote,
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 which formerly called
itself the Cannibal Army and worked for
President Aristide transformed itself into 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.
On February 29, 2004, United States flew
Aristide out of the country. Aristide was forced
to sign a resignation of the Presidency and was
taken to the Central African Republic. The
circumstances surrounding this flight are a
matter of controversy. Many media sources
reported that Aristide had resigned and been
refused asylum by South Africa. On March 1,
2004, US Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA),
along with Randall Robinson, a family friend of
the Aristides, each reported that Aristide had
told them using a smuggled cellular telephone
that he had been forced to resign against his
will by United States diplomats and Marines, and
that he was abducted against his will, and
continued to be held hostage by an undisclosed
armed military guard. [6], [7] When asked
whether Aristide was guarded in the Central
African Republic by French officers, the French
Defense Minister answered that Aristide was
protected, not imprisoned, and that he would
leave when he could; and that France had many
officers present in the Central African Republic
following the recent events in that country, but
that they did not control Aristide's comings and
goings [8].
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Background:
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The
native Arawak Amerindians - who inhabited the island
of Hispaniola when it was discovered by Columbus in
1492 - were virtually annihilated by Spanish
settlers within 25 years. In the early 17th century,
the French established a presence on Hispaniola, and
in 1697, Spain ceded to the French the western third
of the island - Haiti. The French colony, based on
forestry and sugar-related industries, became one of
the wealthiest in the Caribbean, but only through
the heavy importation of African slaves and
considerable environmental degradation. In the late
18th century, Haiti's nearly half million slaves
revolted under Toussaint L'OUVERTURE and after a
prolonged struggle, became the first black republic
to declare its independence in 1804. Haiti has been
plagued by political violence for most of its
history since then, and it is now one of the poorest
countries in the Western Hemisphere. Over three
decades of dictatorship followed by military rule
ended in 1990 when Jean-Bertrand ARISTIDE was
elected president. Most of his term was usurped by a
military takeover, but he was able to return to
office in 1994 and oversee the installation of a
close associate to the presidency in 1996. ARISTIDE
won a second term as president in 2000, and took
office early in 2001. However, a political crisis
stemming from fraudulent legislative elections in
2000 has not yet been resolved. |
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Location:
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Caribbean, western one-third of the island of
Hispaniola, between the Caribbean Sea and the North
Atlantic Ocean, west of the Dominican Republic |
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Geographic coordinates:
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19 00
N, 72 25 W
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Map references:
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Central America and the Caribbean |
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Area:
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total: 27,750 sq km
land: 27,560 sq km
water: 190 sq km |
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Area - comparative:
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slightly smaller than Maryland |
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Climate:
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tropical; semiarid where mountains in east cut off
trade winds |
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Terrain:
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mostly rough and mountainous |
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Ethnic groups:
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black
95%, mulatto and white 5% |
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Religions:
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Roman
Catholic 80%, Protestant 16% (Baptist 10%,
Pentecostal 4%, Adventist 1%, other 1%), none 1%,
other 3% (1982)
note: roughly half of the population also
practices Voodoo |
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Languages:
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French (official), Creole (official) |
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