Haiti in Brief

Geographical position

Haiti covers the western third of the island known as Hispaniola, the second largest of the Caribbean islands. It is bounded on the same island by the Dominican Republic to the cast; its nearest neighbours are Jamaica to the south-west and Cuba 50 miles to the north-west.

Statistical acid other information cm the Haitian economy has been taken from documents produced by the World Bank, IMF, US Government, Inter-American Develop merit Bank, UN agencies and similar bodies, as well as by (he Haitian government. However, all statistics on the Haitian economy should be treated with Caution, partly due to inaccuracies of compilation, partly because the 'subsistence' economy cannot easily be measured in conventional statistical terms.

The Economy

Haiti occupies the western third of the island of Hispaniola, with the Dominican Republic taking up the eastern two-thirds, During the Spanish colonial period, the whole colony was known as Santo Domingo, after the city which remains the capita] of the Dominican Republic.

When the western part was ceded to France by (he Treaty of Ryswick in 1697, it took the name Saint-Domingue. When Jean-Jacques Dessalines declared independence on J January 1804, he named the country Haiti. This was the name, meaning 'land of mountains,' given to the island by its Taino indian inhabitants before the arrival of the Spanish.

During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the name was commonly spelt Hayti, and this spelling has been followed here when quoting from documents of the time.

Chronology

1492 5 December — Christopher Columbus lands at the Mole St Nicholas.

1492-1503 The Amerindian population (Arawaks and Caribs) are enslaved by the Spaniards and decimated by work in the gold mines

1520s African slaves are first brought to Haiti.

1629 French pirates and buccaneers seize La Tortue and make it their base. They gain a foothold on the mainland, and move progressively into the interior.

1685 Publication of (he Negro Code — a series of regulations inspired by Colbert which set out to organize the black slave trade and colonial methods of production.

1697 The treaty of Ryswick confirms France's sovereignty over the western part of Hispaniola island.

1749 Foundation of Port-au-Prince, capital of the French Windward Islands.

1770-1790 Saint-Domingue, known as La Petite France (Little France), or the Grande Isle à Sucre (the Great Sugar Island) accounts for two thirds of France's foreign trade. The population in 1791 is made up of 40,000 white settlers. 28,000 mulattoes and 450,000 black slaves. Increasing numbers of maroons (slaves who escape to the mountains and live there free).

1791 General slave uprising.

1793 Slavery abolished in Saint-Domingue.

1795 Treaty of Bâle, under which Spain cedes the eastern part of the island to France, Spain recovers sovereignty in 1809.

1801 Toussaint L'Ouverture establishes the island's autonomy under French suzerainty.

1802-03 Napoleon Bonaparte sends a punitive expedition to restore colonial rule and reintroduce slavery. War of Independence. Toussaint captured and exiled in June 1802; dies in French prison, 27 April 1803.

1804 1 January, Jean-Jacques Dessalines proclaims independence. The country readopts its Indian name of Haiti (mountainous land).

1806 Dessalines assassinated.

1807-20 Henry Christophe rules north, from 1811 as King.

1807-18 Alexandre Potion governs separate republic in south, Peasant uprisings in Grande Anse.

1820 Haiti reunified under Pétion's successor, Jean-Pierre Boyer.

1822-44 Haiti Occupies Santo Domingo.

1825 Independence of Haiti recognized by France in exchange for huge indemnity.

1888-1915 Political instability and factional government increase.

1915-34 Occupation by US Marines.

1915-19 Resistance by peasant guerrillas led by Charlemagne Péralte.

1946, 1950 1956 The army seizes power after outgoing presidents try to remain in office.

1957 François 'Papa Doc' Duvalier elected President.

1958 Civil militia known as the Tontons Macoutes or Volontaires de la Securité Nationale (VSN — National Security Volunteers) founded.

1964 Proclamation of the Presidency-for-Life.

1971 Duvalier dies. Proclamation of his 19-year-old son Jean-Claude as Haiti's ninth President-for-Life.

The Haitian cabinet

The composition of the cabinet in May 1985 was as follows:

Ministers of state

Presidency, information and public relations: Jean-Marie Chanoine

Interior and defence: Roger Lafontant

Finance and economy: Frantz Merceron

Justice: Théodore Achille

Ministers

Foreign affairs and worship: Jean-Robert Estimé

Labour and social affairs: Arnold Blain

Public works, transport and communications: Maxime Léon

Education: Gérard Dorcely

Agriculture, natural resources and rural development: Frantz Flambert

Planning: Yves Blanchard

Youth and sports: Serge Conille

Mines and energy: Franck Romain

Health and population: Victor Laroche

Trade: Jean-Michel Ligondé

Without Portfolio: Jules Blanchet

Introduction

Less than 200 years ago, the Haitian people launched a revolution which overthrew slavery and established the world's first independent black republic. In the course of the revolution the Haitians defeated British, French and Spanish armies and shook the colonial slave empire throughout the Caribbean.

Haitians today live in conditions of appalling poverty and squalor under the Duvalier family dictatorship. The country is a byword of terror and corruption, living off hand-outs from overseas — principally from the United States, This Special Brief attempts to explain how this stale of affairs came about, and how and why it is maintained.

Haiti: Family Business takes a necessary look at Haiti's past, but is mainly concerned with [he modern Haitian economy, system of government, social structure and international relations.

Certain themes and patterns reappear throughout Haiti's history such as; the tradition of armed intervention in government, the absence of any developed political system and the long standing practice of presidents regarding state finance as their personal property, In ibis respect, Haiti is very much a 'family business' of whoever is the ruling elite of the time. It was this last feature which led a Canadian parliamentary committee in 1982 to describe Haiti as a 'kleptocracy' in which anything of value is liable to be appropriated by the ruling elite and their officials, at every level of the system.

These practices, however, are not a Haitian invention. They arose in the colonial state of...