This is something I wrote in 2012. I think it is worth a read given the latest development that President Trump has labeled the nation of Haiti a shithole.
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HAITI AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF GLOBALIZATION
Haiti is a small Caribbean nation that along with its neighbor the Dominican Republic makes up the island of Hispaniola. This is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and had seen more than its share of tragedy before an earthquake struck in January of 2010 killing 230,000 people and leaving millions homeless. ( 1: Pg 3) The tragic history of Haiti is one that intersects with the development of global governance through the centuries. The Sociology of Globalization by Luke Martell serves as a primer of globalization; in this essay I will introduce an overview history of Haiti and connect them to concept of globalization discussed in his book. Globalization is a sociological schema that, through some competing and some compatible perspectives, describes the world as growing increasingly interdependent and universal. Drivers of globalization are chiefly economic, political, social and cultural; globalization can be used to explain or advance both neoliberal agendas and social justice movements. It is not necessary to make positive or negative qualifications to approach discussions on globalization, and Martell and others use the perspectives of skeptics, transformationalists and globalists as devices for constructions understanding of the schema.
For the purposes of this paper I will largely take a transformationalist perspective, accepting that the world is becoming more globalized. I am additionally concerned with social justice and seeing how, from a conflict perspective, Haiti is an example of the negative potential that trends in globalization can cause. One temporal categorization suggested by Martell for understanding globalizations history is divisions of: Early Modernity, Modern Globalization, and 20th and 21st Century Globalization. (2, Chapter 2) I will use these categories for discussing Haiti’s history and the basic developments of globalization as a defining world trend.
EARLY MODERNITY
From Spanish to French Colonization
When Columbus landed in Haiti 1492 he left a small band of Spaniards which stayed behind with the native Taino population. Within a century the Taino’s, estimated to have been a population in the hundreds of thousands, were wiped out through causes such as slavery and smallpox. (3, pg 123) Spain claimed the entire island of Hispaniola as territory, but failed to settle all of it, leading to further colonization by French and English citizens by the 17th Century. (4) In 1625 Spain signed a treaty with France, leaving the land that would become Haiti under French rule as Saint-Domingue. (4)
Under French rule, Haiti’s population grew to 30,000 whites, 27,000 creoles, and 465,000 slaves of African descent. (4). The land and people were exploited to produce products such as sugar, coffee, cocoa and cotton for French consumption. Racial disparity was an obvious feature, but there were classes of freed black Haitian, some codified in the Code Noir laws of 1685. (5, pg 61) For instance it was commonplace for French colonizers to marry slaves, who could then have rights like land ownership. (5, pg: 66) As a colony Haiti also served purpose as a practice in what would be called ‘nation building’ today; Le Cap was one city that was methodically developed on a grid plan with all the possible features of a modern city and called the ‘Paris of our island’. (5, pgs:22,23) The Western Hemisphere was a world of colonies connected by the economy of slavery and trans-Atlantic seafaring traffic, Haiti a crucial piece to this interconnected world.
With the intent of focusing more on the modern era of globalization, I have given this period of Early Modernity a short treatment. However the horrors of slavery and this time cannot be understated. Sufficiently established however, is that Haiti was becoming settled as a crucial part of the region, with peoples of the Americas, Africa and Europe interacting over centuries. It is worth note that the very technology that the technology that made colonization through long distance sea travel was the compass, invented and exported from the Islamic world. Haiti serves well as an example of early modernity, as by the 18th century it existed in the intersection of networks of economy, politics and culture. It’s racially diverse makeup and economy would throw the nation into abolitionist and freedom movements taking hold in other parts of the world.
Revolt, Struggle and Freedom
Slave revolts led by Touissant Louverture in the late 18th Century jeopardized colonial rule. The bloody revolts grew out of political organizations of plantation workers, and occurred at a time when Napoleons France was at war with Britain; the Spanish and English looked to make allies amongst the freed slaves against the French, and potentially gain control of Haiti. (5, pg 152) Political and military power in Haiti at that time was fractured, and the freed Haitians made and broke alliances, at turns fighting off British, Spanish and French would be colonizers. (5, pgs 153,-67) To salvage the colony France made declarations to bring soldiers back to its side, if Haitians would join them in their fight, their freedom would be granted. Napoleons French generals succeeded in gaining favor, and their promise of emancipation was a honest one; the French National Convention in Paris looked to their colony as example and abolished slavery throughout the Empire in 1794. (5, pg 170) Haiti was not just the setting of proxy battles on the world stage, it was an example of the resilience and determination of people to free themselves from tyranny and bondage.
Toussaint Louverture became the civil and military leader of the freed slaves under reestablished French colonial rule. He was a brilliant orator, of West African royal lineage, with a European education and Catholic beliefs. “He had been in his life both master and slave.” (5, pg 176) The negotiation of power between France and Haiti was tenuous, and Louverture had both allies and enemies (5 chap 9,10 Furthermore British and Spanish interests sowed dissent and attempted to make military and economic gains in the colony which Louverture put down (5 chap 10,11) While he was an able ruler and began to establish stability in Haiti, it was clear Louvertures alliances were with his countrymen over France.
With French control dissolving, Louverture was invited to a meeting ostensibly to discuss terms of a truce, instead he was kidnapped and taken to France where he would die.(6, Farmer, pg 12) But in 1803 Haiti defeated France militarily and declared its independence. (6, Farmer, pg 13). “It was Latin America’s first independent country and the only nation ever born of a slave revolt.” (6, Farmer, pg 13) The words and leadership of Toussaint Louverture have been remembered and echoed through history, inspiring other freedom fighters. On his death bed he is said to have spoken:
“In overthrowing me you have cut down in Santo Domingo only the truck of the tree of black liberty. It will spring up again by the roots for they are numerous and deep.” (6, Farmer, pg 13)
Jean- Jacques Dessalines became Haiti’s first president. His declaration of independence included the statement ”Vow before me to live free and independent, and to prefer death to anything that will try to place you back in chains.” (3, pg 126)
Haiti’s battles to free its nation, against Napoleon’s empire and other would be masters represented not just its own peoples struggle for freedom, but illustrated the weaknesses of expanding power. The French themselves relied on a network of coalition forces in their own struggle to regain the territory; mercenaries from Germany, Poland, Switzerland, and Denmark joined them. (3, pg 125) Just as the world was shifting into the period referred to in Martell’s text as Modern Globalization, the world was expanding with empires asserting their strength and others fighting for self determination over their future. As the period of Early Globalization was closing, continents and cultures were connected like never before, with networks of interdependency that involved economy, politics and culture.
MODERN GLOBALIZATION
An Independent Haiti and its relations with the world empires and the United States
U.S. foreign policy towards Haiti could be foreshadowed in the statement of Senator Robert Hayne from 1826, “Our policy toward Hayti, is plain. We can never acknowledge her independence… these questions belong to class, which the peace and safety of a large portion of our Union forbids us to discuss.” (3 141; 7, pg 427) That which was forbidden to discuss was the ability of those of African descent to self govern, that this type of human could be anything more than property. A free black republic threatened the institution of slavery in the United States, the lower classed status of black personhood and foundations of security and economics in America at the time. Despite an opportunity for alliance in the hemisphere and access to Haitian export, the U.S. allied with Europe in animosity towards Haiti.
Throughout the 18th and 19th Century the U.S. grew in power and influence, owing much to isolationist and protectionist domestic resource policy, the exploitation of abundant virgin resources, and the hard to monetize benefit of human slave and exploited labor. Interactions with Haiti reflected the U.S. history of slavery and exploitation of an entire categorization of humanity; to recognize a small nation on a small island challenged the American narrative. Haiti itself, whether as a colony or independent historically, relied on exporting for economic viability, coffee and sugar being two examples of major crops. (4) As an independent nation it was punished by other empires in the global community by restricting access to trade. In 2010, former head of the Organization of American States mission in Haiti, Ricardo Steinffus summed up succinctly the ill treatment Haiti had experienced:
“Haiti’s original sin, in international theatre, was its liberation. Haitians committed the unacceptable in 1804” (1, pg 368)
The U.S., Canada and other European powers all play a role in the plight of Haiti; through economic intervention or suppression, forced isolation and military interventions, Haiti has endured Centuries of suffering. For 175 years Haiti repaid fines to France for its independence along with trade sanctions only agreed upon to have access to world trade markets. The 150 million francs paid to France is estimated to be valued at 500 million of today’s U.S. dollars. (6, Famer, pg 13).
In the late 19th Century leading up to the first World War, the U.S. was developing campaigns of strategic interest and colonization, Cuba and Puerto Rico being occupied in 1898. ( 1, pg 211). Ostensibly to prevent Germans from annexing Haiti themselves, the U.S. Navy began an occupation of Haiti in 1914(1, pg 211), that would last until 1934 (6, Farmer, pg 13) A destabilized political sphere filled with coups and vacuums of power, economic debts, and the executions of political prisoners were other factors which had contributed to justifying intervention and occupation in the nation. (1, pgs 204-211)
In many ways the 20th Century occupation of Haiti fit the pattern of neo-liberal intervention we see in globalization today. Puppet politicians like Philippe Sudre Dartiguenave was supported and ushered into the presidency (1, pg 217), the U.S. took control of the treasury (1, pg 218) solidified military bases and set about to build infrastructure to facilitate U.S. interest. (1, pg 224 Although peasant resistance took place a form of pseudo slavery was implemented under Haitian corvee law, where paid labor could be conscripted for necessary projects. (1, pg 240) Justified through legal frameworks, the American occupation of Haiti was nonetheless brutal with murder, rape, bombings and other horrors common to war as characteristic. (1, pg 235-238). A lasting feature of the American occupation was the creation of the Gendarmerie, foot soldiers trained and commanded by Americans who would inflict brutality, serving as police and mercenaries that were characterized as being cannibals, capable of atrocities (1, pg 232). When America handed power back to Haiti in 1934, it handed it to the Gendarmerie, who had been renamed the Garde d’Haiti. The power wielded by this armed military force would affect politics of Haiti for the ensuing decades, and Paul Farmer notes, “Until it was demobilized by President Aristide in 1995, the Haitian army has never known a non-Haitian enemy.” (6, Farmer, pg 15).
The US occupation of Haiti had characteristics of later American campaigns, in Vietnam and Iraq for instance: humanitarian goals were sighted as justification for inserting troops and resources and humans were exploited, all amidst rampant human right violations; characteristics that fit the bill of 20th Century American neo-liberal campaigns of occupation. Haiti held geo-political interest to the Unites States, similarly to nearby Cuba. U.S. exploitation of Haitian products and labor, and the instillation of military bases point to the real interest there.
The posture of the U.S. and the rest of the world towards Haiti in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries are consistent with ideas about Modern Globalization. Neo-liberal ideas were developed and pushed by agents of capitalism, expansionism and imperialism like the United States. Industrialism has made world travel and manufacturing easier connecting the empires of the world through trade. The global community was dominated by powerful nation-states, with increasing privatization of economies and wealth. As a small nation with strategic locale and resources, the treatment of Haiti on the world stage is not surprising.
GLOBALIZATION IN THE 20th AND 21st CENTURIES
Duvalier Years
The decades that followed the U.S. occupation of Haiti were marked with militarism, coups and the long reign of the Duvalier family dictatorship. The presidencies of Francois "PAPA DOC" and Jean-Claude "BABY DOC" Duvalier were bookended by unstable despotic coup instilled regimes. Their own reign was almost 30 years between the father and son, from 1957-1986. (8). Paul Farmer speaks of the political conditions during this period as having
"No free press- and no dissent, to be sure no radios or newspapers; no politicians declaring themselves the heads of parallel governments. The Duvalier’s and their military dealt with all such threats ruthlessly , while the judiciary and the rest of the world looked the other way." (6, Farmer, pg 15)
With their secret police, the paramilitary group the Tontons Macoute and the Haitian Army, the Duvalier’s were brutal and killed an estimated 30,000 Haitians. (9) This period was marked also by the flight of intellectuals and those with the resources to leave, creating a Haitian diaspora. “Papa Doc” ruled until his death, “Baby Doc” was in power until forced to flee in 1986 after a period of losing his grip on power due to the rise of compassionate Catholicism and liberation theology (6, Farmer, pg 15)
The growing opposition to “Baby Doc” Duvalier in the late 80s also owes somewhat to the Haitian diaspora and a change of policy from the U.S. While the major media outlets might have been silent on the brutality of the regime, expatriated Haitians often spoke out against the Duvalier’s; bold activists within Haiti acted out, and Catholic movements of liberation theology bolstered in ‘Vatican II’ programs began to pressures the brutal dictatorship. (1, pgs354-356) “Baby Doc” Duvalier fled Haiti in 1986 leaving a vacuum of power, in a nation that had been stripped of resources, political structure, wealth and institutional stability over the last several decades. (6, Farmer, pg 15 ) The period that followed was just as brutal, with inconsistent leadership and civil war type conditions with Haiti becoming a routing point for cocaine to the United States (10). Military thugs controlled the politics in Haiti and terrorized the people leading up to the 1990 elections. (farmer Haiti 16)
There is much that could be said about this period in Haiti and how it relates to globalist neo-liberalism of the time. Despite their brutality the Duvalier’s were tolerated by the US and the world (with some exception) where later Aristide was not because their rule was compatible to neo-liberal interests. The equivalent of 2 billion of today’s US dollars was given to Haiti in aid (80% from the US) between 1972 and 1981 (1, pg 351) when the Duvalier agenda was compatible with Western powers. International press played up the vodou aspects of Haitian culture and portrayed them as primitive and susceptible to “demagogic political appeal" and portray Papa Doc as a strange but benign ruler.(1. pg 344) and a 1960's state Department report found that Papa Doc was a "fitting" president for Haiti. (1, pg 345) So media and politic outside of Haiti in the early days of Duvalier rule served to add legitimacy and contextualize a brutal regime. International media, and powerful political entities have the power to externally support brutal regimes like that of the Duvalier’s through their silence, cooperation with and support of such regimes.
Aristides term and the coup
In 1990 democratic elections were a dangerous endeavor in Haiti, progressive church leaders like Jean-Bertrand Aristide were suppressed by the holdover military and paramilitary forces. On September 11, 1988 for instance a church where Aristide had been preaching was attacked by assassins, killing at least 12 (1, Pg 132). As a hero of the slums, Aristide's candidacy brought a surge of voters to the polls; international observers were on hand when he won 67% of the nations vote in 1990. (1, pg 133) As President his alliances were with the poor, but the military, Haitian elite and international interests were not with the priest Aristide. In September of 1991 he was deposed in a military coup led by the Haitian military. (10) Exiled in Caracas and then Washington D.C., Aristide was technically still the President, but military and their civilian backers held the real power in the country. (1, pg 133) As the balance of power shifted to competing elements of the military in Haiti, tens of thousands of people fled the country in the next three years. (1, pg 133) The Haitian military, with many of its head officers trained by the CIA in the School of the Americas paramilitary training compound, ramped up cocaine trafficking through the country to the United States and fought over the profits. (10) The unstable rule of the military, unrest from the populace that had tasted democracy and was still bolstered by the wave of liberation theology, and the continually declining economic and political environment was an untenable situation.
In 1994 Aristide, escorted personally by President Bill Clinton and 20,000 U.S. troops returned Aristide to power and restored the constitutional democracy of Haiti. (1, pg 133) However, the U.S. did not disarm the military and forces that had opposed Aristide, and blocked the President from fulfilling his full term, the 3 years in exile were lost to him and Haiti. (10) The U.S. under Clinton mandated other conditions of Aristide’s return that demanded
“He adopt the program of the defeated U.S. backed candidate in the 1990 elections, a former World Bank official who had received 14% of the vote…The harsh neo-liberal program that Aristide was compelled to adopt was virtually guaranteed to demolish the remaining shreds of economic sovereignty.” (6,Chomsky, pg 6)
Haitian law bars a president from serving consecutive terms, and after the election of 1995 Aristide handed power over to the democratically elected Rene Preval; the first time one President peacefully handed power to another elected candidate in Haiti. (1, pg 134).
Rene Preval was the first Haitian President to complete his full term and hand power over to the next president.(1, pg 134). The next President just happened to be Jean Bertrand Aristide, elected once more with excess of 90% of the vote in 2000. (1, pg 134) Aspects of international power, led by the U.S. were not happy with the results, internal and external pressures were put upon Aristide. Aid was cut to the Aristide government, for instance a Inter-American Development Bank Loan that was to assist infrastructure and public programs, blocked by the U.S. lobby. (6, Farmer, pg 17). However, finance to Aristide’s opposition expanded, millions were funneled into NGO’s and groups like the NCHR (National Coalition For Haitian Rights), a group that was paid to spy and inform on members of Lavalas (Aristide’s political party). (10) The efforts of Aristide to lead his country were undermined, and the nation was destabilized by international aid, led by the U.S., Canada, and France going towards groups to undermine the democratically elected President.
By 2003 paramilitary forces like FRAPH (discussed later) were training and gathering forces in Haiti and especially the neighboring Dominican Republic. (10) FRAPH began taking over towns and terrorizing the citizenry, in February of 2004 Aristide was forced onto a plane by 50 U.S. marines and flown to the Central African Republic. Aristide called it a kidnapping (6, Democracy Now interview, chapter 8) while the U.S. called it a resignation. There continue to be competing official stories but through the years the plausibility of the U.S. story lessens and all evidence points to the events that forced Aristide out of power a coup with the facilitation and backing of U.S. powers. (6, Farmer, pg 35). When arriving in Africa Aristide made a statement that referenced his hero:
“I declare in overthrowing me they have uprooted the trunk of the tree of peace, but it will grow back because the roots are Louverturian.” (6, Farmer, pg 24)
When asked in an interview with Canadian television why the U.S., Canada, France and Britain would want to interrupt the progress and independence of a small country like Haiti, journalist Kevin Pina answered
"Aristide represented independence...Aristide represented not playing the game of neo-liberal economics...Aristide had invested in a universal literacy program. he had created Alpha Restos, a system of meals for the poor...under neo-liberal economics you can't do this." (10)
There is one certainty in Haitian politics, Aristide was one of the most popular figures of all time. Arsitides Lavalas political party is the most popular one in the nation. When the party was barred from 2006 elections, there were mass protests and voting boycotts. (19) A suppressed 2002 Gallup poll confirmed this (6, Farmer, 23) and whenever given the opportunity Haitians voted for him in overwhelming majorities. He has however had little support from Haitian elites and international finance or from agents with neo-liberal agendas. Before a complete analysis of Haiti and globalization in the 20th and 21st Century can be rendered more background on some of the institutions and individuals involved is required.
FRAPH
It is important to look into the nature of one of the most powerful military forces in Haiti to understand international influences on Haitian politics.. FRAPH (the Front for Advancement of Progress in Haiti) was formed and led by Joseph Constant, a former CIA agent. FRAPH played a role in both coups against Aristide and Constant was tried in absentia in 2000 for murders and crimes committed but the U.S. where he was in exile refused extradition requests. (11) In a bizarre twist Constant was tried and convicted, currently serving a prison sentence for real estate fraud in New York. (12)
The significance of the example of FRAPH and Emmanuel Constant is the role of international (often U.S.) arming, training and commanding paramilitary groups in nations like Haiti. With FRAPH, CIA training and bankrolling allowed for a destabilization, terrorizing and overthrow of a constitutional democracy. In the sphere of globalization, organizations like FRAPH can covertly push the agendas of their sponsor proxy powers like the United States. International media may misrepresent the nature of organizations like FRAPH, perhaps as freedom fighters, obfuscating their origins and motivations.
Bill Clinton
President of the United States from 1994 through 2000, Bill Clinton was in office during tumultuous times for Haiti. During his presidency and beyond he took interest in the small nation and was named UN special envoy to Haiti in 2009, preceding the devastating earthquake of 2010. In 2010 he took responsibility for some of his failed neo-liberal policies in Haiti, in regards to food and agriculture:
“I have to live everyday with the consequences if the lost capacity to produce a rice crop in Haiti to feed those people, because of what I did.” (3, pg 150)
In 1994, before returning Aristide to power Clinton ignored an OAS embargo on Haiti and secretly shipped oil and supplies to the illegitimate regime. (6, Chomsky, 6) Both Bill and Hillary Clinton have been associated with Andy Apaid, founder of Group 184 , an NGO which “provided the veneer of mass appeal to the second coup against Aristide in Feb. 2004.” (13) Andy Apaid is a wealthy owner of factories in Haiti that partners with American and Canadian brands for manufacture, and both Bill and Hillary have toured his sweatshops personally. (13) Following the 2010 earthquake, actions by Clinton in Haiti have often been controversial. For instance, his foundation in 2011 wasted funds on emergency shelters for schools that turned out to be useless, poorly constructed health hazards. (14)
Wyclef Jean
Wyclef Jean is an international music star, was born in Haiti but spent most of his life in the United States. He is an example of global culture himself, having performed at the world cup with Shakira in Munich. Undoubtedly one of the world’s most famous Haitians, the stars response to the earthquake of 2010 illustrated how personality could interact with a global response to disaster. There was already controversy around Wyclef Jean, which intensified when he announced his desire to run for President of Haiti in 2010. His example illustrates however the power and potential for both positive and negative influence a global personality can have.
After the 2010 quake the world responded to the crisis in Haiti in an outpouring of support for the troubled nation. Wyclef galvanized some of that support and his charity YELE Haiti raised millions of dollars through a text message effort and he also participated with Bill Clinton in a philanthropy conference in September 2010 to announce Haitian recovery aid. (15) Wyclefs success in raising funds demonstrated that a global community could respond quickly to crisis through technology. It perhaps also demonstrated the danger in galvanizing around charismatic personalities and the way good will and humanitarianism could be manipulated.
The full scope of Jeans intentions are unknown, but can a non-profit, celebrity driven NGO be the most logical way to gather and administer disaster response funds? Jean himself has been accused of tax evasion, money laundering and misuse of donations from YELE Haiti itself (16) He also produced an anti-Aristide movie, The Ghosts of Cite Soleil that featured interviews with Andy Apaid. (16) Although eventually blocked by the Haitian constitution from running, his presidential candidacy illustrated how an outside international personality could affect internal domestic politics. It is unknown how genuine or self serving his candidacy was, but it is clear he had lived outside of Haiti for 30 years, and as impassioned as he may have been, he was an outsider. Despite his image as a freedom fighter for the poor, he is a rich man by American standards and may not have understood the practical needs of Haiti.
Wikileaks
WikiLeaks, an international organization led by Julian Assange, maintains a website (mirrored through many web portals for its own protection) where anyone can upload classified documents in the interest of government transparency and social justice. Several leaks have pertained to Haiti, and relations to the U.S. and the U.N. According to documents, when factory operators in Haiti opposed the Haitian Parliamentary raising of the minimum wage in 2009, they were bolstered by quiet, background support from USAID, the US Embassy, and the corporate brands of Hanes and Levi’s. (17) The US State Department stepped in and negotiated with then Haitian President Rene Preval, and when the dust settled the 61 cent per hour minimum wage mandated by the Parliament was reduced to 31 cents per hour. (17) One thing the WikiLeaks documents reveal is interventionism through U.S. and global corporate forces to intervene in Haiti’s self determination in engines of politics and economy. Also worth note is the existence of WikiLeaks itself, an international organization made possible through modern technologies.
The United Nations
The U.N. has had a shameful record in Haiti, especially since the 2004 coup against Aristide. The U.N. MINUSTAH mission in Haiti has been responsible for massacre of civilians, even connected to political activities such as the targeting of Lavalas members. (13) Rapes of civilians are common, some caught on video. (18) A cholera epidemic that killed more than 6,000 Haitians in the conditions following the 2010 earthquake was introduced through the negligence of U.N. forces. (18) Introduced to provide security after the ouster of Aristide, the U.N. has been an unwanted presence, suppressing political activity and often perceived as doing the dirty work for the U.S. and corporate interests.
France
When flying in to observe the devastation of the Earthquake in Haiti, French President Nicholas Sarkozy’s landing helicopter blew the tarps off of nearby shelters. (20) The reason for the visit was ostensibly humanitarian, but Sarkozy’s arrived in a fashion suitable to his countries historic relationship with Haiti. Before the coup in 2004, Aristide began calling on France to repay Haiti, with interest, the money that had been politically extorted from them by France. His ‘21’ campaign was persistent, calling on France to pay 21 billion dollars in restitution and offering Haitians a 21 point plan of how the money would benefit Haiti. (6, Farmer, 21) As the former colonizer that extracted such great wealth from the nation, does France owe a debt to Haiti?
The Earthquake
When a massive earthquake struck Haiti near its capitol on January 12, 2010, it was a human disaster as much as a natural one. The same international players with hands already in Haiti affairs would come to be involved in its recovery efforts. Centuries of poverty, social and civil unrest had left Port-au-Prince underdeveloped and overcrowded. Neo-liberal policies over the last few decades decimated Haiti’s agriculture and driven more people into the city. The earthquake “starkly exposed the Haitian state’s inability to help its people in time of crisis.” (1,pg 367) With all the aid and support pouring in from around the world to help has been impacted from being effective due to a complete lack of infrastructure in the country. (1, pg 365-367) As established, agencies operating within Haiti often serve cross purposes or have dubious motivations. With 21st Century technology the world saw the devastation in Haiti on their TV screens and through the internet, donated money in faster and new ways, but whether this is net positive or negative remains to be seen.
The acceleration of globalization in the late 20th and 21st century was apparent in the events of Haiti from the Duvalier up through the devastation of the 2010 earthquake. While one of the first free countries in the western hemisphere, in a sense Haiti has never been free. Patterns of colonialism and interventionism have become more sophisticated and covert, with the interests of the U.S. and other nations, international finance and corporate power, and political ideologues all having a hand in Haiti’s politics. Political events have been shaped by the whims of outside forces, through militarism, media and finance. Throughout the history of globalization Haiti has been a player on the world stage, but can’t be seen to have benefited from its emerging patterns. Whether skeptic, transformationalist or globalist, if social justice is a concern something has to change for Haiti.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY RESOURCES:
1.. Dubois, Laurent. Haiti:The Aftershocks of History. Henry Holt and Co. New York, NY. 2012
2. Martell, Luke. The Sociology of Globalization. Polity Press. Malden, MA. 2010
3. Farmer, Paul. Haiti: After the Earthquake. Public Affairs. New York, NY. 2011
4. Rodman, Selden, Robert Alexander, Amy Wilentz. Haiti. Lauren S. Bahr (ed) Collier’s Encyclopedia (Vol 11, Pgs 581-589 ). Macmillan Educational Company. New York, NY..
5. Dubois, Laurent. Avengers of the New World. The Story of the Haitian Revolution. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. 2004.
6. .Chomsky, Noam; Farmer, Paul; Goodman, Amy. Getting Haiti Right This Time. Common Courage Press. Monroe, ME. 2004
7. Benton, Thomas Hart (ed) Abridgment of the Debates of Congress, from 1789 to 1856: Dec 7, 1846-Sept. 30, 1850. United States Congress. D. Appleton and Company. New York. 1858
8. Lewis, R. Anthony. Language Culture and Power: Haiti under the Duvaliers. Caribbean Quarterly. Vol 50. No 4. Dec. 2004.
9. Wilentz, Amy. Duvaliers and Haiti’s Triple Threat. The Nation. March 19, 2012. Pages 22-23
10. Pina, Kevin in interview.Face To Face: Haiti in discussion. ICTV:Victoria. Lazarus Productions. 2006 https://vimeo.com/9298939
11.Pierre-Pierre, Garry. City’s Haitians Divided on Deporting Man Tied to Murders. The New York Times. October 23, 2008
12. Semple, Kirk. Ex-Militia Chief From Haiti Is Sentenced to Up to 37 Years for Fraud. The New York Times. October 29, 2008
13. Pina, Kevin. Clinton’s Silence Challenged in Haiti. Haiti information Project. 2009. http://www.haitiaction.net/News/HIP/7_7_9/7_7_9.html
14. Macdonald, Isabel; Doucetm Isabeau, The Shelters That Clinton Built. The Nation. August 18, 2011.
15.Philanthropy Conference Announces Aid for Haiti. The Washington Post. 9/27/2008
16. Hinton, Charlie. Wyclef Jean for President of Haiti? Look Beyond the Hype. The San Francisco Bay View. August 2, 2010.
17.Coughin, Dan; Ives, Kim. WikiLeaks Haiti: Let Them Live on $3,00 a Day. The Nation. June, 1 2011.
18. Weisbrot, Mark. Is this Minustah’s Abu Ghraib moment in Haiti? The Guardian UK. 9/3/2011.
19. Pina, Kevin. Lavalas Flexes its muscles in Haiti. Haiti Information Project. 2009. http://www.haitiaction.net/News/HIP/4_20_9/4_20_9.html
20. Lindsay, Reed. Haiti’s Excluded. The Nation. March 29, 2010.