Haiti's earthquake rekindles fears among its impoverished inhabitants that their island-nation is accursed, and of being left out, Gamal Nkrumah It is a terrible nightmare. The strongest earthquake to hit Haiti in more than two centuries rocked the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, a city of two million inhabitants, and the surrounding villages. According to humanitarian organisations, some three million people have been affected by the quake that measured 7.0 on the R scale. "Haiti has moved to the centre of the world's thoughts and the world's compassion." This time round, the disaster did not only devastate the sprawling slums of the Haitian capital, but even the elite in this impoverished nation did not escape unscathed. However, even though the Presidential National Palace was destroyed in the quake, President Rene Preval and the First Lady escaped unscathed before the palace collapsed. Tuesday's earthquake is also a terrible memory. A memory of a litany of man-made horrors and natural terrors haunt the Haitian national psyche, the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation. Last year, no less than 500 students and teachers were buried alive after a school collapsed in mysterious circumstances. The Haitian authorities blamed poor construction methods for the disaster. A year later nothing has changed, and what little has changed has been for the worse. Similarly, in August and September 2008, devastating hurricanes and tropical storms claimed the lives of more than 800 people. And, in July 2005, Hurricane Dennis killed 45 people and left a trail of death and destruction in its wake. That is where, for all the horrors that hit Haiti, the memory becomes important again. In at least one vital respect the world has not changed in the past year. The world is moved by Haiti's plight. Numerous countries stepped up humanitarian relief to Haiti including the United States, France and Venezuela. It is after all not nigh on impossible for citizens of the world to put themselves into the minds of the Haitian people who have suffered a series of horrific disasters. Little effort seems to be underway to create coherence in this penurious Caribbean nation. Some of the successes in Haiti over the last few months lie in what has not happened rather than what has. In January 2007, UN troops launched and offensive against Haiti's largest shantytown Cite Soleil. They attempted to stamp out violence engendered by gangsters and drug dealers. Indeed, narcotics trade has emerged as the most lucrative sector of the economy. As Al-Ahram Weekly went to the press, Hedi Annabi, a Tunisian national and the United Nations Secretary General special envoy to Haiti, was reported missing. Could this misfortune be because Haiti in April 2003 declared Voodoo the official religion of the country on par with other recognised faiths? Haiti was the first and only country in the world to do so. Most Haitians, however, are proud of their national heritage and do not believe that the series of misfortunes that have plagued the country is Divine retribution. This idea had special resonance among the many Christians of the country. Voodoo is, in point of fact, anathema to the country's Christians. Yet Haitians derive a sense of national pride from their own revolutionary heritage. Haiti, after all, was the first black independent nation in the world to shake off the colonial yoke when the former slave Toussaint Louverture abolished slavery in the Caribbean island and led a war of national liberation. His heroic efforts bore fruit when another former slave Jean-Jacques Dessalines declared himself emperor of Haiti and independence from France. Civil war between Haitians of unadulterated African blood and those of mixed European and African heritage prompted the US to intervene militarily in Haiti ostensibly to defend its endangered property and investments in the island-nation. This was the beginning of American neo-colonialism in Haiti which was independent in name, but in reality was ruthlessly subjected to American economic clout. In 1956, the Voodoo physician Francois "Papa Doc" Duvallier usurped power and instilled a reign of terror in Haiti. His son, "Baby Doc" Jean-Claude pronounced himself president for life in 1971 after the death of his father. The country still hasn't fully recovered from the terrible record of the Duvalliers. Western powers were supportive of the Duvallier dictatorship and acquiescent to their deplorable human rights record. However, in 1990 a glimmer of hope was instilled in the hearts and minds of the Haitian people when a charismatic clergyman Jean-Bertrand Aristide was elected president. After surviving assassination attempts and military takeovers, Aristide was re- elected president in November 2000.
