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World

Haiti, a country under

eternal reconstruction

Nature has been cruel to the poorest country in the Americas. A look back into the past helps explain how Haiti came to be so poor. Throughout the country’s history, the Haitians have suffered various coups [1], political crises and cruel tyrannical dictatorships [2]

It seems that nature has not been kind to Haiti. The earthquake on January 12^th aggravated the chaos and poverty in the country. According to the United Nations, up to January 23^rd the official number of dead was 111,000 and 200,000 had been injured [3]. It has been estimated, however, that the final death toll [4] could be 200,000. Thousands of houses have been destroyed or damaged, and hundreds of thousands of people have been left homeless. Before being hit by the earthquake the country was struck by a hurricane in 2008. However, nature cannot be held chiefly responsible for the Haitians’ suffering. In this country of nine million souls, over half are living below the level of extreme poverty, earning just a dollar a day. It is the poorest country in the Americas. The country is very, very underprivileged – there is a lack of schools, jobs, hospitals, transport, security, infrastructure, basic sanitation, and – mainly – political stability. In political terms Haiti has always been in conflict. From the second half of the 19^th century until the beginning of the 20^th century, 16 Heads of State [5] were overthrown [6] or assassinated.

Governments that did not work

In the second half of the 20^th century, however, Haiti had two governments that stayed in power for a long time. François Duvalier, better known as Papa Doc, took power [7] in 1957 and his government lasted until 1971, when he died. His son, Jean-Claude (known as Baby Doc) took over and remained in power until 1985. Both of them stayed in power by persecuting their opponents mercilessly [8]. During these dictatorships, Haiti fell deeper and deeper into poverty. In the years that followed Haitians tried to stabilize their political situation, but a succession of military coups prevented any organization.

Matéria publicada na edição de número 53 da Revista Maganews

(Leia mais sobre o Haiti na edição impressa da revista)

Photo 1 (Marcello Casal – ABr) - Earthquake - Scenes of devastation in the Bel Air neighborhood of Port-au-Prince.
Photo 2 (Marcello Casal – ABr) - Port-au-Prince days after the earthquake – What does the future hold for this child?

Voice – David Hatton

Vocabulary

1 coup – golpe

2 dictatorship - ditadura

3 injured – ferido

4 death toll – exp. idiom. = número oficial de mortos

5 Heads of State – chefes de estado

6 to be overthrown – ser deposto

7 to take power – assumir o poder

8 mercilessly – cruelmente / sem piedade