Haiti 3v3f5o

HAITI IN CRISIS A Nation Crippled by Foreign Intervention

Background - Located in Caribbean, 1/3 of the island of Hispanola -

- 27,750 km2 land area(slightly smaller than Maryland -- Rough, mountainous terrain -

- Population : 9,719,932 (July 2011 estimate) -- Approx. 80% Roman Catholic (half of all Haitians practice some form of voodoo). -- French and Creole as official languages -

- Unemployment rate: 40.6% -- 80% living below the -

Early History 

French colony of St. Domingue established in 1697 Extremely profitable  Extensive producer of sugar, coffee, indigo 

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Largely the product of slaves imported from Africa

Haitian Revolution 1791-1804 Large-scale slave revolt led by Toussaint L’Overture and Jean-Jacques Dessalines  Began during the French Revolution 

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More than 50,000 French troops died from combat and disease

Troubled From the Start 

Upon gaining sovereignty, Haiti already dealt with severe debt, corrupt leadership, and no foreign “While the United States began its sovereign career with the highest percentage of college graduates of any country in the world, Haiti began its life with most people illiterate…”1  Indemnities to 

150,000,000 francs owed to  Forced to give French merchants a 50% decrease on all import/export duties 

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Recognition refused by most nations 

Not formally recognized by United States until 1862

 Fear of “Can the Haiti impact of recognizing nation of former slaves on80,the Sidney W. Mintz, Change?,” Foreign Affairsa74, no. 1 (January-February 1995): http://www.jstor.org/stable/20047020 (accessed November 27, 2011). American slave institution. 1

Turbulent Leadership 

President Jean-Pierre Boyer ousted in a coup in 1843  Served

for 25 years  “Presidency for life abolished”.  Succeeded by a series of corrupt, inefficient leaders 

Early 1900s  Haitian

coup against President Antoine Simon in

1910  Failure

to stabilize economy through foreign negotiations

 1911-1915,

six presidents ousted by violent coups

 Revolutionaries

careful not to attract international attention

First U.S. Intervention, 19151934 

United States, , and Great Britain enter Haiti to restore political order in 1914 

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Achieved fairly quickly, and GB withdraw

1915 presidential election  

Dr. Bobo, Haitian revolutionary vs. Senator Sudre Dartiguenave U.S. interferes with election process 

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Dartiguenave as a puppet leader 

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Marines stationed at polls, all voters required to have card signed by Dartiguenave

Sometimes consulted on issues, but had very little influence, if any at all

Haitian Congress opposed to American takeover of government  

1915 treaty allows the U.S. takeover of Haitian constabulary, finances, and public services President coerced to sign the treaty, Congress refuses 

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U.S. threatens to act with violence if not ed

U.S. rigged the Senate vote, treaty ed

U.S. Fails to Meet Goals in Haiti 

Public education suffers  Largely

ignored by U.S. appointed Financial Adviser  Approx. 36,000 children in school out of population of 2,500,000  Schoolteacher salary equivalent to $6/month  60%

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of the salary of a private gendamerie

U.S. businesses gain control of Haitian assets  Roger

L. Farnham, VP of National City Bank of New York, given control of the Banque Nationale d’Haïti, Haiti’s only banking institution  U.S. businesses given a monopoly over the Haitian

Human and Civil Rights Violations 

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Use of forced labor to build roads and other infrastructure Numerous cases of prison abuses and other human rights violations on behalf of U.S. Marines Opponents of U.S. occupation jailed without trial or due process of law   

Case of Haitian journalist Joseph Jolibois of Congress opposed to the intervention were driven out of office “Anglo-Saxon countries have been striving to guard against such arbitrary power since the days of the Magna Charta. It is humiliating to find Americans careless of individual liberty and of the right to a fair trial in a country which the United State has virtually conquered.”2 2 Paul

H. Douglas, “The American Occupation of Haiti II,” Political Science Quarterly (September 1927): 371, http://www.jstor.org/stable/2143127 (accessed November 13, 2011).

U.S. Withdrawal 

Franklin D. Roosevelt elected in 1933, condemns occupation of Haiti  Begins

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formal withdrawal of U.S. troops in 1934

U.S. facing internal and external pressures  Great

Depression  Focus on New Deal policies  Onset of World War II in Europe

Justifications for U.S. Intervention 

Monroe Doctrine 

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“A number of times, by reason of this situation, war has been almost precipitated between the Haitian government and the European nations. The action of the German government is fresh in the minds of our people, and the warships of Great Britain and are only too frequent in the harbors of Haiti, protecting their subjects, demanding redress for grievances and saving human life. This means, sooner or later, that the irresponsible government of the Republic of Haiti will commit the act which will involve us, under the first clause and original application of the Monroe Doctrine…”3

U.S. claimed goals to restore economic, social, and political stability

Occupation failed toMonroe adequately achieve any these William A. MacCorkle, “The Doctrine and Its Application to Haiti,”of Annals of the goals American Academy of Political and Social Science 54 (July 1914): 41-42, 

3

http://www.jstor.org/stable/1012569 (accessed November 19, 2011).

Post-Occupied Haiti 

Paved the way for the Duvalier dictatorship  François

Duvalier elected in 1957, ed by U.S.

 Succeeded

in 1971 by his son, Jean-Claude Duvalier

 Worked

to keep exiled professionals out of Haiti  Development plan starved Haitian peasants  Filled

cities with low-wage laborers

 Created

harsh society divided by race and class  Large-scale militarization  Military

was the only way for Haitians to succeed economically and socially

Haiti Today 

2nd U.S. occupation in 1994 to restore the power of President Jean Bertrand Aristide 20,000 U.S. troops sent to Haiti to put down the coup  Proper leader who challenged the traditional hierarchal structure of Haitian society  Demonstrated the power of violence in Haitian politics and society once again 

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Stagnant economy, political corruption and human rights abuses still rampant through the country Victim of numerous natural disasters and disease epidemics 2010 earthquake (7.0 on the moment magnitude scale) kills approx. 316,000 and leaves 1.6 million homeless  2010 cholera outbreak kills around 4,600 

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Over 250,000 cases reported

Aftermath of 2010 earthquake in Port-auPrince

Over 1 millions Haitians left homeless after 2010 earthquake