en-us Copyright 2008 - All Rights Reserved. Mon, 23 Nov 2009 01:57:30 GMT 15 By Reesha Roopchan
In Haiti, going out for a walk might result in never returning home. Almost all the country is illiterate because education is not common. Circumstances there exacerbate with each passing day, making conditions for all individuals fearsome and daunting. The citizens yearn to leave, but essentially, they have nowhere to go. Located on the western third of the island of Hispaniola, The Republic of Haiti is situated right next to the Dominican Republic. Discovered by Christopher Columbus, it is considered the first black republic. The people lived decent lives and the land was covered with an abundance of natural resources. However, throughout the decades, outside intervention has caused this towering country to gradually crash over time. Today, Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere, with the majority of its citizens living on less than $1 per day. Approximately 80% of the population lives a life of adversity. Most residents strictly depend on agricultural areas (which are a means of continual farming) in order to get through each day, however, deforestation and frequent natural disasters such as hurricanes and floods have distorted much of the land, leaving them to suffer. Kidnappings are becoming more and more familiar in Haiti. Gangs hold civilians captive with the belief that in return they will receive a ransom. The actual numbers of kidnappings taking place are very high. Only a fraction of the total number of kidnappings were actually reported to police because families would rather deal with the kidnappers personally. Parents are afraid of sending their children off to school because captors are always out lurking and waiting for their next victim. It is this same dread that keeps Haitians locked up in their homes all the time. Recently, civilians, frightened and even fed-up, got together and held a strike protesting the never-ending abductions, demanding better security from the 9,000 U.N. peacekeeping forces. Their main objection was to put a stop to the gangs, in addition to restoring social equality in Haiti. Juan Gabriel Valdes, the U.N. chief in Haiti, promised to take action against the slum gangs and kidnappers; he vowed to prohibit any attempt to threaten the elections. But the tragic death of the U.N. troop chief (Brazilian Lieutenant General Urano Teixeira Da Matta Bacellar), which is believed to be suicide, has left the troops feeling aimless. Each day many Haitians flee from Haiti fearing they will lose their lives. Most are turned away and ignored by Caribbean neighbors and the U.S. One man, Theodore Fritz, who could have been easily killed by gang members, got away by sea. Because the gang members couldn’t find him, they moved on to the next best thing, his pregnant wife. She was so brutally beaten, lost the baby she was carrying and now has to wear a metal plate in one of her legs because of how serious her injury was. Fritz was the only exception out of the many Haitian refugees that was allowed refuge by the U.S. Coast Guard. While he remains in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, hoping to move to Canada, his wife remains in Haiti still hiding from gangsters and desperately in need of medical attention. Aside from these corroding influences on the country, the democratic process still seems to work. In the 2006 Haitian Presidential election, Rene Preval, Leslie Manigat, and Charles Henri Baker were the three running mates. Preval was in the lead with a vote of 49.6%; Manigat followed in second place with an 11% vote; in third place was Baker, with a vote of 8%. In order for one of the three candidates to be elected, one of them would need a vote of 50%. Although it was clear that Preval was the winner, he needed the 50%. It was then that several thousands of people stormed the streets of Port-Au-Prince and persisted that Preval had already won, and requested that the results be announced immediately. In the end, the Electoral College publicly declared Rene Preval as the new President. ]]> Fri, 17 Mar 2006 12:27:00 GMT