I've spent the past week discussing with many colleagues that the Haiti Earthquake was a manmade disaster. The 7.0 earthquake was clearly not, but the extent of this disaster is man made.
TO say that of course I need some comparisons -follow me over the jump.
The 1989 Loma Pprieta earthquake was a very similar earthquake -
6.9-7.1 on the Richter scale,
11 miles depth, on a similar strike-slip fault line.
No of dead: 63
In the interest of full disclosure - the epicenter was not in a highly populated area
The Northridge Earthquake was a bit smaller than Haiti - Jan 1994
6.7 on the Richter Scale
19km depth
No of dead: 57
So you get my point. It is hard to compare earthquakes, and not being in the hurricane path, Californian's have the luxury of building wooden homes that survive earthquakes much better.
What I really wanted to discuss is hate and the quake. Sir Hilary Beckles is Principal of the Cave Hill (Barbados) Campus of the University of the West Indies and a Professor of Economic and Social History, is a well respected voice from the Caribbean. He is the foremost scholar of the history of Barbados, and has also worked extensively on the history of Jamaica and other Caribbean Islands.
He has weighed in with his excellent article "The Hate and the quake" published in the Barbados Advocate
I think most people know by now that Haitians fought to be a free country ..they fought long and hard, but the won - and those that lost the battle were very bitter
Ostracized
The French refused to recognise Haiti’s Independence and declared it an illegal pariah state. The Americans, whom the Haitians looked to in solidarity as their mentor in Independence, refused to recognise them, and offered solidarity instead to the French. The British, who were negotiating with the French to obtain the ownership title to Haiti, also moved in solidarity, as did every other nation-state in the western world. Haiti was isolated at birth - ostracised and denied access to world trade, finance, and institutional development..... The Haitians were alone from inception. The crumbling began.
Then came 1825;...The economy is bankrupt; the political leadership isolated. The Cabinet took the decision that the state of affairs could not continue. The country had to find a way to be inserted back into the world economy. The French government was invited to a summit. Officials arrived and told the Haitian government that they were willing to recognise the country as a sovereign nation but it would have to pay compensation and reparation in exchange. The Haitians, with backs to the wall, agreed to pay the French.
Thus began the systematic destruction of the Republic of Haiti. The French Government bled the nation and rendered it a failed state. It was a merciless exploitation that was designed and guaranteed to collapse the Haitian economy and society. Haiti was forced to pay this sum until 1922 when the last instalment was made. During the long 19th century, the payment to France amounted to up to 70% of the country’s foreign exchange earnings.... Haiti was crushed by this debt payment. It descended into financial and social chaos. The republic did not stand a chance. France was enriched and it took pleasure from the fact that having been defeated by Haitians on the battlefield, it had won on the field of finance. In the years when the coffee crops failed, or the sugar yield was down, the Haitian government borrowed on the French money market at double the going interest rate, to repay the French government.
I am sure there are tons of perspectives on this, and I have been in numerous arguments over the past week about why Haiti couldn't be more like the US and getting their stuff together etc.
Clearly this understanding of the past is necessary to move forward. I hail from the Caribbean and have seen "aid" and help move in and know that all too often the power structure that is left in place following a period of "assistance" is often a stereotypical caricature of those weaselly sycophant characters that Disney loves to create.
Which is why when I heard Tracy Kidder on Dr. Maddow last week I opened up my check book to Partners in Health. This guys really gets it! I am one of the indigenous type people of a small Caribbean Island and it is so rare to hear someone from an aid agency that understands how they are perceived and what they really need to do to help. I was cheering by the end of this interview. I(I couldn't find just his piece, but Dr. Maddow starts with her interview of him at around 4 mins in) -I can't seem to get the embed codes to work.
So if you haven't already - please consider giving to Partners in Health