A few days ago, I heard a News commentator say that Haiti was the poorest Nation in the Northern Hemisphere. I did research and quickly discovered that the statement reported as a fact by the News commentator, was a lie.
Is Haiti really a POOR, Nation? No, not by any means.
Factually speaking, Haiti is unquestionably a resource-rich, mineral-rich nation. “Today, billions of dollars worth of gold, silver, copper, and zinc are believed to be buried beneath Haiti’s mountains. A new mine could generate thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue.” Tax Revenue in this case is by the people, for the people, and distributed equitable among the to the Haitian People.
Geography:
Area. total: 27,750 sq km. land: 27,560 sq km. water: 190 sq km. Climate. tropical; semiarid where mountains in the east cut off trade winds. Natural resources. bauxite, copper, calcium carbonate, gold, marble, hydropower, arable land.
Let’s be clear, Haiti has continued to be punished by many in the global community for fighting and obtaining its independence from France. Sixth-five years before African-Americans won their freedom in the United States, Jean-Jacques Dessalines and Henry Christophe prevailed over the French, and Dessalines declared Haiti independent in 1804. As a Melanated Nation, Hait has one distinctive characteristic with many of her African sister nations: Rich but Poor by Design.
On January 12, 2010, one of the most devastating earthquakes in recorded history leveled the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince. The earthquake that killed more than 150,000 of Haiti’s beloved people unmasked some sinister secrets that most Western nations have known for years. The earthquake revealed that Haiti has oil reserves the size of Venezuela’s or more extensive. Moreover, Haiti also has tremendous resources of Gold & Minerals like Iridium.
For many years, the world community has labeled Haiti the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, suppressing the news of its great wealth. Governments and individuals who have worked in ways to prohibit Haiti from using its natural resources to promote sustainable economic development benefiting the Haitian people have, in many ways, violated the spirit of humanity and the United Resolution 1803, 3171, and 3201.
Facts About Haiti’s Natural Resource Wealth:
1) Scientists Daniel and Ginette Mathurin indicate that Haitian soil is rich in oil fossil fuel, and gold which Haitian and foreign experts collected. “We have identified 20 sites Oil, launches Daniel Mathurin stating that 5 of them are considered very important by practitioners and policies
2) The Central Plateau, including the region of Thomond, the plain of the cul-de-sac, and the bay of Port-au-Prince, is filled with oil, he said, adding that Haiti’s oil reserves are larger than those of Venezuela. An Olympic pool compared to a glass of water is the comparison to show the importance of oil Haitian compared to those of Venezuela, “he explains.
All Haitians must realize that their glorious nation in the Caribbean is not poor but enormously wealthy. The proof is as close as their computers and the internet. It is time for Haitians in the diaspora worldwide to work in unison with their people in-country to ensure that Haiti’s natural resources lift its mighty people who have suffered far too long.
Haitians suffered unimaginably for many years under French rule. After the revolution, they suffered under the control of foreign-appointed and endorsed dictators who showed the Haitian people no mercy, respect, or love.
Haitian people must not see the glass as half-empty; contrarily, their glass is truly half-full and growing fuller all the time. Additionally, Haitians have every right to stand tall and be proud of their historical past. The Haitian Revolution, which lasted from (1791–1804), was the only slave revolt that led to the founding of a new nation. Haitians and all people of African descent worldwide should be very proud of their people living on this small Caribbean Island nation for achieving a monumental triumph over a powerful oppressor.
Most people throughout the world have no idea about one of the most disturbing twists in the aftermath of the Haitian revolution; that being, Haiti was forced, by France and its Western Allies, to pay massive reparations to France. France, the colonizer, demanded this pound of flesh before recognizing Haiti’s Sovereignty and ending the nation’s political and economic isolation. What a concept, the oppressed forced to pay the oppressor. These payments set back Haiti’s economic development for generations. Today, Haitians are still feeling the crushing economic pain.
Fact: African Americans and our brothers and sisters throughout the Caribbean Islands are still fighting for reparations for the enslavement, stolen labor, and brutal mistreatment of our forefathers and mothers in the Americas.
Haiti’s Sad fact, many of Haiti’s elites identified more with the French colonists than their Haitian brothers and sisters. One of the most atrocious actions of Jean-Claude Duvalier during his 15-year presidency was his participation in the cover-up regarding Haiti’s resource wealth.
Duvalier was well aware of Haiti’s resource wealth; however, he used designer poverty to kill thousands of his people and negatively affected the health of thousands more. At the same time, he maintained the continued support of Prime Ministers and Presidents from around the world. Western powers were complicit in Duvalier’s dastardly deeds committed without any signs of remorse or regret.
In the 1990–91 Haitian general election, the honorable Jean-Bertrand Aristide became Haiti’s first democratically elected president. Aristide won his election with 67% of the vote. Following a brief military coup in September 1991, Aristide was president again from 1994 to 1996 and 2001 to 2004.
Aristide was ousted in the 2004 coup d’état after right-wing ex-army paramilitaries invaded the country from across the Dominican border. Aristide and many others have alleged that the United States had a role in orchestrating the coup against him.
Former U.S. President George Bush forced him into exile in the Central African Republic and eventually to South Africa. He finally returned to Haiti in 2011 after seven years in exile. Western governments and their Haitian collaborators punished President Jean-Bertrand Aristide for simply loving his people.
Let’s be clear, Haiti’s natural resources belong to the Haitian people, period! Haiti’s diamonds and gold, natural gas, and oil reserves could dramatically accelerate Haiti’s economic recovery and enable the Haitian People to become self-sufficient. It would allow Haiti’s leaders to push for financial independence through trade and industry rather than promised handouts! Haiti can achieve higher economic growth rates and rising prosperity by comprehensively implementing the “Aristide Plan.” Haiti must also find an honest broker to extract revenue from the abundance of its natural resources. This strategy will vastly enhance all Haitians’ quality of life and quickens the nation’s economic development.
U.N. Resolutions 1803, 3171, and 3201 provide Haiti, Africa, and other states permanent full title and ownership over their natural resources.
Breaking News “The U.N. human rights chief on Monday urged countries to “fully fund comprehensive processes” and take “a wide range of reparations measures” to address the legacies of slavery, colonial rule, and racial discrimination.”
France must be first in line to reverse its’ cruel treatment of Haiti. After Haiti won its independence from France in 1804, however, Freedom from France in 1804 did not mean an end to foreign powers intervening in Haiti. Like most colonial powers, the French, democratically ruled at home, had/have no desire to see free Haitian/African people live in and enjoy democracy.
France only recognized an independent Haiti in 1825 after its former Haiti agreed to pay compensation and reparations that would be worth $22 billion today. Over the next 120 years, Haiti had to pay an annual fee for its national Sovereignty. These debt payments to France were as much as 80 percent of Haiti’s revenues. Now, does the world community understand why Haiti is still struggling to feed and house its people?
“During the nearly two-decade occupation, the United States controlled Haiti’s security and finances. It also imposed racial segregation, forced labor, press censorship, and deposed presidents and legislatures that opposed the U.S. presence. Some fifteen thousand Haitians were killed in rebellions against the U.S. administration, the bloodiest of which occurred in 1919 and 1929. President Franklin D. Roosevelt withdrew U.S. troops in 1934 as part of his Good Neighbor Policy.”