I’ll be the very first to confess, I know little to nothing when it comes to Haiti other than what I’ve learned throughout years of watching the news along with a documentary or three along the way so it’s almost easier for me to list what I don’t know compared to what I do know. And the interesting part about this is, I could be completely wrong about everything. Should I care? Well, seeing as there are more than enough problems going on here in the U.S. to be concerned with, I probably shouldn’t. That is until you see on the news the hundreds of thousands of illegal Haitian migrants flooding into the U.S.. Their problem is rapidly becoming our problem.
One could do all the research they wanted on Haiti and come away with the same conclusion and that is whatever the hell this country is doing just ain’t working. You could ask 10 people for the reasons why and get at least 22 reasons and whatever they say— that, and a dime changes nothing. I believe what pisses people off the most when they hear yet another story regarding Haiti (none of it good) is the sad fact that with hundreds of millions of dollars having gone to this country, everything just gets worse. Think about that for a second. Hundreds of millions of dollars (primarily from the U.S.) and it appears all for not. The first question one asks is why? With the second question being asked is— where the hell did all that money go? With the only answer one can conclude is corruption. There can be no other answer. And perhaps that’s just the price of doing business in Haiti but— damn! And this is what makes absolutely no sense at all to the average American. If you added up all the money Haiti has received just in the last 20 years or so and instead of handing it over to whatever government is in power and the time, divided it up equally between it’s citizens, let’s just say every Haitian citizen would be living a very good life. In fact, I’d go as far to say they’d be living better lives than most Americans. The same holds true with money State and Local Governments here in the U.S. receive on a yearly basis but instead of millions of dollars, it’s billions. But that’s another story.
Haiti spans approximately 10,714 square miles (27,750 square kilometers), making it the third-largest country in the Caribbean by land area. Additionally, even with the billions Haiti has received in foreign aid over the years, it remains one of the poorest countries in the Americas liviing in what appears to be a perpetual state of chaos which begs the question— is Haiti a lost cause? It’s become more than obvious the country has been an abysmal failure at self governance. The only thing they seem to be good at is holding out their hands asking for more money promising to do better “in the future”. At what point do we cut our losses, give up and wash our hands of this failed nation? Or do we continue to prop up any government with money just as long as they remain friendly to the U.S. staving off a possible complete overthrow by a country such as (or similar to) Cuba.
The answers to these and many questions regarding a country like Haiti are far from simple primarily because the majority of it’s population have no inclination of what life is like under a corruption-free government. Corruption is all they know. Generations of Haitians have been governed by corrupt officials voted into office by fear, bribery or any reason which serves their own self-interests. Why? Because that’s all they have left. Promises have no meaning so most end up selling their vote to the highest bidder or the greatest threat to themselves or their families should they vote for the wrong candidate. Again— this is all they know so in a way, you can’t blame them when it’s all about money. But this still does not solve the problem known as Haiti. The only solution I can think of is the following.
Start from Scratch
You can accomplish this with an ultimatum that unless Haiti goes along with the following proposals, they will be summarily cut-off from all foreign aid and seeing that Haiti has proven itself time after time they can’t exist it, I believe they’d listen and most importantly— listen with an open mind. Here’s what needs to happen.
Step One— Board of Governors:
Not a Haitian board of Governors. Remember, corruption runs far too deep to trust just about anyone. I’m not saying there are those in Haiti who aren’t corrupt, I’m saying that recent history proves that none of these people make it into government or don’t seem to survive it once they do.
No, these Board of Governors have only one fiduciary responsibility— and that is to the citizens of Haiti. Not to corporations or political party’s. For the well-being of Haitian citizens. In other words— Haiti First! But what does that mean to a people who have no idea how those two words apply to them personally? Not much I would imagine as I’m certain they’ve all heard nothing but promises in the past resulting in no change. So, we’ll add to this as the article evolves.
For the time being, this Board of Governors will be made up of people from small (like Haiti) stable governments across the globe who want nothing more than to see the people of Haiti succeed. They will oversee the following departments:
- Economy
- Banking
- Treasury
- Health and Human Services
- Agriculture
- Infrastructure
- Emergency management
- Investment
- Law Enforcement
- Resource and Land management
- Judicial
I don’t give a rat’s ass what color they are and at this point, I doubt Haitians will care much either. Just as long as it works. Again, Haiti’s success will be the entire reason for them to be on the board to begin with. Those in charge of each department will have a single vote with a two-thirds majority required for anything to be approved and/or become law. Any issue affecting the entire country will be voted on by the heads of each department, still requiring a two-thirds majority for passage or approval. But before any of this even begins to take place, first things first. (We’ll get back to the Board afterwards).
Step Two— Law and Order
Question: Why is Haiti jam packed with gangs, crime and drugs? Answer: Because the majority of people are left with no other choice. It’s how they survive. Knowing this reality and in order to take the above off the table, you have to remove the reasons. After all that’s transpired in Haiti over the last 40 plus years, I doubt the people would be overly demanding. They want the same things we all want. A decent place to live and the wherewithal to continue living. Meaning food and water. Solve those three issues right at the start and you’ve solved (to a great degree) the question stated above. Nations have provided billions of dollars to Haiti yet people of this small country are living in abject poverty. There’s no reason for this to continue. Food and shelter has to begin immediately in order to get the ball rolling.
Call it m, call it whatever you like but the gang violence has to immediately cease before distribution of food and life’s necessities can begin. Police and peacekeepers will be brought in from trusted sources. Why not Haitians? Corruption. Nothing works while corruption rules and it will take time for Haitians to accept this. But keep in mind, it’s a whole lot easier to convince Haitians to accept new proposals when they’re not worried about where their next meal is coming from or whether or not they’ll be murdered.
All violent crime will be dealt with harshly. The more violent the crime, the more harsh the punishment. This begins on day one once the ruling Board of Governors is established. Judges, police and all law enforcement agencies will be appointed by the Board all from outside of Haiti. I know what you’re thinking and we’ll get to that soon enough.
OK, now that we have most of the violent criminals locked up and Haitians are beginning to see real changes in their quality of life, we arrive at step three and where the real work begins. Remember, step two can be accomplished for a fraction of the money that was wasted in the past. Some might say Haiti will be turning into a police state and sadly, this might be required in the beginning but I doubt it will take that long for criminal minds to see the writing on the wall and if that allows a Haitian family to take a leisurely stroll down the street or a picnic at the beach without getting robbed or killed, I have a feeling they’d be all in.
Step Three— Business
When one reads or watches just about any news story regarding Haiti, the inevitable results tend to be the same old corruption, and the same human strife caused by corrupt violence. Other nations feel sorry for them and break out their collective wallets paying indulgences to absolve them from doing anything that actually helps the people living there. The checkbook should be enough… right? Even though the money rarely (if ever) makes it to where it does the most good. Interesting though— it does have a way of making people like the Clinton’s more wealthy than they were before they became magnanimous with their foundation’s charitable donations. As usual, the corrupt politicians and contractors get away with the bulk of it. This has always been the norm in Haiti. It got to the point where I ceased being empathetic towards these nations. I washed my hands of them. I mean, how many times must the rest of us be subjected to something that no matter what we do, solves nothing.
Then I thought about it for a second. While constantly crying poor to the rest of the world, I thought there had to be at the very least, something of value Haiti had to offer in the way of natural resources. After doing about 30 seconds of research, I came across this article: What Are The Major Natural Resources Of Haiti? What I discovered blew me away which is the main reason I made the decision to write this article. Feel free to read the article for yourself but to make long story short, here is what Haiti has sitting under their feet.
- Oil and Natural Gas
- Gold
- Copper
Seeing as mining can have detrimental consequences to a small country like Haiti, let’s just focus on oil and natural gas. Just remember to pick your jaw up off the floor after reading the following excerpt from the article below.
Oil and Natural Gas
A recent finding has shown that the nation of Haiti might have some of the largest oil reserves in the world. The oil reserves are estimated that they could be larger than those of Venezuela. Nations that are found close to the Greater Antilles such as Puerto Rico, Cuba, Dominican Republic, and Haiti are estimated to be sitting on natural gas of about 159 billion cubic feet and oil of about 142 million barrels. It is also estimated that undiscovered reserves could hold as much as 941 million barrel of crude oil and natural gas thought to be about 1.2 trillion cubic feet. Areas thought to be rich in oil include the Central Plateau, the bay of Port-Au -Prince, Thomond, and the Cul-de-sac plain. Daniel Mathurin, a French scientist has compared Haiti’s oil reserves to a swimming pool compared to those of Venezuela which he likened to a glass of water.
Twenty oil sites have been already identified for potential drilling with 5 of them being considered crucial. Scientists have supported the likely hood of massive oil reserves in Haiti since it has been found that areas where tectonic plates meet in the ocean often hold huge amounts of hydrocarbons ready for exploitation. It is thought that the earthquake that shook the nation recently could have allowed oil to seep into the fault lines. Scientists from various companies are currently studying the fault line from Port-au-Prince onwards to try and find areas with unexploited deposits that are ripe for drilling. At least 3 million barrels have been discovered in what is regarded as shallow formations just off the nation’s shores. The Oil Trade Journal of 1919, however, suggests that oil was discovered in the nation of Haiti long before the current oil rush in the nation. The journal indicates that oil seepages were noticed coupled with natural gas seepages that often amazed local natives. The oil deposits are expected to boost the nation’s economy and improve the living standards of the nation’s population which still has to suffer through poverty. [end excerpt]
Jaw still attached? Also keep in mind that once they shed their stigma of another shithole country) and it’s close proximity to the U.S.— Haiti could be a tropical Tourist haven. And let’s not forget their exports of essential oils, apparel, coffee, cocoa, bitter oranges, and mangoes.
So what does this say about Haiti? It proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Haiti has absolutely no clue how to govern their own country or manage it’s resources. And who gets screwed every time? The Haitian people which brings us back to the Board of Governors.
Back to the Board
Keeping to their fiduciary responsibility, the Board of Governors creates a small department of public lands and resource management. Whatever contracts in place at the moment will be renegotiated or scrapped altogether opening the door for new opportunities with one important caveat. If public lands are used for any reason which includes international corporations, a dividend derived from a portion of net profits will be paid to all Haitian citizens over the age of 21 equally on a yearly basis. Something similar to what the state of Alaska does with their profits from oil called the Alaska Permanent Fund. How this all works is way above my pay grade but I’m certain between this and tourism, Haiti could begin to turn their country into a healthy tropical paradise with an equally healthy economy in short order.
Labor— Skilled and unskilled: Haiti and Haitians first. If quality work for whatever reason can be accomplished by Haitians, then Haitians will be hired before all others. If short-term training is required, then training will be provided by businesses with 50 or more employees. Again, not my forte but if they stick to their fiduciary responsibility, I’m sure the incidentals can be worked out.
Infrastructure, Medical and Education*— All provided for and overseen by the Board of Governors. Paid for by incoming revenues from exports, oil and gas and the tourist industry. Should be more than enough if the money is spent wisely keeping corruption as far away from the process as humanly possible. Get the jobs done with as little red tape and other astronomically expensive time consuming studies, committees or task forces possible. And above all else— no roles will be played by the IMF (International Monetary Fund) or The World Bank. Not one dime would come from any of these organizations. From what I’ve seen, they do more to kill countries than actually help them.
Education— Reading, writing, math, civics and social studies from K-through the equivalent of High-School. No DEI or equity indoctrination. The role of education is to prepare young people for success in their lives. The last thing Haiti needs are political extremists. After basic schooling is completed, they can further their knowledge through Colleges and job training schools/programs.
Investments— All investments in Haiti by foreign individuals or corporations will require Board approval.
Foreign Aid— All foreign aid offered to Haiti for any reason (especially aid with conditions) will require Board approval.
Loans from foreign governments— will require Board approval. Furthermore— unless otherwise negotiated, all loans made to the Government of Haiti (with Board approval) will be paid back through profits from the sale (at market rates) of exports (most notably gas and oil) along with a 5% discount used as interest on the loan.
Taxes— No income taxes. The only tax (if any) the average Haitian citizen should be burdened with is perhaps a modest sales tax. All revenue to cover government expenses should come from taxes/tariffs from exports, oil and gas and the tourist industry operated by individuals and corporations (foreign and domestic).
Is this everything? Of course not. In all honesty, I consider this article and the proposals within as more of an outline. It gets the ball rolling. Some might say after reading that this sounds too socialist, even communist and you couldn’t be more wrong. That being said there’s few things you really need to consider. (And let this sink in.) First and most important— Haiti is roughly the size of the state of Maryland. Think about that. Haiti is roughly the size of the state of Maryland. We’re not talking about Canada, India or even the state of Texas. Maryland. Take a look at just about all countries similar in size to Haiti and you’ll find their governments lean just a little more socialist than much larger countries. Why? Because of the size and natural resources within the countries. That is unless they are territories owned or controlled by much larger nations like the U.S. Virgin Islands or Guam. Outside of that, you have small independent nations that are either dirt poor or filthy rich. Haiti has been dirt poor for as long as I can remember.
If Haiti finally got their shit together, there would be more work for it’s citizens than you could shake a stick at. Add the prime directive of those in control of the country and the results would be life-changing for generations to come.
Unfortunately, the people of Haiti have to resign themselves to the ugly truth that they are incapable of self-governing. Corruption has embedded itself so deeply within the country that the only way out is intervention by outside sources as described above and have to remain in place until said corruption is completely defeated. There is no self-cure for what ails Haiti and all the money thrown at it won’t change a thing other than make those in power through fear and corruption wealthier while the citizens suffer increased crime and poverty.
I realize this is a big ask for the people of Haiti but after appearing to have tried just about everything to get your country back on track, as Donald Trump asked black voters during the 2015 election— what the hell do you have to lose? But in order for any positive change to take hold and grow, the mindset of the Haitian people has to change and I guarantee you, this will be the most difficult of all. When most Haitians have learned to live with crime, violence and corruption for the last 50 years, they will have to learn how to discard that way of life for a life of law and order. Some will not be able to make the adjustment and find themselves in prison and as sad as that comment is, it’s going to be not only necessary, but imperative for the well being of the country. Can Haitians play a role in their government? Eventually… maybe. A better question would be, could they play a role in their government without the enticement of bribery leading back to corruption? Baby steps.
Two more things I’d like to add before I close this article out.
First is, let’s say for argument sake that Haiti decides to go with the ideas stated and positive changes begin to materialize. Crime and corruption decreases significantly, cities are substantially improved. Schools built, jobs filled. The people are working again but not for corporate slave wages. The quality of Haitian life is getting better because they are the ones doing the work, not labor brought in from other places. “Haiti First” said with a renewed sense of pride becomes the slogan. Things may have been difficult in the beginning but as each issue is solved, moves the prosperity of Haiti at a faster clip.
Here’s the question: Once everything falls into place and Haitian life is better than they’ve seen in generations, does Haiti retain this new form of government or do the citizens say “Thanks for everything! We can take it from here,” and vote Haitians back into government. Tough question… huh? As exampled here in the U.S., it doesn’t take that long to go from a great America to a laughing stock. In fact, it can take as little as three years to throw a country into chaos and turmoil. My only advice would be (if the above were the result) to think long and hard before making the decision to go backwards. Why? Because corruption will be waiting for you with open arms if you do.
Second is what is called “Gentrification.” This is what happens when a city, even some place as small as a local neighborhood is improved to such an extent that more and more people want to live there resulting in higher and higher prices. What happens next? Those who live in these areas can no longer afford to basically forcing them to move. Measures have to be taken so this doesn’t get out of control. People under these circumstances have to be given a reasonable choice that won’t dramatically affect their well-earned new standard of living.
It all goes back to those in control of the country keeping their fiduciary responsibility of placing the people of Haiti top priority. The last thing anyone wants to see is a Haiti looking like large South American cities turning into opulent playgrounds for the rich while those who serve them return to slums after their shift.
I am more than certain there are plenty of good honest hard-working people in Haiti who are disgusted with the state of their nation knowing there is little to nothing they can do about it. Remember, Haiti is the only former French colony to win their independence from slavery in 1804 and ruled by non-whites and former captives. That’s something to be damn proud of but sadly, it all seemed to go downhill from there. Perhaps they just weren’t ready or prepared for the task of self-rule.
Perhaps they still aren’t. And until they are…
Perhaps it’s time to allow others who have nothing to personally gain other than the success of Haiti as their reward, run the show.
