New York Times on Haiti

Photographs of the destruction in Haiti following a devastating earthquake.

Updated: June 1, 2010

Overview

One of the poorest and least developed countries in the world, Haiti in recent years has struggled with problems ranging from near-constant political upheaval, health crises, severe environmental degradation and an annual barrage of hurricanes.

On Jan. 12, 2010, a devastating earthquake struck Haiti, reducing much of its capital to rubble. It was the worst earthquake in the region in more than 200 years. A study by the Inter-American Development Bank estimated that the cost could be between $7.2 billion to $13.2 billion, based on a death toll from 200,000 to 250,000. The toll was later revised by Haiti's president to upwards of 300,000.

Huge swaths of the capital, Port-au-Prince, lay in ruins, and thousands of people were trapped in the rubble of government buildings, foreign aid offices and shantytowns. Schools, hospitals and a prison collapsed. Thousands of new amputees faced the stark reality of living with disabilities in a shattered country whose terrain and culture have never been hospitable to the disabled.

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The Duvalier Legacy

Haiti occupies an area roughly the size of Maryland on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Nearly all of the 8.7 million residents are of African descent and speak Creole and French. The capital is Port-au-Prince.

The country is, by a significant margin, the poorest in the Western Hemisphere, with four out of five people living in poverty and more than half in abject poverty. Deforestation and over-farming have left much of Haiti eroded and barren, undermining subsistence farming efforts, driving up food prices and leaving the country even more vulnerable to natural disasters. Its long history of political instability and corruption has added to the turmoil.

During the 18th century the western portion of Hispaniola, called Saint-Domingue, was one of the richest colonies in the French empire, known for its lucrative sugarcane and coffee plantations. (The rest of the island was controlled by Spain.) In 1791 the African slave population revolted, eventually winning independence from Napoleon Bonaparte's France and becoming the second country in the Americas to free itself from colonial rule and the world's first black republic. The country was renamed Haiti.

Haiti's history has been marked by many periods of profound political disarray, including frequent changes of governments, military coups and, beginning in 1915, a two-decade occupation by the United States. The most infamous of Haiti's leaders was François Duvalier, known as Papa Doc, who was elected president in 1957, beginning a long rule known for corruption and human rights abuses that left Haiti increasingly isolated. His son Jean-Claude Duvalier controlled the country from 1971 until he fled in 1986, leading to another period of alternating civilian and military rule.

Despite bouts of optimism in recent years brought on by the implementation of a new constitution and the first peaceful transfer of power between two elected presidents in the nation's history, Haiti's politics remain as tumultuous as ever.

Regime Change and Free Elections

In 1991, Jean-Bertrand Aristide took power after winning 67 percent of the vote in a presidential election, but was overthrown shortly after taking office in a violent coup leading to a three year period of military rule that ended only after the intervention of a United Nations force led by the United States. While the 1995 election of René Préval, a prominent political ally of Mr. Aristide, was widely praised, subsequent elections were plagued with allegations of fraud, including the 2000 restoration of Mr. Aristide to his old post.

Over the following years violence spread throughout the country as the government cracked down on opposition party leaders, holding power in part with the aid of extra-legal gangs. In February 2004, after groups opposed to the Aristide government seized control of cities and towns throughout Haiti and closed in on the capital, Mr. Aristide resigned and fled to South Africa. U.S.-led armed forces under the authority of the United Nations Security Council were sent to Port-au-Prince to stabilize the situation and to oversee the installation of an interim government. The United Nations has spent some $5 billion on peacekeeping operations since 2004.

In 2006, Mr. Préval was again elected president amidst allegations of impropriety.

Political Instability and Natural Disasters

Since 2008, the situation has worsened dramatically, with the nation staggering beneath the double whammy of food riots, government instability and a series of hurricanes that killed hundreds and battered the economy.

Hurricanes Gustav, Hanna and Ike and Tropical Storm Fay landed within the space of a month in August and September 2008. Nationally, damages came to a total of $900 million, or nearly 15 percent of the gross domestic product. The national toll was 800 dead, down from 2004 when 3,000 perished.

With the absence of jobs, many Haitians have sought work in the United States and elsewhere despite the global financial crisis. With some 900,000 youths expected to come into the job market in the next five years, dismal prospects are the main threat to stability.

The January 2010 earthquake left the country and its densely populated Port-au-Prince in ruins, its poorly constructed buildings and shanties destroyed or seriously compromised and the government broken.

More than 3,000 school buildings in the earthquake zone were in shambles; hundreds of teachers and thousands of students were killed. Some schools may never reopen, leaving vast numbers of children languishing in camps or working in menial jobs, struggling to sustain themselves.

The United States and Its Tone

Humantarian aid from around the world has streamed into Haiti.  The United States, which has a history of either political domination or neglect in its backyard, has tried to strike the right tone, coordinating relief efforts and pledging financial aid.

Since 1994, Haiti has resurfaced in the American conscience only during times of crisis: the Aristide meltdown; and after four devastating storms in 2008 that wiped out most of the country's food crops and damaged irrigation systems, causing acute hunger for millions.

In the aftermath of the January earthquake, the United States has been among the largest single donors, committing $1.15 billion on top of the more than $900 million already spent.

Pledges added up to nearly $5.3 billion for the next two years, and a total of $9.9 billion over three years or more, according to Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary general. But the very size of the outpouring raised questions about whether the commitments would be met and how fast the financial support could help salve the needs of the Haitian people.

Hopes Fade for a New Haiti

By May 2010 the hope that a more efficient, more just Haiti might rise from the rubble was giving way to stalemate and bitterness. Haitians complained that the politically connected were benefiting most from the scant reconstruction work and that crime was returning. Meanwhile, unproductive politicians and aid groups struggled with temporary refugee camps that looked more permanent every day.

Parliament was essentially disbanded; power was in the hands of Mr. Préval, his cabinet and a reconstruction commission led by the Haitian prime minister and former President Bill Clinton. United Nations officials calmly predicted that elections would take place by the end of 2010, but no clear alternative to Mr. Préval had emerged.

Among aid organizations, complaints about the government dragging its feet over decision-making were common. Reconstruction so far had mostly amounted to an emergency response in the form of plastic. About 564,000 tarpaulins had been distributed, enough to cover an estimated 1.7 million people; or laid out lengthwise, to run from New York City to past Albuquerque.

The tarpaulins were an enormous help as the drenching afternoon rains began, but they were not safe or strong homes. The United Nations estimates that the quake destroyed 105,000 homes, and damaged 208,000 others, mostly in Port-au-Prince.

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