Dominican Republic and Haiti: Country Studies

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Dominican Republic and Haiti: Country Studies
Haitian popsicles are eaten by squeezing the bottom and sucking
from the top)
At the beginning of the 1980s, a period of economic decline
and stagnation set in. Based on all the economic indicators,
Haiti fell to the bottom of the group of least-developed nations.
Bad governance, combined with a series of natural disasters,
increased discontent and misery. By 1986 nearly half of all Haitians
were unemployed, and many more were underemployed.
Many people were not getting enough to eat and were dying of
treatable illnesses.
In the first half of the 1980s, Haiti's problems intensified. In
1982 Hurricane Allen destroyed plantations growing coffee,
one of Haiti's principal agricultural products. In 1982 and
1983, droughts further devastated agricultural production. In
1983 Reynolds Aluminum, which mined bauxite in Haiti, left.
The same year, the worldwide economic crisis hit Haiti. Then,
acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) became associated
with Haiti, causing tourism to plummet and some foreignowned
assembly plants to leave. To avoid the spread of African
swine fever, Haitian black pigs were all eradicated by 1984.
These pigs had been the major protein source for Haitians
and, in effect, their savings account (see Livestock and Fishing,
ch. 8). In addition, high population growth caused the subdivision
of land into plots too small to support a family. Overcultivated
and deforested terrain was causing soil erosion and
depletion of charcoal, the major energy source.
Dissatisfaction with Jean-Claude increased following a oneday
visit by Pope John Paul II on March 9, 1983. The government
encouraged the visit, hoping it would revive the president's
declining reputation. The president, his ministers, and a
crowd estimated at 200,000 met the pontiff at the airport. Jean-
Claude spoke first, conceding his concordatory right to name
the church hierarchy. Then the pope spoke. He recalled that
Haiti was the first Latin American country to proclaim liberty
and added how important it was to have liberty. The Eucharistic
and Marial Congress he had come to attend reminded him
that the meaning of the Eucharist was service and love, and the
Haitian church needed to serve everyone, especially the poorest.
The slogan of the Congress was "something has to change
here," and the pope agreed. He continued, saying that there
was a "deep need for justice, a better distribution of goods,
more equitable organization of society and more participation.
There was a legitimate desire for freedom of expression, access
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