The President of Haiti has been assassinated
I’m surprised it doesn’t happen there more often, actually, because Haiti is such a mess of a country. The authorities say they don’t know who is responsible for the assassination, but here’s the story so far:
A squad of gunmen assassinated Haitian President Jovenel Moïse and wounded his wife in an overnight raid on their home Wednesday, inflicting more chaos on the Caribbean country that was already enduring gang violence, soaring inflation and protests of his increasingly authoritarian rule.
Interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph, who confirmed the killing, said the police and military were in control of security in Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas where a history of dictatorship and political upheaval have long stymied the consolidation of democratic rule.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Joseph called for an international investigation into the assassination, said that elections scheduled for later this year should be held and pledged to work with Moïse’s allies and opponents alike…
Bocchit Edmond, the Haitian ambassador to the United States, said the attack on the 53-year-old Moïse “was carried out by foreign mercenaries and professional killers — well-orchestrated,” and that they were masquerading as agents of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration…
Haiti has asked the U.S. government for assistance with the investigation, he said, adding that the assassins could have escaped over the land border to the Dominican Republic or by sea.
I doubt the culprits will be found, and Moise had plenty of people who wanted him dead so there’s no lack of candidates. Haiti is such a mess already that I doubt this event will have any international repercussions of any magnitude; it will just add to the confusion and strife of the country.
[NOTE: A personal note – I have a vivid memory of Haiti from a trip I took there with my family in 1962. Yes, I was a kid, but even then it impressed me as a very poverty-stricken and yet beautiful place. At the time, it was under the sway of despot “Papa Doc” Duvalier, whose photo graced many stores and even the modest home of our all-day cab driver, whose family we met. As a young teenager I later learned something of Haiti’s sad history through Kenneth Roberts’ novel Lydia Bailey, which is set in the time of the Haitian revolution.]
let the French take some responsibility
News tried to say D.E.A. first…
Haiti is basically a fragment of West Africa that detached itself from Liberia and drifted into the Caribbean. Billions of aid dollars have been dumped there, bleeding hearts have gone there, but it remains what it is, a piece of the African jungle without chimpanzees and Jane Goodall.
The trouble is, we are letting Haitians immigrate to the US. That drains the country of strivers and should not be allowed.
Any bets on the Clinton’s having something to do with it?
Joking-Not-Joking.
Canadians took a native of Haiti and made her the Governor General of the country. A dual citizen and an advocate of independent Quebec to boot. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micha%C3%ABlle_Jean
Canada also just appointed Mary Simon as the first indigenous Governor General
Haiti is basically a fragment of West Africa that detached itself from Liberia and drifted into the Caribbean. Billions of aid dollars have been dumped there, bleeding hearts have gone there, but it remains what it is, a piece of the African jungle without chimpanzees and Jane Goodall.
Haiti is less affluent than most countries in Tropical Africa. Also, by the reckoning of the Maddison Project, Haiti’s per capital product has seen no net improvement during the post-war period. There are Tropical African countries like that, but they can be counted on your fingers. Of course, the difference in the standard of living between Haiti and the rest of the non-Latin Caribbean is large. Jamaica is one of the least affluent Caribbean islands; it’s per capita product is 4x that of Haiti. Haiti is just a strange, sad place.
Permanent, severe poverty includes poor pre and post natal nutrition, with expected. That said, fifty years back, I ran into a heck of an American soldier from Haiti. Good troop.
I can’t remember where or when but I do remember reading an article on the profound cultural and economic and political differences between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Both reside on the same island.
“Tropical Africa” covers many countries and is meant to be, I regret to say, obfuscatory.
I wrote “West Africa”. The per-diem pay in Haiti is about the same as in Liberia, a part of West Africa, about two bucks per day.
Check out “Tropical Africa” on Wiki if you need more info.
That’s OK.
Geoffrey Britain:
Haiti is 100% black, certainly with some inbreeding. I believe almost the entire country is deforested, for firewood. The Dominican Republic is about 15% black, the large majority mestizo/indio, meaning “Indian” or “native”. The difference in standard of living is huge, but they both occupy the same island, so go figure. It says nothing good about Haiti. I believe the D.R. secures its border with Haiti vigorously.
I do remember that the article was persuasive in listing culture as the determinate factor. Secondarily, the Dominican side has more resources to draw upon but other countries equally poor in resources have been far more successful than Haiti.
It all seems to come down to culture.
I find there are only 4 gates of entry into the D.R. from Haiti, and they have all been recently closed.
As to culture, one may speculate about its genetic determinants.
Like Germans, who seem by nature to be hard-working.
Cicero. See Sowell, “Conquests and Cultures”. I can’t imagine his research staff.
One of his findings is how long cultural attributes last even when surrounded by another country. See the Volga Germans.
But wrt the Germans: Polish immigrants who came here from areas controlled or influenced by Germany did better than Polish immigrants who came here from areas controlled or influenced by Russia.
Go figure.
Cicero:
The black population of Haiti is not the biggest difference between the two countries, Haiti and the Dominican Republic, although it seems to be the one you are focusing on. (And by the way, in the DR most of the people do have some black heritage, when genetic testing is done).
The DR is twice as big as Haiti, and has much more fertile land and more other resources, and more rainfall and more food. Haiti is geographically impoverished in a way that the DR is not. The DR was a Spanish colony and Haiti a French colony, and that’s a difference, too. Early on, Haiti was composed almost entirely of slaves and big plantations, and although the DR had some slaves there were nowhere near as many, so the culture and history of the two countries was very different. Haiti’s independence was won early in a brutal slave rebellion, and the leaders had no idea how to run a country with anything but the same brutality. The DR’s colonial history was longer and their independence won more gradually, and it also became close to the US at several points and was influenced by it.
“Any bets on the Clinton’s having something to do with it?
Joking-Not-Joking.” – Fractal Rabbit
They didn’t do Haiti any favors in the recent past.
Please note that this is a Fair and Balance selection of sources.
https://www.waynedupree.com/2021/07/haiti-president-the-clintons/
Assassination of Haitian President Sparks More “Clinton Body Count” Rumblings Online
https://www.nationalreview.com/2016/07/hillarys-america-secret-history-democratic-party-dinesh-dsouza-clinton-foundation/
How the Clinton Foundation Got Rich off Poor Haitians
By DINESH D’SOUZA July 18, 2016 8:00 AM
HUGE long lists of details supporting Dinesh’s assertions.
https://canada-haiti.ca/content/how-clintons-robbed-and-destroyed-haiti
By Takudzwa Hillary Chiwanza, African Exponent, Feb. 18, 2020
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-clinton-foundations-legacy-in-haiti-haitians_b_57f604f9e4b087a29a5486fd
The Clinton Foundation’s Legacy in Haiti – “Haitians are more than upset…”
10/06/2016 04:43 am ET Updated Oct 06, 2016
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2019/dec/09/viral-image/old-hoax-about-clinton-foundation-resurfaces-faceb/
Bottom Line: yeah the Clintons do keep the vast majority of the donations and other income, but they do their own charity work instead of passing it along to other groups in grants.
Inquiring minds ask: did Politifact do any checking on those program expenses to see how many were bogus or even harmful like the ones in Haiti? And how much of the program expenses turned out to be salaries and travel?
BTW, the details in the Huffpo article are damning to the Clinton Foundation on multiple “international charity” scams, and that is perhaps a too charitable noun.
This is also relevant to my questions on the Politifact airbrushing post.
Bottom line: Where did all the money go?
Culture has a huge impact no doubt. But also the lack of property rights unless you are super rich is an impediment. I talked with several Haitians and “the tragedy of the commons” is mentioned. Like the communist regimes if “the people” own something and since you are one of “the people” then you are allowed to take or use it.
As mentioned earlier the “strivers” leave for the United States or other places leaving the settlers behind resulting in more poverty. I was struck by an interview with Tucker Carlson with President of El Salvador about the recent refugee surge from his land. He lamented that his country’s “best” was leaving. Not the most educated or wealthy but those that can make a difference and what a terrible effect it would have to make it better.
Unfortunately we are also getting the dregs of the world, the drugs and the trafficked to feed the maw of the depraved. All so the rich white progressive women can feel good about themselves.
Neo says, “Early on, Haiti was composed almost entirely of slaves and big plantations” so there is a goodly amount of once-arable land in Haiti. Big plantations! I checked the rainfall data of the two countries on Hispaniola, and they are not significantly different.
Land management may be a factor. Soil quality in Haiti may have degraded over the centuries. But the basic problem is overpopulation and ignorance, fundamentally. What sane tourist wants to visit Haiti? No, they all go to the Dominican Republic, where there are lots of golf courses. That country lives off tourism. Do golf courses exist in Haiti? Decent hotels? No.
Haiti has made itself a dump.
Cicero:
I don’t know where you’re getting your information, but I looked at several sites that all tell a different tale.
Here’s one, for example:
Or this:
The deforestation issue is complicated; I’ve read several articles on it. Suffice to say it began in colonial days when the French cleared a lot of forests for plantations and fuel, continued when the French demanded payments after Haiti became independent and Haiti paid in wood, and then continued further when people needed fuel. There have been efforts to reforest the land and controversy over how much deforestation actually has taken place.
Haiti is 100% black, certainly with some inbreeding. I believe almost the entire country is deforested, for firewood. The Dominican Republic is about 15% black, the large majority mestizo/indio, meaning “Indian” or “native”. The difference in standard of living is huge, but they both occupy the same island, so go figure. It says nothing good about Haiti. I believe the D.R. secures its border with Haiti vigorously.
https://dominicantoday.com/dr/local/2016/07/06/dominicans-are-49-black-39-white-and-4-indian/
If this is correct, the mixed race majority in the Dominican Republic is about 53% black and 32% white.
With some qualifications (e.g. in re the Guianas. Belize, and St. Barthelemy), all countries in the non-Latin Caribbean are predominantly negroid typically with only a modest European contribution. Within that set of islands the variation in per capita product and in homicide rates is 20-to-1. What Mark Steyn said: “If you want to know why Haiti is Haiti and Barbados is Barbados, biology doesn’t get you very far”. (Mr. Sailer has tried to salvage his preferred hypothesis with antique travelers accounts contending the best slaves were unloaded in Barbados and the most intractable in Jamaica).
But the basic problem is overpopulation and ignorance
‘Overpopulation’ is a nonsense term. ‘Ignorance’ in this context is merely jejune.
“Tropical Africa” covers many countries and is meant to be, I regret to say, obfuscatory. I wrote “West Africa”.
It isn’t and you’re not making much sense here. There are some parts of Equatorial Africa and the Sahel that are deeply impoverished, but for the most part, the standard of living in Tropical Africa doesn’t vary a whole lot from country to country. The subtropical zones are a good deal more affluent.