political context

With a tropical climate, a strikingly mountainous landscape and a rich culture comprising vibrant dance, music and voodoo, Haiti was tipped to follow in the footsteps of neighbouring Dominican Republic and become a popular tourist hot spot. However, since the 1980s, political instability, violence and environmental vulnerability have stopped tourism from ever becoming a much-needed source of income for impoverished Haitians. 

In 1804, Haiti became the second nation in the Western Hemisphere, after the US, to throw off the yoke of European colonialism with an uprising led by Jean-Jacques Dessalines, a former slave. Dessalines declared himself emperor and Haiti instantly became the first black republic in the world. Dessalines was assassinated just two years later and Haiti divided into a black-controlled north and a mulatto-ruled south.

In the 20th century, a voodoo physician called 'Papa Doc' Francoise Duvalier ruled the country as a dictatorship for 14 years from 1957. His rule was characterised by brutal repression through the use of the notorious Tontons Macoutes, a private militia. Thousands of Haitians were killed or fled the country, leading to the loss of the professional middle classes and the creation of a massive Haitian diaspora in the United States, Canada and France.

Jean-Claude Duvalier - known as Baby Doc - followed his father in 1971 until corruption and national economic ruin forced him to leave the country in 1986.

This troubled climate led to a polarisation of political movements on the left and right, and the radical church, trade unions and leftist parties were forced to become more organised. Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a left-wing priest, won a surprise victory in the 1990 elections. But he had been president for only seven months before he was ousted by a violent military coup in which 2,000 people died.
 
There followed three years of intense repression and economic hardship, including sanctions imposed by the Organisation of American States (OAS). Some 38,000 Haitians fled the country - often in small boats headed for the US - and the US government stepped in. After World Bank and IMF intervention on the economic front, the US sent in 20,000 troops in September 1994 and President Aristide returned to power.

The international community, led by the US, deemed that Aristide could not reclaim the three years spent in exile, leaving him with little more than a year to run in office. Unfortunately, Aristide was not able to turn Haiti's fortunes around and the country was dogged by concerns around electoral irregularities, ongoing extra-judicial killings, torture and brutality.

In 1995, UN peacekeepers were sent in to replace US troops and René Préval of Aristide's Lavalas party was elected president. Préval's brief, two-year term saw a worsening economic situation, political deadlock over economic reform and structural adjustment, disputed elections in 1997 and the cancellation of elections in 1998.

Haiti was without a prime minister from 1997 to 1999 and President Préval ruled by decree. In November 2000, presidential elections saw a landslide victory for Aristide, who was inaugurated in February 2001 with a parliament dominated by members of his Fanmi Lavalas party.

The year 2004 should have been a time for Haitians to celebrate their country's 200th anniversary as an independent country. Instead, celebrations in January and February were hijacked by a violent and bitter uprising against Aristide. Rebels seized the towns and cities and dozens were killed. Aristide was forced into exile - although he has since claimed that he was forced to leave by the US - and an interim government took over under Boniface Alexandre, chief justice at the Supreme Court.

In March, former foreign minister and UN official Gerard Latorture took over the reins of the interim government. But in May, the country was hit by devastating storms and floods, which left more than 2,000 dead or disappeared. June saw the arrival of the first round of new UN peacekeepers, tasked with taking over from the US-led force. In July, international donors pledged more than US$1 billion in aid but by September, the country had been hit once again by floods, killing a further 3,000 people.

As if the floods and deaths were not enough, the violence and instability continued throughout the remainder of 2004 and into 2005. In July 2005, Hurricane Dennis killed at least 45 people and Haiti seemed destined to never get back onto its feet.

Presidential and parliamentary elections were postponed but were eventually held in February 2006. International election observers deemed the elections free and fair and turnout was high, despite allegations of electoral irregularities. Former president and Aristide ex-ally René Préval was finally declared president on 16 February, with 51 per cent of the vote, gained after the authorities reached a last-minute deal to remove thousands of blank ballot papers from the count..

The bigger picture

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere and it has been in decline, economically, since the early 1980s. With little manufacturing and little or no tourism, the economy is based mainly on subsistence agriculture that occupies about 70 per cent of the economically active population. The vast majority of the population live in poverty, with insufficient money to pay for education, books, clothing and health care for their children. There are some 20,000 jobs in assembly factories around the capital, Port-au-Prince, producing mainly clothing, sports goods and electronic components. Wages in these plants, however, rarely exceed US$3.50 a day and conditions are poor. A small business elite profits from importing goods at prices that often undercut the local market with cheap American goods.

Haiti has become highly dependent on foreign aid, both multilateral and government-to-government, as well as support from a vast array of non-governmental organisations - mainly charities handing out food, clothing and medicine from US donors. Another key source of income is an estimated US$300 million a year in remittances from Haitians in the diaspora. This has created a debilitating culture of dependency.

Environmentally, Haiti is one of the most deforested countries in the western hemisphere, with only three per cent of the country's original forest cover remaining. This is due to a combination of the highest population density in the western hemisphere (there are some 680 people per sq kms of cultivated land), a topography with 60 per cent of all land having a gradient steeper than 20 per cent, a reliance on charcoal for fuel, and the cultivation of marginal and mountainous lands. Extensive soil erosion, exacerbated by heavy tropical rainfall, has meant that most of the fertile topsoil has been washed away. Environmental degradation has compounded subsistence farmers' problems, as crop yields decrease and they are forced onto marginal lands.