Prevalence of Poverty in Haiti
The issue of poverty is a topic countries are unable to tackle fully given the complexity of the problem based on its cause and the factors that ensure its continuous persistence. Many countries have areas where development is not fully realized and only certain parts of the country benefit from development or modernization. Some countries do not have resources or training necessary to instigate development and a few cannot escape poverty easily, because they have yet to repair their infrastructure and society after being subservient to another country. In the case of the Republic of Haiti, the prevalence of poverty is multi-faceted as experts cite both domestic and international factors. However, how did international factors trigger the onset of poverty in Haiti? The international community has triggered the prevalence of poverty in Haiti through its violation on preventing a country to practice its sovereignty through neocolonialism and political interference with the assistance of the Haitian elite and the failure of international assistance to flourish and assist the country due to their respective national interests in the island.
The island of Haiti is not a stranger to international interference as the country was originally inhabited by the Taino people, the native Indians who settled in the island in the early century. According to the CIA World Factbook, the Tainos were known for their sophisticated social structure as they had their own leadership status in comparison to their Amerindian counterparts. However, in 1492, the world-renowned explorer Christopher Columbus discovered the island and claimed the island for the Spanish Empire. The island was renamed ‘Hispanola’ and Philippe Girard stressed that Columbus and the Spanish conquistadores saw the riches they could gain in the island and immediately claimed the land with brute force. The Spaniards killed leading Taino caciques or tribe leaders in order to claim the land without contention. The remaining natives were forced into slavery and according to Steeve Coupeau, these native slaves were placed under the repartimiendo system wherein they were forced in strenuous working conditions with only meager salaries. Aside from Spain, France had also taken Haiti for its own benefit and according to Alyssa Goldstein Sepinwall stated that the French took advantage of the arable land of Haiti to produce sugar, indigo and coffee and with the high demand for labor, slaves were brought in from Africa from 1680 to the late 1780s.
Although the wealth enabled Haiti to prosper, Jeremy Popkin stated that the growth and treatment of slaves by their owners fostered discontent amongst the people and started to showcase their discontent towards their French owners. These slaves were able to make a break for freedom when the 1789 French Revolution and the 1790 execution of known free man and revolt leader Vincent Oge occurred, triggering the onset of the Haitian Revolution. The Haitian Revolution brought forward Haiti’s independence from foreign influence and establish itself as the oldest republics in existence. David Patrick Geggus and Normal Fiering added that Haiti’s independence was declared in 1804 after the Haitians fought against the French forces now under the leadership of Napoleon Bonaparte. Although it may seem to be an opportune moment for Haiti to reestablish itself as a nation without foreign influence, the country remained impoverished due to several critical factors that has international underpinnings. First and foremost, the new government of Haiti did not change the prevailing political system in the country as they have incorporated several aspects of the French Revolution’s Republic government. The reason why the government remained the same is because the revolutionary leaders were not familiar on how to run a government and used the system they believe still works to make up for this lapse.
Aside from this problem of decolonizing the country, the international community played a direct role in stopping prosperity to grow in Haiti by thwarting the state’s sovereignty. Sohail Hashmi stated that the idea of sovereignty was the idea of “supreme authority within a territory” and it is the government which holds control of this “authority.” External interference is not tolerated in this system as prescribed by the 1648 Peace of Westphalia. Since Haiti is an independent country, foreign countries are expected to respect their independence. However, C. Arthur stressed that the Europeans did not let this happen and declined recognizing Haiti as an independent state without Haiti agreeing to economic stipulations. According to Peu Ghosh, this economic stipulation forced to Haiti by the European countries is a sign of neocolonialism, ensuring these emerging countries remain dependent to their former rulers. France, for instance, demanded Haiti to pay 150 million francs in 1825 for damages and lost property the French lost in the Haitian Revolution. Melinda Miles and Mary Eugenia Charles stated that Haiti agreed to pay the request within five years and approved a 50% import tariff break for France. The debt ensured that Haiti has no choice but to loan money from European banks and allow these European powers access to Haiti for its natural resources.
Aside from neocolonialism, the international community has also asserted its political influence through the assistance of Haiti’s elite in order to influence Haiti’s growth. According to Peter Hallward, since the country was invaded by the US in 1915, every strong political attempt to allow Haiti to fight for change on its own – as President Jean-Bertrand Aristide once said – and bring the country “from absolute misery to a dignified poverty” has been thwarted by the US and its allies, specifically the Haitian elites. The Haitian elites, according to Hans Schmidt, aimed to remain in power and requested the assistance of foreign countries to assist in their efforts in remaining in power. In one example, Jerome Klassen stated that in February 29, 2004, the Haiti government was left in disarray after the US, Canada and France supported the armed insurgency against Jean-Bertrand Aristide, forcing him to go in exile. Foreign countries also used the willingness of the elite for their own advantage and used it as a means to put in the leaders they want in the Haitian government. According to J.P Slavin, in September 30, 1991, a group of military and business elites in the country had revolted against President Astride in the fear that they might not be able to control him. According to rumors, the US government had supported the coup to ensure they could control the government. The actions done by the US clearly violates Article 2 of the UN Charter, indicating that members must not interfere with the issues of other state, especially in domestic issues.
Finally, the international community has also forced Haiti into its knees and prevent prosperity through the failure of international assistance to persist and assist the country’s recovery under the UN. The most notable action the UN took in Haiti is the 2004 United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), which was enacted by the UN Security Council after the fighting between supporters of President Aristide and Amiot Metayer caused political instability. Experts have cited that even with MINUSTAH in the country, nothing has changed in the country’s political and economic recovery and in some instances, it has even delivered problems for the country. The most notable example to this failure is seen in the January 12, 2010 earthquake and the cholera outbreak that followed soon after. The 7.0 earthquake took the lives of 300,000 casualties and 1.5 million people were displaced. After 9 months since the earthquake, there were reports of eight cases of cholera in central Haiti and at least 650,000 Haitians became infected by cholera with 8,100 dying in the disease by April 2013. In the report of Rosalyn Chan and company, the UN refused to recognize the reports and did not immediately address the issue. It also did not recognize that it was the one responsible for the outbreak as the bacteria may have been brought by MINUSTAH members themselves and they did not provide treatment as the outbreak was discovered to be triggered by the deployment of MINUSTAH in the region. This failure of the UN to assist the Haitians for their recovery violates the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights which stresses that “everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and his family”. Adding to the problem fostered by the MINUSTAH is the failure of international aid to be transmitted in the country. Vijaya Ramachandran and Julie Walz stressed that the probable reason why the money is missing is due to the fact the Haitian government only received 1% of the relief while the rest are held by NGOs and private contractors as they are the intermediaries of these funds due to the incapacity of the Haitian government to handle these funds. John McCormick remarked that the number of NGOs in the country due to the past crises in the country, calling the country as a “republic of NGOs” even if it does not have government ability to assist the Haitians.
Every country deserves their independence from foreign influence as validates their right to rule and establish their own image. Countries must respect these rights and intervene only if the country itself requires aid and requests it personally through the proper channels. In the case of Haiti, it was clear that the international community had fostered more problems for the country with their interference even after it declared its independence. Stronger countries have thrown ever wrench possible to ensure Haiti cannot be freed from foreign influence, fostering poverty in such a way Haiti would have to depend on foreign aid. There is a necessity for the international community to reassess its current protocols and standards when it comes to their involvement in developing countries because if these countries are to develop and be freed from poverty, they must be allowed to act on its own accord as they know more about their needs than the international community.
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