Haiti is a nation founded on greatness. After being a French colony for decades, an inspiring leader emerged to throw off its yoke of oppression and indignity in the person of Toussaint Louverture (1743-1803). Most of the island's inhabitants are likely familiar with the story of their independence..
Despite past injustices, Toussaint decided to support the French Revolution against its many European enemies. Besides, slavery had been abolished through a revolutionary decree issued in 1794. In 1801, Toussaint conquered neighboring Santo Domingo from Spain and installed himself as a virtual dictator of Hispanola (the whole island comprising modern Haiti and the Dominican Republic). After antagonizing French property-owners, Napoleon launched a costly invasion in 1802. His general, Charles LeClerc, succeeded in battling Toussaint to a stalemate subsequent to losing a significant number of soldiers to disease. In a treaty signed after the fighting ended, France declared slavery forever abolished on the island in exchange for Toussaint's departure from power. He died a year later from pneumonia.
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Since their glorious tale of independence, the first black liberation from white colonial rule in the world, Haitian politics has been wracked by violence, assassination, graft and foreign intervention. Horrified by the anarchy in Port-au-Prince and deeply suspicious of European imperial meddling in the Western Hemisphere (particularly Germany), Woodrow Wilson deployed US marines to Haiti in 1915 to bring about a semblance of order. When the Americans finally departed 19 years later in 1934, Haiti had progressed little as a stable nation-state. A cautionary tale for Iraq and Afghanistan? Perhaps.
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Now, Haiti is attempting to recover from yet another hurricane. Hundreds of people are dead and more than 100,000 are without shelter. Indeed, some of the poorest people in the world just got poorer. Squalor and hopelessness is king in Haiti. Life expectancy is a mere 53 years old, and 380,000 people or 5% of the population lives with HIV (as of 2000). Economically, the country is marching backward. In 1975, its GDP per capita was $500 a year. By 1998, it was $370. Hence, most Haitians eek out an existence on less than $2 a day.
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What can be done? First, the US needs to address Haiti in the broader context of its own security. If America fails to engage the island with political leadership and greater economic and technical assistance, then Haiti may gravitate toward the petro-dollars of Venezuela or the succumb to the designs of Chinese businessmen. A substantial US investment in the long-term development of Haiti would not only create a new trading partner and market for American goods but also serve as a beacon of American generosity and good will.
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For the sake of Haiti, the world should press Washington to look at the devastated beauty in its own backyard. If the United States acts accordingly, the legacy of Toussaint Ouverture will not have been squandered.
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J Roquen