Deforestation & Dislocation in Haiti

Political and economic power are often linked, but in Haiti the two have been almost indistinguishable - to the detriment of the environment and the majority of the population (Wallich 36). Due to the ravages of a political-economic elite visited upon the land, deforestation in the past half century has denuded Haiti's once-dense forests to the point that they now cover only two percent of the land (Garelik 61). With two-thirds of the farmlands sloping more than twenty degrees, and a population density of over 270 per square kilometer, erosion is severe. Water shortages are pandemic on the island. Arable land has declined by two-fifths since 1950 and per capita grain production has been halved (Maternowska n.p.). Repression and gross maldistribution of the land have been the major caused for this rapid decline in the ecological health of the Haitian nation.

More than 1.3 million Haitians - or one-in-five of the populace - have left their homelands (Maternowska n.p.). The America

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ility. Political leaders changed from coup to coup; the United States occupied Haiti from 1915 through 1934; more coups followed and then, in 1957, Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier came to power. Papa Doc, a physician and voodoo practitioner, headed what was to become a three decade, mini-dynastic dictatorial reign of terror based upon voodoo superstition, private police thuggery, and almost unbridled rape of the country's resources. In this he was aided and abetted by the nation's elite. The Duvalier regime ended in 1986 with his son's exile, but the promise of democratic government and reform was betrayed by a return of the coup as the primary Haitian political process. Father Jean-Bertrand Aristide was elected president, deposed, then returned to power last year in a U.S.-led international effort to resolve some of the nation's woes. The military no longer rules Haiti; the thugs of the Tontons Macoutes and other para-police repressive organizations have been reigned in; but the property owners who have traditionally benefitted from the previous governments has not been seriously challenged. Four percent of Haiti's population owns more than half the nation's land (Maternowska n.p.), mirroring the typical Third World social st
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2735
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page)