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Unstable Haiti: the poorest country in the Americas
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Feb 13, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Haiti, where protesters are
demanding the resignation of President Jovenel Moise, is the poorest country
in the Americas, crippled by long-term political instability and highly
exposed to natural disasters.
Here are some key facts about the troubled nation which shares the
Caribbean island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic.
– Poverty, inequality –
With three-fifths of the population of nearly 11 million people living
below the national poverty line of $2 a day, Haiti is the poorest country of
the Americas and among the poorest in the world.
It is also one of the least developed nations on the planet, ranking 168
out of 189 on the UNDP’s Human Development Index (2018) which compares
longevity, education and income per capita.
Around 20 percent of the population controls more than 60 percent of the
country’s wealth.
Purchasing power has been weakened by two-digit inflation and a strong
depreciation of the currency, the gourde, has pushed up prices of staple
items, which are mostly imported.
The economy grew at around 1.2 percent in 2017. Remittances from the
country’s growing diaspora represent nearly a third of gross domestic
product, based on World Bank data.
Due to a lack of protection for investments, corruption and administrative
red tape, Forbes magazine in 2018 ranked Haiti as one of the worst countries
in which to do business.
Each year thousands of young people flee as illegal migrants, including to
the nearby Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos islands.
– Chronic instability –
Under Spanish domination until 1697, and then under the French, Haiti
became the world’s first independent black-led republic in 1804 after a
revolt by slaves.
It suffered a succession of brutal dictatorships which continued almost to
the end of the 20th century, interrupted only by brief stints of democracy
and foreign occupation.
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From 1957 until 1986 Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier and his son Jean Claude
“Baby Doc” ruled with their ruthless Tontons Macoutes militia.
Driven out by a popular revolt in 1986, “Baby Doc” went into exile in
France for 25 years, returning in 2011 and dying three years later.
In 1990 former Roman Catholic priest Jean-Bertrand Aristide was elected in
Haiti’s first free elections. But he was overthrown in a coup, reinstated,
ousted a second time and finally sent into exile under pressure from the
United States, France and Canada.
Rene Preval came to power in elections in 2006, followed by Michel
Martelly, a former carnival singer, in 2011.
Current president Moise, a one-time banana exporter, took office in
February 2017, having won elections with 55 percent of the votes but with a
turnout of just 21 percent.
– Quakes and hurricanes –
Haiti is vulnerable to natural disasters, to which most of its inhabitants
are exposed.
On January 12, 2010 a magnitude-seven quake devastated the capital Port-
au-Prince and the surrounding region, killing more than 200,000 people and
leaving 1.5 million homeless while shattering much of Haiti’s frail
infrastructure.
Billions of dollars of international aid were promised, but much of it
failed to materialize. Political instability also hampered recovery.
In 2018 a scandal broke out over allegations that staff members from
British charity Oxfam hired prostitutes in Haiti following the earthquake.
More than 10,000 Haitians died in a deadly cholera epidemic introduced by
infected Nepalese UN peacekeepers sent in after the disaster.
In October 2016 Haiti was ravaged by Hurricane Matthew, the strongest in a
decade, in which more than 500 people were killed. It caused $2 billion in
damage.
Haiti’s debt has tripled in the past decade to exceed $3 billion,
preventing investment in measures to reduce climatic risks.
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