Sobre o Haiti

Robertson’s Right: Haiti has a Pact with the Devil, por Thomas Knapp, no Center for a Stateless Society:

Robertson’s version of Haiti’s “pact with the devil” alludes to the 1791 slave rebellion, which was allegedly launched with religious ceremony by Vodou priest Dutty Boukman.

The real pact with the real devil — government — came later, as Haiti labored under the “governorship-for-life” of Toussaint-Louverture, the “emperorship-for-life” of Jean-Jacques Dessalines, the “kingship” of Henri I and “presidency-for-life” of Alexandre Pétion, the indemnity regime of Boyer, 32 coups, 20 years of US occupation, the Duvalier dictatorship …

With the usual suspects screaming hysterically about Haiti’s potential post-earthquake “descent into anarchy,” the obvious question is whether Haitians wouldn’t have been better off with 200 years of it!

Haiti's real deal with the devil, por Maggie Koerth-Baker:

Back in May, the Times Online provided some slightly better insight into Haiti's past.

Summary: Haiti was forced to pay France for its freedom. When they couldn't afford the ransom, France (and other countries, including the United States) helpfully offered high-interest loans. By 1900, 80% of Haiti's annual budget went to paying off its "reparation" debt. They didn't make the last payment until 1947. Just 10 years later, dictator François Duvalier took over the country and promptly bankrupted it, taking out more high-interest loans to pay for his corrupt lifestyle. The Duvalier family, with the blind-eye financial assistance of Western countries, killed 10s of thousands of Haitians, until the Haitian people overthrew them in 1986. Today, Haiti is still paying off the debt of an oppressive dictator