Haiti - Perfect Port-au-Prince

How'd you like our visit to Egypt? Good station, huh?

OK, let's head to Haiti today!

Pinky's been aching to go here for a few years now. He really wanted to go last fall but couldn't find anyone to go with him (he hates traveling alone.) He even solicited for a companion on Facebook but only got a "wish I could" from our friend Mr.Wm. Gulley and a safety warning from his brother. Annnnnnd, then the quake came along and destroyed the capital. Sigh... 

y'all know the devastation and tragedy.

Anyway, flights to Port-Au-Prince have resumed and Pinky can get tickets fairly cheap through an airline membership he's signed up with, so there's a standing invitation to y'all if anyone wants to head down there. Perhaps we could volunteer in Port Au Prince? He's happy to do anything, just so long as we can visit the cave paintings and Citadelle Laferrière at some point.

they have a massssssive stash of cannon balls. like, we're talking about a lot of balls. a lot.

So, Haiti was "discovered" by Columbus and the Spanish quickly decimated the indigenous population to the point that they began importing enslaved Africans because they'd killed too of the many natives to run a colony. Their treatment of the Africans was just as brutal. At one point while the French and Spanish had split the island, about 1/3 of the new slaves were dying within a few years of their arrival. It was France's most profitable colony, so that when Haiti fought a 12 year war and won its independence in 1804, France didn't let them forget that.

we will with hold your baguettes and crepes!

(too much? sorry, France. we really do love you.)

Haiti was the only nation born of a successful slave revolt in recorded history, but it took two decades for the world to recognize it's independence. And, then France only agreed to the recognition after Haiti paid them an astronomical sum of 150,000,000 Francs (which was 10 times Haiti's annual revenue and twice the price of the Louisiana Purchase, which is 70 times larger.) So even after winning their freedom, Haiti was extorted into buying it, too. That's a pretty big fuck you to the Haitians, huh? 

That interaction violated international law - even then - and it still hasn't been rectified to this day. That massive debt has screwed over Haiti ever since as every available bit of cash was sent overseas for debt repayment. This inhibited Haiti from investing in their own country. In 1915, 80% of their government's revenue went to the French bank that had financed their "debt." The desperate need for cash forced the Haitian farmers to take on risky and/or environmentally intensive crops, and catastrophic deforestation and soil erosion ensued. 

Economic instability fostered political instability, and as a result, Haiti has been subject to 32 coups in its 206-year history. That's an average of one every 6.5 years. Though many were internally driven, not all were. The French, German, British, and American forces have all allegedly engendered coups and have supposedly cleared out the national vaults on more than one occasion. Yikes. 

scenes from the 2004 coup

So, with all of that said, there is good stuff happening in Haiti - aside from the current cholera outbreak, the widespread homelessness and poverty, uniform environmental degradation, and so on. The arts, painting, native crafts, and writing, have been gaining international light since the earthquake in 2009. With our minds focused on Haiti's pre-colonialism culture, let's tune in to Haiti and listen to what it sounds like today, shall we?

Radio Galaxie

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