Haiti:
Haiti is still in a mess. The poorest country in the Americas is still poorer than poor, and nothing has really improved all that much since Baby Doc fled the country.
In February, 2001, Jean-Bertrand Aristide was elected once again as president, after seven years of watching from the sidelines.
In February 2004, anti-Aristide rebels took over various towns and cities throughout Haiti, and on the 29th, Artistide either left voluntarily before the rebels reached the capital city of Port-au-Prince, or was hustled off by U.S. marines--depending on whose story you believe. He's now languishing in the Central African Republic, which is not one of the nicest places you could exile yourself to....
Things calmed down in the streets after Aristide's departure, but with the rebels sort of in control, and a few hundred U.S. and troops stationed around the city, the situation is not exactly idyllic. The UN may send in a stabilization force. And Baby Doc is trying to return to Haiti after living in exile in France (a much better place to be in exile....).
Forty per cent of Haiti's 8 million people have no access to healthcare, and 75 per cent have no access to family planning. One child in eight does not live past age 5. There are hardly any forests left in Haiti, either, and this formerly beautiful country is a sad example of total environmental degradation. Not surprisingly, tourism is not big in Haiti these days. Ironically, this country is located on the same island as the Dominican Republic, a Caribbean tourist haven.
This page last updated March 4, 2004.