Haiti's Struggles: Past, Present, and Political

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Haiti is the unequivocally the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, indeed, the country is so poor that its citizen cannot even afford eating foods and Haitian children need to eat dirts to stay alive. [1] Nevertheless, Haiti is the home to the only successful slave rebellion; Toussaint Louverture, last governor of French Saint-Domingue, was born a slave.
Why are these background informations useful? Because these informations provide us some important basic knowledges of Haiti. As a country mainly composed of ex-slaves, Haiti is mainly composed of people of African origin. However, why is Haiti so poor compared to its other black majority neighbors such as Saint Kitts and Neves and Barbados? Because Haiti did not attain its independence through peaceful means. Haitian revolt against the French, and they indeed won, against Napoleon Bonaparte[2].

Let us get back to our course now. Haiti is a democracy, "illiberal democracy" to be precise. After the departure of Duvalier, "Baby Doc" Jean-Claude , Haitian amended their constitution to make the presidential election be held every five years, allowing presidents to serve five-year long non-renewable terms [3]. Presidents are eligible for reelection after their mandate and their successor's mandates have passed. Haitian legislators naively …show more content…

The current authoritarian regime could not produce that democratic power. The upper class originally wanted Charles-Henri Baker, one of the richest person in Haiti, to be president, however he was not even close to the threshold. The socialites chose the second best alternative, Martelly, and want to keep him(and them) in power forever. Haiti may never attain democracy, or it may suddenly become democratic just after one night. Haitian government needs to not go back to its Duvalierst back trail and increase government transparency, otherwise Haiti will never complete the transition from the poorest to the second

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