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mountains overlooking the town
of Cap Haitien, still stands to–
day. Within its walls were stored
ammunition and supplies for an
army of thousands to withstand
siege. Heavy cannon, captured
from the French, were hauled
up the precipitous mountainside
and set on the walls, prepared to
repel any invader.
But the guns of la Citadelle
never fired a shot in anger. The
world forgot about Haití. By
1804, the mines were nearly
worked out, and the fields, after
generations of exploitation, were
tired and unproductive. Since
other, more lucrative colonies
were available for the taking, the
European powers Jet Haití have
her independence. Who cared!
Knowing nothing but slavery,
the Haitian people were ill pre–
pared for the responsibilities of
nationhood. Only a handful were
educated . There were hardly any
who had any idea of how to
govern. After centuries of servi–
tude, the average Haitian wanted
nothing more than to be left
alone, to eke out a living on his
small patch of ground.
Successive governments were
more concerned with staying in
power than building a nation.
Disease, . ignorance, superstition
and poverty became the way of
life. After years of abuse even the
land gave up. Hunger and malnu–
trition added to the miseries of
the place that Columbus had once
described as "paradise."
For its first hundred years, the
Western hemisphere's second re–
public slept fitfully-cut off from
civilization and progress
Enter U.S. Marines
United States Marines, clutching
the Monroe Doctrine, invaded
Haití in 1915. America was about
to enter the First World War, and
Haití, guarding the eastern en–
trance to the newly opened Pana–
ma Canal, was considered too
strategic to be aHowed to fall
under foreign influence.
For 19 years the Marines built
roads, dug drains and organized
schools and hospitals. But they
never really carne to grips with
the little nation's chronic prob-
October
1
November 1980
lems. An American observer,
writing at the time, said: "Haiti 's
problem is not one that can be
dismissed with a word or cleared
up with the stroke of a pen.
lt
is
made up of all the accumulated
evils and abuses of more than a
hundred, fevered, retrograde
years, years cursed with tyranny
and bloodshed unimaginable,
years in which all the plagues
enumerated in the litany, of sedi–
tion, conspiracy, rebellion,
plague, pestilence, famine, battle,
murder and sudden death ravaged
the body politic until the tortured
tillers of the soil forsook their
fields and fled to the hills"
(Na–
t_ional Geographic,
August ,
1916).
When the Marines left in
1934, Haití drifted back to its
relentless decay. Even as recently
as 1
O
years ago, much of the
world still had a hands-off policy
toward Haití.
Hope Reborn
Today, a more enlightened gov–
ernment is trying to solve the
problems. Foreign investment is
now actively encouraged, and new
factories have created 130,000
desperately needed jobs. Labor is
cheap (the mínimum wage was
raised recently-to $2.20 a day),
and the Haitians have a reputa–
tion for being hard workers.
Tourism is increasing, and im–
ported cars clog the streets of
Port au Prince, the capital. There
is even a stereo FM and a color
television station. But such trap–
pings are for the rich minority.
The average H aitian is still a
dirt-poor peasant, living in a mud
hut, scratching a precarious living
from a sad, worn out little plot of
Jand.
Sorne reports would have us
believe that all Haitians are just
waiting for the chance to leave on
a boat for Miami , Florida. That is
not true.
Walk through the streets of
Port au Prince for a few bours
or drive out into the countryside.
You will meet a warm, friendly,
resilient and proud people, who
!ove their country and who want
to make the best of it.
They have become a remark-
able race, plodding on in hope,
waiting for the day when things
will get better.
And they may have to wait for
the World Tomorrow. Even tben,
it won't be easy. The Haitians
will need help in rebuilding their
nation from the ground up. Yes,
literally, the ground up. Let me
show you what
1
mean.
The 120-mi le journey from
Port au Prince to Cap Haitien
used to take 12 or 14 hours.
Today, a good road, built with
help from France, has reduced
the journey to four. But now the
traveler, driving in comfort
through the majestic mountain
scenery might not notice the evi–
dence of one of the greatest
problems that H aití has to
face.
Stop the car. Walk over to the
side of the road and look down
the precipitous hillside. Far be–
low, a cluster of huts cling to the
terraces. Small fields, planted
with corn extend down farther
into the valley and then up the
mountain on the other side.
lt
is a
tranquil setting-makes a great
photograph. But you are looking
at a disaster.
Haití is losing its most basic
and vital resource-the soil. The
nation is short of good farm land.
As the population has g rown (at
six millión, now the most densely
populated nation in the hemi–
sphere), so has the need for land
to grow food . The peasants have
been pushed farther and farther
into the mountains. Trees have
been felled, in the relentless quest
for firewood and charcoai- Hai–
ti's chief source of energy. Re–
member that for millions on earth
today, the energy crisis means
simply not enough firewood to
cook with.
As the hillsides have been
stripped of their trees, the rains
have washed the precious top soi l
into the rivers and out to sea. As
one writer put it, "The mountains
of Haití show their kneebones."
Nobody knows for sure the full
extent of the damage, but count–
less acres of precious land have
been deforested and eroded.
Jt
will take decades of careful hus–
bandry to repair the damage. In-
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