How to Fix Haiti - Solutions

*The population of Haiti is about 9m (90-95% african descent and 5-10% mulatto and white). Haitians are descendants of Tainos who cohabitated with the African slaves. Haiti is an Afro-Latin nation with strong African culture, language, music and religion. Taino and Arab customs are also present.

*Haiti is situated on the major fault line between the North American and Caribbean tectonic plates. It is also on the hurricane track. In 2008 storms killed 800 people, and ­devastated more than 70% of Haiti's little agricultural land.

*Haiti has had slavery, revolution, debt, deforestation, corruption, exploitation, violence, poverty, illiteracy, overcrowding, no infrastructure, environmental disaster and large areas without the rule of law. In the 50's, the population was a manageable 3m. It has triple since + 1m in DR.

*In the 18th century, under French rule, Haiti was the Pearl of the Antilles, one of the richest islands in France's empire. Haiti exported 60% of all the coffee and 40% of all the sugar consumed in Europe. It subsequently became the first independent nation in Latin America, and remains the world's oldest black republic.

*Conditions for the slaves were atrocious; the average life expectancy for a slave was 21 years. Abuse was dreadful: "Have they not hung up men with heads downward, drowned them in sacks, crucified them on planks, buried them alive, crushed them in mortars?" wrote one former slave. "Have they not forced them to eat excrement? Have they not thrown them into boiling cauldrons of cane syrup? Have they not put men and women inside barrels studded with spikes and rolled them down mountainsides into the abyss, there would not have been a revolution."

*Haiti's revolution may have brought it independence but it also destroyed the infrastructure and most of its plantations. In exchange for diplomatic recognition, the new republic was forced to pay enormous reparations:150m in gold. Haiti payed France from 1825 until 1947. It took out huge loans from American, German and French banks, at exorbitant rates of interest. By 1900, Haiti was spending about 80% of its national budget on loan repayments. It completely wrecked the economy. Plus, a succession of leaders had given up on trying to resolve Haiti's problems, and started looting it.

*Haiti freed the slaves of the DR and occupied them for more than 20 years. Haiti assisted with the independence of the US, Venezuela, Colombia and the DR. Haiti assisted the US gain the Louisiana territory and 14 other states plus 2 canadian provinces. The closing decades, though, of the 19th century did at least mark a period of relative stability. Haitian culture flourished, an intelligentsia emerged, the sugar and rum industries started to grow once more. But in 1911 came another revolution, followed by 20 years of occu­pation by the US. For 200 years, rich countries and their banks sucked the wealth out of Haiti, and its own despotic and corrupt leaders did their best to facilitate the process, lining their own pockets.

In 1957, came François ­"Papa Doc" Duvalier. His regime is widely seen as one of the most corrupt and ­repressive in modern history. During the 28 years in power of Papa Doc and his playboy son, Jean-Claude, the Tonton Macoutes and their henchmen killed 60,000 Haitians, raped, beat, tortured countless more. During that time educated people left Haiti and a brain drained began. Under US influence, Baby Doc eliminated import tariffs for US goods. Soon, American firms started dumping cheap agricultural imports on Haiti. Domestic rice farmers went bankrupt. A nation that had been agriculturally self-sustaining collapsed. Farms were abandoned. Hundreds of thousands of farmers migrated to the slums of Port-au-Prince or went to cut to sugar cane in the DR. The Duvaliers made themselves very rich. Aid agencies and ­international creditors donated and lent millions for projects that were often abandoned before completion, or never even started. Multi­national corporations earned lucrative contracts. The Duvaliers were at times embezzling up to 80% of Haiti's international aid. And when Baby Doc ­finally fled in 1986, estimates of what he took with him run as high as $900m.

The Duvaliers' departure, left a void, and a broken and corrupt government. Democracy got off to a bad start. The Duvaliers may have bankrupted the government, they may have been brutal, but they could keep control of the place. Since, (24 years ago), Haiti has seen more coups, ousters and social unrest. The country is short on investment, short on infrastructure and apparatus of a functioning modern state. And, it is that lack of infrastructure that magnified the death toll to 300,000 on the January 12 earthquake. With a better infrastructure it could have been 30,000.

The preceding list the problems of Haiti. What I am looking for are concrete SOLUTIONS to fix Haiti. Please post your solutions respectfully.

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[stevenabb]

Pop off a Hydrogen Bomb that will not damage the infrastructure but will wipe out the STUPID HAITIANS... repopulate the country once those stupid ignorant greedy savages are gone. The Haitians are so lazy, they don't even help to clear rubble when volunteers from America come to help out. They just sit around the tents watching or wanting to get paid. The Haitian government charges a 40% tax on relief supplies. The Haitians attacked the relief workers and told reporters to go... Nuke Im...

[GmanZouk]

@stevenabb I do agree with you to a certain extent. The homeless people under the tent (some 1.5 million) are not helping clearing the rubbles. They just wait for their 3 square meals per day. Haitians have never been lazy. What they lack is motivation and direction. Even if the government is not going to pay them to remove the rubbles. They could have organized and remove whatever they can by hand. I was told that they were rubble removing equipment being held in customs...

[GmanZouk]

@stevenabb I am not sure what the delay is all about. If it is red tape or corruption (bribery)...or if is the fault of the NGO's or lack of coordination with the so-called Haitian United Nations government. But when you have an emergency situation, you have to get your ass moving to get the country moving forward. With 80% of the population unemployed, after one year, all of the rubbles should have at least been removed. Did Haiti received all necessary rubble removal equipment? Who knows?

[GmanZouk]

@stevenabb As far as 40% tax on relief supplies if that is true, that is pure corruption. Remember Haiti is under occupation...Who gets that money? I guess, if you do not grease the right palms...

[gilgabe66]

@THEHAITIAN1804 Of course that's what they have been telling & obviously you believe it. When you have money & become rich then we will talk, better go to Haiti then let me know if it is in fact the Elite that is worse or the fact that Haiti has been governed by a BUNCH OF IGNORANT NEGROES. Go do the reseach & you will find out that ever since the beginning of Haiti most of its leaders have been LITERALLY IGNORANT NEGROES who really think running a country is as easy as riding a DONKEY!

[THEHAITIAN1804]

Only some Haitians are mixed with Taino, the majority are African genes. By the times the slaves arrived to Haiti, Colombus and the Europeans killed off most of the Taino population. The few Taino that were left hid in the mountains and were eventually found by escaped Haitian slaves "Neg mawon" and they intermixed.

[THEHAITIAN1804]

@gilgabe66 The elite are even worst.

[THEHAITIAN1804]

We have been here for centuries and will continue to be here for centuries to come. Ayisyen pou lavi.

[S0ldier0fJah]

@stevenabb lmao

[Praxis2008]

@shoryuken202 much of what you're recommending would require a great deal of borrowing from other countries (Haiti just couldn't support the burden with taxes alone). Once upon a time in 1915 the U.S. invaded and occupied Haiti to "protect its corporate interests;" the most important of which was insuring the repayment of loans the country took from American banks. Do you really want to travel that route again? Read the essay War is a Racket by the General that served in Haiti at that time.

[Praxis2008]

Stats show that it takes about 200 days to open a small business in Haiti - contrast to 70 days avg Latin Amer. It also costs 2X the average wage (act. per capita) of about $1200 to do so - also far far higher than avg. for Latin Amer. Mind you, small businesses always produce the most job growth. Eliminate all barriers to starting small businesses and watch people FIND WORK. No culture, no race, no people on this earth could do better than Haiti with such oppressive government restrictions.

[gilgabe66]

@GmanZouk This is what you get when you have the LOW CLASS HAITIANS in power. They are only there to make money. Most of them in the Haitian Parliament don't even have a high school diploma. They loathe the elite, better envy & jealous of the elite but they make the mass believe that the problems of Haiti lies solely in the hands of the small elite & of course the US while they are emptying the Haitian coffer. They are as corrupted as hell. No educated Haitian can get close to politics in Haiti.

[nadoop]

@UniversalOneLove1 If PR and Dominicans are mixed with Tainos, then why can't Haitians? Skin color has very little to do with admixture, for one, especially since several generations have passed.

[nadoop]

@GmanZouk And once they remove the rubbles, where will they put it? How about the do-gooders leave the country, the UN occupiers leave the country, the profiteering NGOs who thrive off of poverty and disaster leave the country, the US stop meddling in Haitian affairs, and let sovereignty and autonomy take its course?