Haiti's History
Christopher
Columbus stopped in Haiti before he reached the shores
of North America, and he described it as heaven. The
island, shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic, was
coveted by Britain, France, and Spain for its location,
rich soil, and lush climate.
As a French colony in
the 1700s, Haiti produced riches of cocoa, cotton, sugar
cane, and coffee... with the labor of slaves imported from
Africa. After years of suffering, the slaves rose up in
rebellion and in 1804 declared independence from France
and established the first Black republic in the western
hemisphere.
During the nineteenth
century Haiti developed into two worlds, one a tiny minority
of mulatto (light skinned blacks who are the product of
intermarriage), the other the majority of the population,
the former slaves. The elite mostly lived in the towns,
especially in the capital, Port-au-Prince, and controlled
the government, commerce, and military. The majority of
Haitians lived in the countryside, farming small plots
of land. The race and class tension that exist today have
their roots in Haiti's colonial past and in its early development
as a republic.
Haiti's
struggles for independence and democracy continued in
the twentieth century. For example, for almost twenty
years (1915-1934) the country was occupied by the United
States Marines, who had complete control of the country
and its finances. From 1957 until 1986 François Duvalier or "Papa Doc" and
Jean Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier, ruled the country
mostly through terror.
Haiti under the Duvaliers
was marked by extremes of poverty and wealth, as it still
is today. While eighty percent of the rural population
lived below absolute poverty level and over seventy percent
of pre-school children suffered from malnutrition, the
government officials and business owners lived in luxurious
hillsides villas with fountains and swimming pools.
In the early 1980s, Haiti
became known as the poorest country in the western hemisphere.
The ever deepening impoverishment of the Haitian masses
led to further discontent and several notable uprisings.
The United States feared losing control of the situation
and stepped in, facilitating the departure of Jean Claude
Duvalier to France in 1986.
The
period that followed the end of the Duvalier dictatorship
was marked with bloodshed and coups d'état, but
at the same time it was an intense time for grassroots
organizing. It was this organizing of peasants, trade
unions, church groups, human rights groups, women and
youth that brought the victory of Jean Bertrand Aristide
in the 1990 presidential election.
Some
of the directions of the Aristide government, making
advances in public health and education frightened many
of the traditional elite, the military and the U.S. supporters.
This fear led to the September 30, 1991 coup d'état that ousted President
Aristide. What followed was three years of brutal military
dictatorship in which popular leaders were persecuted and
over 4,000 people were killed. On October 15, 1994 President
Aristide returned to Haiti. However, with his term ending
in 1996, Aristide stepped down and René Préval,
Aristide’s former prime minister, was elected president
and sworn in on February 7, 1996. Since then, parliamentary
elections have been fraudulent and unreliable. In November
2000 Aristide was reelected as president.
Despite
Aristide’s
return, the situation in Haiti remains far from stable.
Political violence and attacks on free speech remain high.
The rate of inflation continues to rise, creating a very
difficult situation for a country that imports most of
its necessity products. In 1998, Hurricane Georges heightened
the economic devastation. The vast majority (80%) of Haiti’s
population continues to live in abject poverty.
AFSC's work in Haiti
began in 1989. An all-Haitian staff works with local grassroots
groups to improve their standards of living and to strengthen
participatory democracy. Most Haitians are struggling just
to survive, in a country where this requires solidarity
and courage. Haitians are a resilient and determined people.
Today they are renewing trust in each other, and together
are rebuilding their dreams and their country. It is a
privilege for the AFSC to be part of this inspiring work
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