I feel like France doesn't get enough flak for its colonial history like Britain does. By far the former French colonies are some of the worst performing states in the modern day compared to former British and even Spanish colonies, and France continues practices of modern colonialism to this day.
I was deployed to Haiti in 2010 after the earthquake hit. That was the first time I've ever experienced pure anarchy, chaos, and complete poverty when we left the airport.
Yea. It's really unfortunate that France and US decided to kidnap Africans and slave them in their colonies. Also unfurtonate that after just few time after freeing from them they came back robbing the country at gunpoint. And definitely unfortunate that when democracy was starting to work and they were claiming justice and restitution the US and France decided to support criminal groups to start a civil war.
Not a regio,but a colony….it was annexed to Spain again by some of the same people who were instrumental in the war for independence from Haiti; but a lot of dominicans didn’t want this,they wanted to be free,so they went to war with Spain and won independence yet again…This victory is celebrated as Restoration Day,in the DR….We restored our independence as a free sovereign republic.
as a dominican living in the dr, i thank you for doing this video and shine light on this topic, since i feel it has been poorly covered and not given the enough importance that it deserves
x2, im subscribed to see more international issues and other subjects on the channel, this was a nice suprise, BERY well explained. The best solution (IF POSSIBLE) that i see to Haiti, its to try and solve all their problems at same time, Economic, security, a MASSIVE reforestation, and proper building able to withstand both hurricanes AND earthquakes.
It would be interesting to see a comparison between all of the former French, British and Spanish colonies. At first glance, it seems like a LOT of former French colonies are failed states.
The Haitians MASSACRED every French man, woman and child in 1804. I'm afraid that you'll have to blame the failure of Haiti on somebody else....or maybe BECAUSE there weren't any white folks, as there were in the DR??
Who would administer the reparations? The Haitians themselves? If so, it will only be stolen by corruption and not a penny will see improvements to Haitians' living standards. Can't just throw money at problems, there has to be some kind of mechanism to ensure the money goes towards its intended purpose.
France and USA made them pay over 21 Billion dollars for their independence and US soldiers stole their gold… If France gives back the money things might change in Haiti….
As a Haitian still living in Port-au-Prince, you have my thanks for this very insightful review of our history. I wish I could say that things are getting better but that is absolutly not the case. I love my country so much and it's sad that you can't see yourself optimisticly within a year or 2. This spiral may never end.
The spiral will end eventually my friend, you just have to believe things will be better. I wish you and your country much fortune in the coming years.
Im from Antigua and Barbuda, currently in Guyana, I wasnt aware that our country were sending people over to Haiti, let alone the magnitude of the situation the countrys been in ever since 2021. I hope peace and prosperity can be met within Haiti one day
@joe-pm4ls 😂. Venezuela isn't going to do anything cause there's oil and the US is boots on the ground. Maduro will get the Noriega treatment from our military very fast. He already knows this...fafo.
There's this song from my childhood that I tend to sing whenever I think about Haiti. It's pretty much my prayer for a brighter future. The song is called Sove Peyi Mwen, meaning save my country. "Sove peyi mwen Bondye, Ou konnen nou soti lwen, wo-oh Veye fanmi mwen San yo, m pa t ap janm ka anyen, no, no, no W a sove peyi mwen Nou p ap kite l menm jan demen Chanje krangou tounen vant plen Nou p ap kite l menm jan demen" -Christopher "FREEDOM" Laroche, 2004 Translation: Save my country Good God, you know we came a long way Watch over my family As without, I wouldn't have become anything You'll save my country Don't leave it the same way tomorrow Change hunger, turn it into a filled belly We won't keep it the same way tomorrow" Having been raised in Haiti for a while, the country holds an important place in my heart. I don't know if I'll ever be able to see Haiti prosper in my lifetime, but I pray that somewhere in its course, it gets to see greater days. Note: in the translation, 'You' refers to God.
thank you for sharing this! I am a 1st gen Haitian American and it’s sad how far removed I feel from my culture. I will definitely check this song out and hold it near and dear ❤
Haiti dedicated itself to Satan, so it got what it wanted. I know that seems like a bad thing to say, but when evil takes over a land, then it always gets d e s t r o y e d .
As a Dominican living abroad, thank you for covering the histories of both nations with scrutiny and not shying away from their imperfections. I didn't know about the conspiracy with Aristide. It definitely helps me see the situation in Haiti differently. Thank you.
you visited the wrong side of la romana, la romana has casa de campo and it soroundings arguably one of the richest places in the americas. @@nonyaluvnlyfe6494
@@nonyaluvnlyfe6494 Im haitian, the thing is, Haiti compared to ANY country in the americas makes that country look "very nice", even if it's also a 3rd world country with an even higher murder rate. The problem is, the standard of living in Haiti is much lower overall
@@nonyaluvnlyfe6494 there’s still a lot of poverty in DR, I know what you’re talking about cuz I’ve been to La Romana multiple times, but the thing is, overall the country has grown in such a way no other country in the Americas has, DR was one of the poorest countries in Latin America just 35-40 years ago, now its HDI is slightly higher than giant countries like Brazil as of 2023, all of this was achieved in some few decades, if this trend continues, I can’t even imagine what DR will be like in some 50 years from now, hopefully they won’t mess up like Venezuela or Argentina which were expected to be fully developed by this time and then they went backwards.
@@Jean-vp1yryeah the DR might actually become fully developed before bigger Latam countries like Colombia & Venezuela, hopefully they keep it up. Also Latam as a whole should strive to become developed or near it by 2050
From 2016-2019 I led several teams on mission trips to Haiti every year. The last time I was there we got stopped by a roadblock of several armed men. We were concerned but we trusted our driver and interpreter, who we had known and worked with for years. He rolled down the window and said something to one of the men, and based on his body language they knew each other. They chatted like friends for a few seconds before the armed man started barking out orders to the others to clear the way for us to pass. The whole ordeal lasted just a minute or two. Afterwards we asked our driver what all that was about and he, in a roundabout way, confirmed it was a gang, but that he was a childhood friend of the the head guy’s younger brother so we had nothing to worry about as long as we were with him. A year later we get the heartbreaking news that our driver’s wife was shot and killed while shopping. I haven’t been back since and probably never will.
@@aljoschalong625 Because he didnt dude. Generally people are chosen for specific conflict areas for their skill set. This is a case of too many video games. Prob a seal recon 69 zulu sniper.
Those million of dollars Haiti never seen. The information is out there so if you guys truly want to know, the information is there. Asked Clinton and his wife for the money that supposed to help rebuild Haiti. Yes, they do have corrupt politicians who are only working for their pockets, but so are the people who take part of the corruption. Clinton also destroy our rice production so he could sell his rice in the country. Talking about corruption, you will be surprised some key people who are involved in destroying the country. America is not innocent in what is going on in Haiti, and so are some other countries. For example, if someone is doing something where the law is prohibited, and I get involved in that, I am at wrong as much as that person. To what level? That's a different story.
UN needs to help build infrastructure and stop throwing money at them , only to disappear with each disposed president. The wall looks great, take note Biden.
Ask French, USA and beyond why? No matter what they will never control Haiti. Yes, they us alot of bad things. But Haiti will rise again despite that well designed plot for daring to abolish slavery. They keep up stealing from us for the longest and yet they blame it on us.
What an informative documentary. Thank you. I have been so ignorant in my history of Hispanola. I am now more informed. I have subscribed. Marvelous graphs of important data.This includes geographic/seismic data. Excellent documentary.
I know a woman whose parents are from Haiti and who has been to both Haiti and the Dominican Republic. I've only been to the Dominican Republic. One thing that I found odd that she said is that both countries seem to have drastically different environments and just "feel different." Your video explained a bit about why she felt that way, especially concerning deforestation.
yea i went to the DR/Haiti border a few years ago and you can see the difference. the haitian side becomes like a desert instantly. you can almost see a natural border because of the difference in foliage.
My grandfather RIP when I used to visit Dominican Rep as a little boy says Haiti is cursed because the majority of people do voodoo. And DR is a Christian nation that’s is why
I appreciate the mention of the Haitian aggression against the DR in the first half of the 19th century. Many historians when describing why Haiti is poor, they omit how after winning independence, they oppressed their neighbor.
and did you appreciate historians mentioning the Parsley Massacre of more than 20,000 Haitians at the Massacre River of 1932 under the orders of U.S. backed Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo? or do you appreciate historians mentioning how the U.S. sugar cane factories dominated Haiti, taking ownership of all the sugar cane farms to enrich the U.S? wink wink LOL
Please, do some research. You are right that Haiti did occupy DR (which they had no rights to) after their own liberation but remember that slavery was still present in DR...which means it was already an oppressed society (at least for black ppl) and it was the Haitians who abolished slavery for black people in DR during this occupation. So, please, tell me, who exactly was oppressed. ..better yet, don't
@@jangregory169 Haiti continued to have forced labor for many decades after the slave revolt against the French. The idea that the Haitians selflessly occupied their neighbors on the East side of the island to "free" them is ridiculous. They taxed the average person heavily so they could steal the labor from another nation, turning everyone into slaves of the Haitian state. Maybe talk to a Dominican historian and see how they see it. The story of the oppressed becoming oppressors is not unique historically at all. Just don't pretend as if the Dominicans don't have legitimate grievances against the Haitian government.
@@skyyy4570 my comment was based on the information in the video which was published three months before my comment. So, I’m not sure what you’re on about, but you do you
@@o.f.ftrack3444 Not quite installed, Duvalier was elected democratically before he abolished democracy in the country, but they undoubtedly provided significant support.
As a Haitian this is the best foreign video I’ve seen on Haitian history and Haiti-Dominican relations. Extremists on both sides are usually the loudest and give their respective people a bad rep. Also love seeing the comments filled with Dominicans expressing empathy and interest in the tragic history of a naturally beautiful nation. I wish people exposed the unity and empathy of both nations and the unbiased history. I’m proud of our neighbors for achieving all that they did to grow and make their country prosperous. Hoping to see the same for Haiti in my lifetime 🇭🇹 🇩🇴 ❤️
The Dominican Republic is the best potential partner of a stable and functional Haiti. if Haiti was a relatively safe, stable, with the basic infrastructure for trade, commerce and tourism, trust me that Haiti would be filled with Dominicans going there for tourism or business. I would love to visit Tortuga Island, Gonaive, Les Cayes, and Jeremie, as a Dominican, but it is simply way too difficult due to the lack of basic infrastructure. i am sure many other Dominicans have an interest in knowing Haiti other than Port-Au-prince or the border towns.
@@sonnymartinez3051The sad situation is the risk reward for DR government or any government to provide any support is too great. The DR plan is obviously to build the wall, stay their distance and let the inevitable happen. After the dust settles, go pick up the scraps.
Honestly, what is can the DR do? Haiti is an asymmetrically different nation from Dominicans, so an integration is out of the questions and will only lead to more problems. The best that Dominicans can do really is safeguarding and protecting their nation and territory from the chaos that governs the neighboring nation. DR has already helped out Haiti with real tangible aid more than all the countries of the world put together, and still continue to bear a heavy burden with Haitians.
I’ve been to Haiti at the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line’s privately owned beach. If you go just beyond the visitor area in the tree line there is a massive fence that looks like it belongs in Jurassic Park to keep the locals away from the tourists. When you’re in Jamaica, or any other Caribbean island, you just walk around the city along with the native inhabitants like any normal country. It was weird to such a drastic difference between the island nations.
I've been there as well. I spoke to local workers there that said the island was a pleasant free getaway for Haitians, but now they can't go there. They are very unhappy about it but feel powerless against parasitic foreign occupation.
@@UrbanCommentBot It's not "foreign occuption" for a private property to erect a fence to keep violent or looting trespassers out. If that fence was removed, rampant looting would occur.
Hm, although I was being a bit dramatic with that term to over empathize with the feelings of the people, I feel like you had to ignore parts of my comment to make that response. And that's fine. Thanks for your perspective.
@@naekosl3059 you mean looting from the previous inhabitants of Haiti by (presumably) the ancestors of the tourists. I’m not calling for violence against the descendants of slave owners, but there’s a reason the people in Haiti are struggling
Haiti is in far worse conditions that we can imagine, as many of their children are kidnapped, many men are killed, and the population suffers from disease outbreaks without a healthcare system. I truly feel for my neighbors and wish they recover from the terrible fate they've had.
Also pretty stupid to believe the DR is arming Haiti so the they can use the same weapon against the DR😂 pretty counter productive😂 it's your own Haitians from Florida sending in those weapons the elite that fled Haiti and the thugs too😂
@@emmasarlanis not enough time in an hour to explain every historical event, how about the trujillo era? The Mirabal sisters? And many other things. The subject of this video is explained wonderfully. Maybe he can go in depth in another one on these events you mentioned. I would happily watch as well.
I grew up with my Haitian dad never really talking about Haiti and what was going on. This video shows what my family in Haiti is really going through. This is just, horrible.
Look mate, I had to shatter your precious sad thoughts, but Haiti is messed because of Haitians, not because of the French or the American or deforestation. Absolutely laughable and your family would be much better off cleaning out their own country instead of blaming it on someone else.
I remember flying from Miami to Trinidad Is. about a dozen years ago and going directly over the border between Haiti and the DR. The pilot mentioned what we were about to cross and to "look at the difference in the two countries." Haiti looked like a barren desolate landscape and the DR a lush green land.
The last payments Haiti had to make, were in 1947. More than a decade later, Haiti and DR have still (surprisingly) the same GDP. Meaning both countries started in the 60s with comparable economical situations, even political. Over the last 60 years, Haiti received around US$20 billion in aid for reconstruction and development. And here we are ... believing that another $20 billion will change something. DR developed a civil society while Haiti perfected the art of anarchy. It would be interesting to look at how DR managed to do this, especially since the 60s, and why Haiti failed, under similar conditions.
Haiti chose low class crime culture as a way of life. There is now amount of money that can fix these cultures. Examples of failed low class crime cultures that stubbornly remain impoverished by choice despite having huge amounts of money thrown at them in order to help them change: Afghanistan, Haiti, and Urban African Americans. Some people choose poverty because they think it is cool.
@radiantgoldensun6438 Not lies. Different groups make different choices on how they want to live. All those choices add up to create a culture. Haiti has made poor choices collectively. That's their culture. Giving them money won't change the choices they make. There are already decades of aid that has gone to Haiti with little change. Their needs to be a cultural shift in Haiti before money will do any good. Once the people of Haiti show that they can be responsible and stop stealing and killing each other, you will find out that they won't need any aid. Foreign investment and the industriousness of the Haitin people will lift people out of poverty. The problem is that people have to choose a culture of peace and improvement while punishing the corrupt and murderous individuals in their society. So far, I have not seen the people of Haiti do that.
@@lprice5583 fake news, every culture has derelict behavior, you wrote that whole essay dismissing the fact that Haiti has been systematically kept oppressed allowing bad behavior to flourish-blaming Haiti while across the river DR is selling smex, trafficking ppl, and poisoning and killing US tourist-continue the ignorance though…
There are a few different issues at play with Haiti, but the short answer is a complicated history of colonialism, slavery, and racial tensions that were uniquely damaging to the nascent Haitian state. Whereas Haiti was the second independent nation in the Americas, the nations who secured independence after Haiti did so in much different paths. The United States secured independence with the help and recognition of France and Spain, and most of the colonial administration pre-independence remained in control after independence. While there were certainly adjustments, the leaders and power bases before and after American independence were largely the same. Other prominent breakaway factions accomplished the same: Simon Bolivar and his independence campaign exploited numerous existing administrators with sympathies towards independence, Brazil was de facto independent and at one point the actual seat of power for the Portuguese monarchy (who fled Europe during the Peninsular War), and the Dominican Republic had a number of issues on their path to independence but enjoyed protection by the United States during the last stages of independence. Haiti enjoyed none of this. The Haitian revolution was led in first stages by Toussaint Louverture, who was a freed slave and had little experience or political connections to rely on. He was tricked into meeting with the French under pretense of negotiations, at which point he was arrested in 1802 and died less than a year later in a French prison. Jean-Jacques Dessalines, another freed slave, largely took control of the Haitian revolutionary forces and established an independent Haiti in 1804, before being assassinated in 1806. Prior to his assassination, Dessalines ordered a mass killing of French citizens residing in Haiti, with at least 3,000 French executed and many thousands more fleeing to the United States. There were several consequences of this mass-killing, and of the general political disorder of both Loverture and Dessalines being removed from power in hostile manners in short period. The first is that the new state of Haiti was, rather uniquely for the various colonial nations that would pop up in the coming years, almost entirely devoid of Europeans. Some were spared, mostly Polish residents who had supported the revolution, but those not killed had fled. This was quite damaging as the remaining residents were largely former slaves who lacked the same education as the white citizens and the racial tension was worsened by these acts. Further, the mass execution and tales of the residents who fled to the United States inflamed the slaveowners of the South and created a paranoia about a potential mass slave revolt and mass killings of white southerners as happened in Haiti -- such paranoia continued well into the United States Civil War, with Confederates and Confederate sympathizers warning of "the horrors of St. Domingo" in the early years. This led to policy of isolation, began in 1804 by President Thomas Jefferson, and Haiti would not be officially recognized as an independent nation by the United States until *1862.* While all of this was damaging enough, the isolation also opened the door for diplomatic extortion of the Haitians. In 1825, the French government sent numerous warships to Haiti demanding the former colony pay an indemnity of 150 million francs for the property lost in the revolution (that is to say *the slaves who had revolted against them*) in exchange for diplomatic recognition. To pay the indemnity, the Haitians had to take out exorbitant loans, sometimes at interest as high as 18 per cent per annum, and as a consequence of having no international recognition were obligated to take these loans *from the French* (and later the United States) as no other countries would treat with them. It is estimated that by the late 1800s, some *eighty percent* of the total Haitian revenues were being diverted into French indemnity payments, and the French during this period maintained control over the entire Haitian treasury, which they forced to be located in Paris until the official government debts were paid back in *1893.* But while the French indemnity was repaid, this was still only *part* of the issues facing Haiti. The other issue was that even after fears of a slave revolt were quelled, the United States remained belligerent at best towards the Haitians. Andrew Johnson in 1868 had plans made for an annexation of Haiti by the United States, and in 1890 the United States sent a fleet of warships to Haiti in an attempt to pressure the Haitians to "lease" a port to the United States. Newly elected president Florvil Hyppolite refused the demands, which angered the United States (and led to them insisting that the warships sent to Haiti were merely for *peaceful negotiation,* not for any threat of violence.) Haiti's troubles continued when the Germans in 1897 demanded a pardon for German national Emile Luders, along with a formal apology, an indemnity, and a host of other embarrassing demands, backed by yet another fleet of warships. This became an issue as the United States viewed the Luders affair as a sign German influence had grown too strong in Haiti. Political instability during the following years eventually prompted US businesses to lobby the government to intervene in Haiti, an intervention that was granted by Woodrow Wilson in 1915. American marines occupied Haiti and established a military regime with a puppet government. The changes brought about by the American occupation were extreme. Where the Haitian constitution had previously banned all foreign nationals from holding property, the US occupation transferred control of all customs houses, banks, and treasuries (along with associated financial and administrative institutions) to the United States. About 40% of the Haitian wealth was seized by the United States and used to pay off loans to American banks that had been used prior to pay the French indemnity. The United States had final say over all expenditures by the Haitians, and was granted by treaty control over all foreign relations and economic affairs for ten years, later extended to twenty. When the Haitian legislature refused to ratify the new constitution being forced on them in 1917, the United States occupying forces dissolved the legislature and did not allow a new legislature to meet until 1929. At this point, prominent black Americans began protesting, with W.E.B. duBois and the NAACP decrying the conditions in Haiti. The United States occupation had effectively reversed older racial politics and granted rights to the mulatto class while suppressing the Afro-Carib classes that comprised the majority of the Haitians. Conditions continued to deteriorate as the US puppet regime began a forced labor policy in Haiti, requiring Haitian citizens to work on various "economic" projects without compensation and resulting in a large number of deaths from overwork. These deaths also were joined with the large numbers killed by US forces during revolts against the occupation. Finally in 1933, the situation had become so untenable that the United States began withdrawing from Haiti and returned control back to the Haitians. However, the United States continued to enforce the treaty stipulations that gave them financial control until debts were repaid, which was maintained until the final payments in 1947. During this final stage, the portion of Haitian revenues going to foreign debt payments still accounted for 20% the total. While the occupation did result in some infrastructure and economic reforms, the end result was not that glowing either: Haiti's education system was essentially dismantled, replacing prior comprehensive education with a strict vocational system that only taught agricultural practices and siphoning even more money from Haitian institutions in those set up by the United States. Segregation had been imported from the American South and enforced in Haiti, and altogether somewhere between 3,000 and 15,000 Haitians died during the occupation. So to give a condensed answer: a combination of French and United States hostility toward Haiti, and extortionate policy toward the island, effectively deprived Haiti of almost 125 years of economic development that they only began to recover from in 1934 (after the occupation ended) or later in 1947 (when the last of the indemnity-related debts were paid). While the colony was rich and fairly well situated, the indemnities siphoned almost all of this wealth into the hands of French and American banks while keeping the new country from actually investing its wealth.
Native born people from most countries are some of the most ignorant people in the world about their own country’s history. That’s why talking to them is usually a waste of time if you want to learn history.
I visited the DR 20 years ago on my honeymoon. It was a natural wonder, just beautiful. I remember all the lovely celebrity homes. It was hard to understand how the island had such different countries on it. We didn't visit Haiti, but have fond memories of the Dominican Republic.
It’s even better today. The Dominicans are lovely friendly people, the by-product of increasing prosperity and employment. Although I was there for work, I took time to tour around. You are right, it is a natural wonder.
It's not hard to understand. One side has been run by Haitians, and the other side by Dominicans. It's like failing to understand why Japan is awesome and Ethiopia sucks... It's the people. It's always the people.
@@javiazar the people play a role thats for sure but to a certain degree the people in charge hold a much more significant role in where society is headed. Now I don't know much about Haiti but I do know much about Iraq's, Lebanon's, Lybia's, and Egypt's history where in every single country since WW1 the west especially the US, UK, and France always supported tyrants that the people don't want over actual good leaders who wanted whats best for the country and the people. literally every single time a good leader emerges the superpowers would wage direct and indirect warfare just to place a tyrant in his place and this continual degradation in leadership supported by the west will ultimately create the society that is often looked down upon as "uncivilized". unfortunate.
There was a satellite photo showing the contrasts of the island of Hispaniola. Haiti looked completely barren, the Dominican Republic looked alive and its forests green. Sometimes pictures speak a thousand words.
The trees, shrubs and all forms of vegetation, after drying are used for fuel. Cooking gas and electricity are very expensive and there availability is unreliable. When you live in Haiti you have to be completely self sufficient and it's off grid.
As a Haitian, watching this and realizing the true impact of all these major events we’ve gone through gives me an overwhelming feeling of sadness. I was only 4 years old when Aristide went into exile, to this day I had no idea it was because he was the first to ask for reparations. I thank you so much for retelling the whole story in such a thorough and unbiased way, videos like yours that help spreading awareness keep me a bit more hopeful for my country’s future. Haïti’s many complex issues are just the result of a very unfortunate butterfly effect
The reason America doesn't like socialism is because socialist countries can't be exploited, that's why they have an embargo on Cuba, out of resentment.
When I look at the footage of Haiti, I can't believe that it is an island in the Caribbean Sea. It looks like I am looking at the landscape and the people living in difficult conditions in Africa, during the 1980s concert, LIVE AID to AFRICA, which I watched as a child I saw footage of hurt childrens. I myself grew up in the communist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the republic's huge debts led to the breakup of Yugoslavia. All the newly formed countries on the territory of the former republic inherited the financial debt to the World Bank, Russia, USA, UK, France. Despite the civil war in the area of Croatia, Bosnia, which suffered a nationalist bloody attack by the Serbian population in these republics. Despite suffering and years of war, we are still paying the debt we created during the communist regime. However, two new countries are doing relatively well and these countries are Slovenia and Croatia. I hope that your leaders who ruled with a hard and bloody hand did not kill intellectual and educated people in all these decades. Without education there is no progress for society and the state of such a society is soulless. If you have smart and educated citizens, the leaders cannot trick them. By regulating systems and society, dictators make their people stupid, and teach them that others (other countries) are to blame for all the problems in their own country.
@@peterbabickoncan6192 They are Africans but living in a different place. As for Africa itself, many governments remain in existence because of the billions of dollars of free money (not loans) given to them by Western nations and Japan in order for their governments to pay workers and maintain infrastructure. Without that money, a number of African governments would fall as they cannot collect enough taxes to keep on going. Thus Africa is artificially orderly and civilized by the appearance of governments. WIthout the external support, Africa, despite the abundance of natural resources and land and water, would devolve to appear like Haiti. Even Anthony Bourdain in his travel videos across parts of Africa showed that they couldn't even maintain knowledge and technology at the 1850's level. Actually, math and science was quite advanced by the 1850's. I wonder how many Americans could even maintain that level of society if SHTF.
As someone from the US, I'm so sorry for what our government has done to your country and your people. Maybe your country's path to freedom is a slow one, but it has already passed many milestones. If we were to zoom out by another 100 years, maybe we would see a brand new Haïti that is hard to imagine right now. Hope is never lost, and I thinking the Haitians are strong, brave, and not easily defeated.
The Haiti-República Dominicana conflict is one that's rarely talked about in mainstream media, myself I had no idea about it until I met a Dominican colleague last year who told me the entire history, territorial claims etc. So it's great to see quality content about this topic in this channel. Keep up the great work
They claim DR belong to them😂😂💀Dominicans were created in the island, they were brought in the late 1700s 100-200 years after the creation of the dominican people
I remember my family went on a cruise back in 2005 that included a stop in labadee Haiti. I remember them telling us not to venture off of the private beach area but i also remember thinking that it was one of the most beautiful, idyllic island places id ever seen in my life. Sitting on the perfectly white sand beach actually felt like a dream. It was so heartbreaking to me to think the people that lived there couldn't enjoy that same beauty.
I was a part of a humanitarian mission to South America in 2022. Every other country we stopped in we went into port or anchored right off shore. In Haiti we had to stay far offshore and do circles due to the gangs potentially targeting our ship. Also, hundreds of Haitians tried to get to our ship via makeshift rafts to escape the country. We were accompanied by American coast guard ships that had to cut off the rafts and help them back to shore. When we set up or medical site on shore it was guarded by a detachment of Marines and fenced in. There was a big desperate crowd who could have overrun the site. We had a plan in place in which if the site was started to get overrun we would drop everything and run to the transport boats. We only provided care for a day when one of cranes bringing up our people on a transport ship snapped and dumped everyone into the water. Everyone survived, and we noped out of there before anything worse happened.
Honestly, giving a bunch of money to the corrupt mafia-like "government" of Haiti doesn't seem like a very good idea. It would make more sense to invest in specific infrastructure and education projects than just giving money.
Giving money to these places is never a good idea. Because the problem isn't lack of money, it's greed. Why feed your people when you can siphon off money to build yourself another palace?
It’s not up to you if it’s a good idea it’s what owed to them. And the French and American government didn’t have any problem with the guy right up until he asked for that money. so he must not have been too bad. If you wanna call the Haitian government Mafia style, you better be calling the United States the same thing because that’s exactly how they act.
@MrPaytonw34 See, you're not wrong with calling the US governmen mafia. The differences is tho the US government is an effective mafia. Haitian government has proven not to be. It's also just concerns made by many , to just giving an unelected President money which would legitimacy him.
That's not going to work either. Fundamentally Haitians just love electing strong men, and "Haiti First" style politicians who not coincidentally always end up being authoritarian autocrats who try to turn themselves into eternal presidents. Haiti produces nothing of value and has no significant natural resources. It's a failed country with no realistic way forward.
Okay I actually like the transition to the ad. Also i feel like more creators should do their ads at the end of the video, rather than at the start or in the middle. That was cool, good work
I read about this disparity back in 2006. Back then DR was still described as being "poor". It's amazing how much progress has been made on their side in that time.
It’s not when you consider the US & France’s actions against Haiti since ~mid-1800s. It’s literally clear cause & effect up thru the 2004 ousting of the best leader Haiti’s had.
@@paisan8766 Well obviously your corrupt government at the time accepted these terms without first telling France to drop dead. Your leaders were obviously bribed to accept the deal as they didn't give a fuck about anyone else but themselves. France was in no position to invade Haiti in 1870 when the Germans kicked their ass so bad. I would imagine had the leadership of Haiti at the time had approached the Germans for weapons (like the Boers did), they would have given France a bloody nose if they even thought of invading the place. But no, as long as those lighter skinned elites got their cut, why should they give a damn about anything else?
In the Dominican Republic, the government pours millions into funding forestation projects to schools and different organizations so they can go out and plant thousands of trees. There are always commercials on radio and TV about the importance of planting trees and taking care of our flora and fauna. There's seasons where you can not fish, hunt, or you'll be in a lot of trouble with authorities out there.
Video ideas for the Modern Conflicts series: - Mexican Drug War - Somali Civil War - Cabo Delgado Insurgency - Yugoslav Wars - Bougainville Separatist Crisis - The Indo-Pakistani Wars/Kashmir - Ugandan Bush War - Rwandan Genocide - The Two Congo Wars - South African Border War - Angolan Civil War - Sri Lankan Civil War - Nepalese Civil War - Central African Republic’s Civil War - Rise of Boko Haram - Rise of Abu Sayyaf/Piracy in the Sulu Sea - Ambazonia Separatist Crisis - Azawad Crisis/War in the Sahel - Algerian Civil War - Decline of Venezuela - Salvadoran Civil War - Guatemalan Civil War - Decline of El Salvador - Liberian Civil War - Sierra Leonean Civil War - Colombian Conflict - Ivorian Civil War - Western Sahara - West Papua Crisis - South China Sea Dispute - Shining Path Insurgency in Peru - Rhodesian Bush War - Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea - Sino-Vietnamese Skirmishes After 1979 - The Two Sudanese Civil Wars
I lived in DR for about a year, we did a day trip to Haiti. This was almost 20 years ago. The difference between the two was extraordinary. Trees on one side, near desert on the other, houses on one side, hovels on the other. And I remember while the ordinary people were clearly mired in abject poverty with whole families of children literally sharing one person's clothes between them - hanging around in the background were well dressed (and clearly dodgy) young men on motorbikes watching everything. I'm not sure when Haiti wasn't in really bad way.
Sheer human greed and lack of any foresight for the future is why the Haitian side is so heavily deforested. In 1923 over 60% of Haiti's land was forested. In 2006, less than 2% of the land was forested, even worse today I am sure. They violated that land like the trees were goods in a supermarket and they just looted it until there was nothing left.
@@CountYulith Forced poverty drive people to desperation. Paying reparations for slavers, with what should've been your closest ally(the U.S) backing it is disgusting.
@@godofthisshitThe US loved slavery and kept it for longer than Haiti. Haiti has been by itself and attacked since day 1 by the French and other western colonial/imperial powers. This current intervention is meant to set up a new puppet government in Haiti so that the US can continue to rob Haiti. The Haitians would be better off with the gangs/warlords organizing a new government than what’s set come from outside forces.
@@godofthisshit Unfortunately, lack of foresight is lack of foresight no matter how much your situation sucks, and trees won't feel sorry for you and grow faster
@@gracequach6769 I disagree. If someone runs out of $500 is a lot different than if someone runs out of $500 million. $500 must be spent to survive, $500 million isn't required for one person to survive.
I actually support the respiration request by Haiti for France to payback but... Given the instability and risk of corruption (in term of the billions being misused) I think it would be better for it to be 10-15 billion (not 21) (with adjustable inflation year by year) to be pay back and over *next 20 years* instead of 1 time payment*. Long term stability is what Haiti needs and not relaying on a sudden of a jackpot income to resolve its economic need. e.g Many nation had in the past opt to invade their neighboring island/nations as a way to stabilize/centralize their domestic control ... edit: some nation are still doing it today instead of spending the effort to resolve the problem & cultural improvement. *Payment can also be made directly such as construction of hospital, school -etc which can create the condition of making it more appealing for France citizens to accept the terms. While the target is for this to create a positive circle (reversing the negative circle created from the debt crisis) 33:08 Cross Finger this video by @RealLifeLore don't get mass flagged by Little Pinks //Taiwanese Canadian :)
Money doesn't matter at all. Money is just a medium of trade that is representative of labor. If they don't work, the money will be meaningless because there will b nothing to buy, and the few things available to buy will just be ultra expensive
@@michaelwang6125 I agree, to deter corruption, maybe the money could be put into a neutral account and the money going directly to build the infrastructure of the country. These purchases could be overseen by the UN. Sounds a bit colonial or like policing but at least it would ensure the country's' infrastructure is slowly rebuilt.
I grew up next door to a Haitian family. During the summer, a few of their relatives would come stay with them, one of them being a boy around my age. We became great friends over the next few years, until my neighbors moved and I never saw him again. Then the 2010 earthquake happened and I wondered if he’s okay. Wherever he is, I pray he and his family are safe and hopefully living somewhere in better condition than their homeland.
I stopped to think why DR didn’t intervene in Haiti or why they didn’t just annex the region once it collapsed fully, and it’s quite clear why they did neither. It would cost DR a lot of time, money, & man power to annex the region and bring stability back. Some Haitians probably don’t want to be apart of the DR inciting rebellious guerrilla warfare sorta like what’s seen in Israel/Palestine. So from the DRs perspective building a wall and wanting nothing to do with their failed neighbor is the easiest most cost effective way to deal with the problem.
DR is better off than Haiti by a lot, but DR is still a poor country overall, getting somewhat better every year but still poor. It would be suicide for DR to absorb Haiti. Imagine assimilating 12 M of the poorest people in the world, it would turn DR in the poorest country in the Americas. Not even Mexico or Brazil economies can absorb 12 M poor people.
Plus the video also said that Haiti invaded and occupied the DR for 20 years after they received independence. Dominicans see the Haitians as the invaders and occupiers.
I want to express a massive amount of gratitude for the time and effort you put into this video. I’m a middle school history teacher, I just got on winter break, and I watch your channel for fun. Since we spend a lot of time on slavery, I’ve always been fascinated by the Haitian Revolution. This video was a godsend! I watched the entire video and enjoyed every second of it- but I realized that I didn’t retain much of the information - you loaded it with so many important details. This evening, I came back for seconds with a notebook and pen (old school style). I paused the video often, researching important topics and resuming when I was satisfied. I spent like 4 hours in total between the two watches and all my pausing and I’ve got to say- I enjoyed every second. These long form videos are high quality man. As an educator myself, I give you props for the quality AND quantity. I can’t imagine how many hours went into it. Subscribed and liked!! Looking forward to the next!!
@@MerryXmasMfkrs I said I was watching his channel for fun. I don’t use his videos for education material - I also stated in my comment that I’m a US history teacher. So the Haitian Revolution is something I am fascinated by, but Haiti and the DR are topics I do not teach about, not even for a minute. The topics I do teach about are things like US slavery, the American Revolutionary War, and the Civil War.
I know it’s unlikely this is seen but I wanted to say i’ve been loving the long form videos. Such high quality content and filled with information. It outcompetes all the short term videos that spam youtube.
Most channels long the content out, noone produces short stuff anymore. Most hour plus videos contain no more than 20 minutes of content. Some channels even slow down the speed of the audio to make the video longer and adjusting to 1.25 or 1.5 turns it back into how a normal person speaks
I'm lived in the RD since 2010 so I wanted to clarify some points the RD has gone out of it's way to help Haitians who come to the DR to easily obtain a government ID (cédula) so they can live & work in RD. 75% of births in public hospitals are hatian. The wall is primarily due to the fact that on the RD side of the the island is a protected forest which Haitians frequently invade to cut down trees. The RD won't send troops to Haiti to help restore order because #1 Haiti previously ruled the RD as you covered but additionally Trujillo attempted to exterminate all Haitians (not sure why you excluded this from your video). #3 there's no interest in the RD to help Haiti so any president who tries would be committing political suicide.
Although most things are true, DR also revoked the right to a passport a in the later half of the 2010s and the fact that disaster refugees have been classified as migrants and that there anti-Haitian protests shows that there is still a deep divide.
@@Tank175 they were classified as migrants, given a cédula and permitted to stay and work. Ie the "refugees" were integrated into society as opposed to the refugee camps you see in most countries. & yeah there are ant-hatian protests, it's to be expected when the majority of the of tax money goes to supporting Haitians over dominicans. Not to mention the recent Haitian bullshit with them damming the river that drifts temporarily into Haiti. What the domican military should do is just divert the river so it doesn't flow into Haiti since Haiti insists on building the illegal dam.
i keep seeing the influx of haitian immigrants into mexico, and i as a mexican person wanted to find out more about what’s been going on with haiti. My god, can this country and people just get a break!!!!! nothing but interventions, disasters, and ,isfortunes. I send blessings to the unfortunate people from haiti.
I am/ was a US Marine. I was deployed to Haiti as a very young man and it was my first experience in another country. Haiti then back in 2003 doesn't look any different than what Haiti looks like in this video in 2023. I will quote Roudolf Bandings WW1 account, " Rubbish doesn't require and explanation it always looks the same...." While I was there the same problems and happenings were prevalent. Trash is just heaped into the streets, the gangs were ruthless, usually they can't even bury their dead then and used to in some areas put a corpse on a pile of trash and pigs would eat them. I as a young man felt very sorry for the people of this nation. I wish for the best of folks that live in Haiti and it is only the people there that can get their country on its feet, asking the world to intervene may not be the answer they seek.
Correct, no matter how much the outside world funnels into Haiti, if it doesn't help itself it is just throwing money away. They have to change it themselves.
@mikeoveli1028 Did you not even read the comment. It's up to the country itself to build. They kicked out the people who kept order and mismanaged themselves. Because of greed and selfishness. And it's spelled Haiti not Hati. when the US left they couldnt control themselves.
The Dominican Republic has a huge tourist economy that has existed for decades, which Haiti never had at the same level. Punta Cana is one of the biggest resorts in the Caribbean and that was founded by a New York entrepreneur and a Dominican entrepreneur back in the late 60s. DR was also heavily featured in Jurassic Park, so Hollywood added yet more value to the nation back in the 90s. While DR caught lightning in a bottle with all the support, shame that Haiti got struck by lightning twice in the past decade with the Earthquake and gang wars. The DR is still a pretty impoverished country as my mom was born and immigrated from there when she turned 18. Many places still don't have regular plumbing or even paved roads.
I swear I’ve been watching your videos for years but I never noticed I wasn’t subscribed, ever. Your videos always hit my feed for years thanks brutha keep going. Preventing history from repeating itself.
I appreciate all the work that you put into making this video about Haiti and the Dominican Republic. I discovered quite a bit I didn't know. The French double debt is particularly tragic in my opinion. It seems that NO country who came through Haiti actually helped them at all, but damaged them so they had trouble helping themselves.
I have not been back to Haiti in several years. The last trip was to bring a young Haitian back to the US for a college degree. He went back after finishing his degree, married his girlfriend and had a child. He has not been able to accomplish much due to the political environment with the gangs. We will not go back even though we used to fly in into Port-au-Prince and drive ourselves across the island without any major worries. We have friends on the island, in Haiti and the DR, who are struggling to survive. What ‘government’ is there makes it hard to help. I was in Jacmel after the earthquake and remember the sights of buildings pancaked. The horror of the loss of life could hardly be imagined. One day, I pray the island finds peace.
@@soniacanalla900 Unfortunately they do not. They have contacts in Florida Haitian Community that have been trying to get them and others out of the country legally but that is a challenge with their non-existent government, the corruption of public officials, and the limited access to the US Embassy.
@@fhowlandShading light on the exploitation of a nation is of course nonsense. How dare they bring it up, we should all pretend it didn't happen and ask Haitians to suck it and adult up. Who cares if with such a debilitating history moving forward complicated.
That is amazing! How would you describe your life there? The State Department has urged all Americans to leave Haiti due to the worsening security situation; do you not share their assessment? Do you think that the Kenya-led UN mission discussed in this video would help? Thanks!
An American living in Haiti..... WHY??? Absolute squalor, women and girls being raped tortured and killed, people being hacked with machetes, violent gangs killing innocent people, gang members tying people to trees and setting them on fire, people getting "necklaces" in the streets Voluntarily going there sounds like insanity
@@rushrush6754so sing the old song how france is reason , Please do tell old wise one 😂 Why isn't the DR experiencing in these problems like hati Why is most If not all black countries experienceing these sorts of problems even the ones that where never Colonized tell me why whitey is to blame
The first documentary that in my view, encapsulates the real problem with Haiti. I also got clarification in some events that really help to see the problem in a different light. Thanks for that. It's really complicated and sad at the same time. I wish the best for the Haitian people. They've suffered so much.
As a Caribbean Person myself with Jamaican and Trinidadian parents. I’ve always observed the overall level of countries that were colonized by the British(or French in this case), and those that were colonized by the Spanish and there’s been this economic difference that is very visible when you look at certain countries and their overall economic stability. I’ve been impressed by how Haiti is a very special example (considering the fact that they were the first I believe at least the first Caribbean country to break away from their colonizers,) but they had it off probably the worst because if you look into the past history of Haiti between 1804, and the late 1900s Haiti’s never really fully gotten out of that state of internal stability and many other countries in the Caribbean have. It’s pretty, interesting.
Panamenian here. Ive also noticed territories colonized by the Spanish(latinamerica) didn't progressed too much nor had any unity and have been under constant dictadorship. While territories colonized by the rest of Europe(England, France, others) inherited science, culture, progress, unity and have uplifted people's quality of life. The only exceptions have been black/african and arabian territories. Those territories once free instead of carrying the west progress have just turned back into the primitive, tribalistic, extremists, divisive, cruel areas; with money from resources to buy modern stuff to keep their dictators and military forces content. Sad, tendency.
They imposed naval blockades,and extorted money from Haiti that would've gone towards educating the young nation's citizens,and therefore education in Haiti is for profit from kindergarten through university. And the US occupation of Haiti was another blow to Haiti's eventual fate because Haiti's central banks were looted and Haitian public land could be privatized by foreigners thanks to the occupation
No colonizer was good. Colonization destroyed India's culture, brought India into massive poverty, left 93% people illiterate, killed us for famines and wars, burned our literature and libraries, left India with trillions looted without industrialization by 1950s.. Western countries enjoy their premium lifestyle today due to past colonization and reverse industrialization. Except, India is no poor but a state developing fast and is capable of making it developed unlike Haiti.. For example, per capita income was 3 times less than Haiti in 1980. But today India is 3 times of Haiti.. Haiti didnt even double it per capita in 40 years while India made it 18 times!.. And I think this is insane for a country of 1.4 Billion people.. Haiti is the extreme version of pakistan where government and military both are flawed except the Pakistan govt controls the nation not the gangs.
as a french person who likes to think i'm well versed in geopolitical stuff, i did not know half of this. i just realized we never ever talk about haiti in france. i guess they know what they did.
Fun fact: all other french colonies in the Caribbean/South America (Martinica, Guadaloupe, French Guyana) would become integral part of the French Republic. None got independent. Nowadays the descendants of the former slaves of these former colonies enjoy a high standard of living.
True but none of these colonies have a history like Haiti... Haiti has the most brutal and horrific slave system in the Western hemisphere and the slaves were overwhelmingly the majority so truthfully Haiti got the absolute worst side of French colonialism in the world and none of these countries had to pay "reparations" to France for fighting for their independence which hindered Haiti's development and advancement till today... so it's most definitely not the same thing... it's like comparing Haiti and the DR... it's fruits and vegetables
As a dominican, THANK YOU Joseph. There are a few mistakes here and there, but this is by far the most fair and unbiased video I’ve ever seen on this topic done by an American. I appreciate how you disproved the myth that Haiti is poor solely because of the debt it had to pay to France. And thank you for not blaming DR for Haiti’s problems, something international media falsely claims all the time.
Exactly 💯 they like to blame DR as if we have anything to do with haiti lacking in everything as a failed country . They did this to themselves , they assassinated their own president and still have none , they are ran by gangs and are multiplying like 🪳🪳🪳🐀. To top it all off , they worship SATAN .
@@Lando-kx6so Or straight-up lies by omission. The French exacted that debt for the death of their thousands of colonists, who's murder and subjugation, involved in the slave trade or not, was an actual *goal* of the Haitian government in its early years. The French don't owe Haiti a single red (crimson) cent. The U.S., or more specifically, Citi Bank, however, do have an argument for debt to Haiti (and secondarily to France). We had no right to interfere in a blood money deal, much less to *keep* that debt (purchasing debt to forgive it is another matter), *but* that money owed to Haiti would only be the interest. The principal would still be owned by (owed to) France, for blood we never spilled. Moreover, there is no reason to pay a corrupt government this sum, as they are likely to use it for further depredations against the Haitian people. Or, more minimally, to keep the overwhelming sum from being seen by the Haitian people.
Just came across this video. As a Jamaican and a fellow Caribbean citizen, I very much appreciate this excellent and historical documentary presentation as to why Haiti has long been considered the poorest country in the Western World. Thanks to this free UA-cam video, now I finally know the complete story!
this is probably one of the most informative and interesting videos i’ve ever seen on a country’s history. Thanks for making me a more informed person! and I hope the US and France realize what they’ve done.
you do realize tho, that slavery existed all over the world even before france or us. basically you can if you want always trace any problem to this if you only go back in time enough time. Speaking from a country which was enslaved 700 years and then occupied 50 years and still managed to come out from the other side.
@@mrsmerilyyou OBVIOUSLY didn't see the darn video. Haiti was the FIRST black republic and they kicked Napoleon's butt. They haven't been slaves since 1804 in the height of the transatlantic slave trade so why are you bringing this up?
The usa has done nada. The usa has bailed the whole island put multiple times only for it to come back on it's our fault theu suck. Gtfoh. So many of yall lack basic streets smarts that's why yall can't see some people are hustlers others are addixts
@lolab6770 you wrong calling it the heigh pf translatoantic slave trade. Before 1820s the the usa had ships patrolling to stop slave ships. They slave was outlawed by government but guess what people will be people. Then slave was contraband like cigarettes could be today. Just the reality of it and just telling the truth is considered racist
Large parts of North America and Vietnam used to be French colonies, all doing great today, only the black colonies are in total disarray, all of them.
I guessed you missed the part where Haiti invaded The Dominican Republic immediately after they got independence. That is one former colony invading another former colony. Don't you think that something else might be the cause of all this violence?
I remember I took a trip to the DR. The resort i stayed on told me not to talk to the "natives" trying to sell us stuff on the beach, and warned us not to go on any excursions that weren't sponsored by the resort. I didn't know the DR was that bad. Most of these island resorts will build walls tall enough to keep the visitors from seeing what's really going on. Aruba was the same. The residents said their island was poor and they didn't make any money despite it being a beautiful tourist attraction.
I m a Dominico-American in the Dominican Republic. Also, a soldier. A lot of people think we hate each other, but we don't, many Haitians in DR. Many welcome, studying and working very hard. Others are not, like criminals and and gang members. Thanks for sharing the knowledge 👍.
false i lived in D.R for 4 years and dominicans treats haitians like lower class citizens even worse and dominicans is not as smart as haitians but dominicans are very cruel toeards haitians
After reading La Fiesta del Chivo by Mario Vargas Llosa I had the feeling Dominicans despised their island brothers. Glad to know that isn't always the case.
Dominican Republic was a spanish province where everyone , black or white, enjoyed spanish citizenship, while Haiti was a french slave colony. Many of the governance structures that existed under spanish rule were preserved after Dominican Republic got its independence, while Haiti has been in chaos and wars with their former colonizers since then.
@@guzelataroach4450That's because America conquered them and continues to use them as a bulwark for the coming war with China. Nothing about the situation is similar.
I studied Caribbean history and only skimmed over events in Haitis history. This video is brilliant and very in depth. Thanks for putting this together.
Haiti has its issues but was behind or had a hand in many of the freeing of slave colonies throughout the Western hemisphere and was the only true free colony at that time.
@h00liganEnt and that may explain why colonial powers do whatever possible to suppress Haiti 🇭🇹 to collapse and build up the other side of the island 🏝.....
@@jeffwilson8246that's a stretch for sure. What colonial powers? France and Spain are not colonizing anywhere now. Also, it's highly unlikely that any other country cares all that much about Haiti. What would keeping Haiti down actually matter anyway?
Frequently in Haiti in the 1980s, first as a Coast Guard officer on the Cutter Hamilton doing g HMIO (Haitian Migrant Interdiction Operations) and later, flying to and over Haiti as a Coast Guard C-130 pilot. At night, flying overhead, you'd see innumerable fires as people burned down trees for charcoal to sell in the cities. By then, it wasn't to pay international debt but to raise some cash. The years of deforestation caused crippling erosion, carrying away untold acres of agricultural soil.
The quality of your visualizations have improved significantly with time! It's a blast to watch these videos with so much information to help understand and support what you're saying! I write this comment while paused on the combined map at 46:22
Shoutout also to the breakdown of the densest countries at 33:14. I also liked the other frequent display and comparisons of leading countries in some measure throughout the video, like the density one.
I pray French people who are flying to New York have their flight diverted there to see the damage they did inshallah If you want to make yourself mad, scroll down to the depths of these comments and see what the incels down there are saying about Haiti, it’ll make you sad.
My family left Haiti in 1987. We would regularly go back to help build houses, churches, and schools. That 21 billion wouldn't even scratch the surface of the problems. Especially if it's going to the government. The money goes through too many hands before it reaches the people that need it. Haiti has been through enough. There is no simple solution. We'll need a carefully thought out combination of strategies with solid contingencies. Something that will get the people back to believing in the future of Haiti 🇭🇹
I'm of the opinion that Haiti will never get better as long as it remains 'Haiti', let it collapse and new nations rise to take over the land, the entire country has been too mired in corruption since it's inception (even it's inception could be argued to be mired in corruption given some information I learned about the people leading the whole revolt against France...)
@@mick-berry5331 I visited Haiti twice about 40 years ago to supervise some work at a textile factory. Despite the poverty the people were welcoming and courteous, I used public transportation without fear and stayed at a wonderful hotel in the hills. It is so sad to see what has happened to that country and I am so sorry for its people.
Santiago de Caballeros was indeed badly damaged by an earthquake in the last 150 years, so the fault zone in the North has not exactly been silent. Loved the thoroughness of the video.
@@Macmax7077 I used to spend time in the ruins in the haciendas of the Bloisse and Benoit families. You get immerse in the peaceful environment and don't feel the passing of time
Maybe Haiti should of focus on it's self after gaining independence in 1804, instead of using her own money and soldier's going around all those south American countries helping them being free. including Dr. Haiti was the one who had that major earthquake in 1842, Google it yourself. the Dr benefit's from foreign investor's, I mean 80 percent of Dr investment's is foreign, and Haiti doesn't. 5 foreign countries invested in Dr infrastructure, Columbia, Brazil, us, Costa Rica, and I believe Canada or France, so why wouldn't the Dr look more prosperous than Haiti when Haiti is the one who's dealing with the sanctions?
@@ClaudioJimenez-wr6ixim a native santiaguero meaning all my ancestors born there ,right now in we are kicking out haitians because their population is growing in great amount ...they came in large numbers out of no where
what France did is nothing surprising. It's called "war reparations". A very very commun war negotiation. People just feel bad because "black people sad"
I’m a Dominican and live in Santiago. We have more than 3 million illegal Haitians in the Dominican Republic. That number is not accurate because the government doesn’t know. Similar to the problem in the U.S. with illegals. Haiti's problems were caused by the International community and exacerbated by internal political infighting. We in the Dominican Republic don't have the resources to help our populace much less to help them. And yet the U.N. and other international powers blame us for building a wall to contain the Haitians. We can't fix a problem that was created by other nations.
Another commenter from DR mentioned that 80-90% of all agricultural and construction workers are Haitian in the DR. I can’t help but wonder what would happen to the economy if these workers suddenly got deported, regardless of whether they are legal or not. I’m from the US so I understand your sentiments towards illegal aliens, but as with DR and Haiti, it is truly the Mexicans, both illegal and legal immigrants that hold much of our huge country together. What perplexes me is the fact that DR and Haiti are two countries on the same relatively small peninsula, with too much genetic intermingling to not be cordial with each other, this part confuses me. No not ever Haitian had some Dominican blood and not every Dominican has some Haitian blood, but certainly there has to be a middle ground? It is reported that atleast 1 in 10 Dominicans come from Haitian decent?
@@willeatsgenetically we are not quite the same. We are more Taino Indian than African. The Spaniards mixed more with the taínos than with the blacks. Blacks didn’t arrived to the Caribbean until the 1700 hundreds. Columbus discover Hispaniola in 1492 more than 200 years before. The government should force companies from hiring Haitians. But like always they don’t care about the plight of the Haitians. Just like in the U.S they don’t care about the illegals migrants flooding the country. If they did they would build a wall to stop them. Because those who suffer are always the illegals.
I'm Haitian American and I support building a wall. The Dominican Republic building a wall to keep Haitian illegals from coming in, isn't racist, xenophobic or anti-Haitian. Many countries have illegal immigration issues and are trying to protect borders. You should see the problem African countries with illegal immigration.
I feel like France doesn't get enough flak for its colonial history like Britain does. By far the former French colonies are some of the worst performing states in the modern day compared to former British and even Spanish colonies, and France continues practices of modern colonialism to this day.
It's quite funny when you realize Britain's former colonies would grow to become stronger than itself.
Algeria was pretty well ran but that's about it though
yes because France didn't move into its colonies
Russia is helping the former French vassals of West Africa to finally decolonize and become truly independent.
@@fighter5583Same with Spain and Portugal. Mexico and Brazil are much larger economies than their parent nation.
I was deployed to Haiti in 2010 after the earthquake hit. That was the first time I've ever experienced pure anarchy, chaos, and complete poverty when we left the airport.
A shame you couldn't go before the earthquake to see it was much the same 😅😅😅
A society that has had many challenges.
You can't fix stupid.
Well at least you got to experience the UN run children prostitution and help spread a cholera epidemic.
@@aidanhart9871 lmao that was brutal.
The history of Haiti is just *'wait, it gets worse'*
Truly unfortunate chain of events
😆
Yea. It's really unfortunate that France and US decided to kidnap Africans and slave them in their colonies. Also unfurtonate that after just few time after freeing from them they came back robbing the country at gunpoint. And definitely unfortunate that when democracy was starting to work and they were claiming justice and restitution the US and France decided to support criminal groups to start a civil war.
I literally cringed at one point. It's absolutely disturbing just how unfortunate the state has been
Black people deserve a better world without them evil colonizers
Any country with black people in it is just 'wait, it gets worse'
In 1865, the Dominican Republic asked Spain to rejoin it, and was again a región of Spain for five years until they became independent again
Wich led to a civil war because Dominicans didn't want this.
Not a regio,but a colony….it was annexed to Spain again by some of the same people who were instrumental in the war for independence from Haiti; but a lot of dominicans didn’t want this,they wanted to be free,so they went to war with Spain and won independence yet again…This victory is celebrated as Restoration Day,in the DR….We restored our independence as a free sovereign republic.
as a dominican living in the dr, i thank you for doing this video and shine light on this topic, since i feel it has been poorly covered and not given the enough importance that it deserves
haitians need help and the domincan republic can only do so much. and we as neighbors, are suffering from this too.
x2, im subscribed to see more international issues and other subjects on the channel, this was a nice suprise, BERY well explained.
The best solution (IF POSSIBLE) that i see to Haiti, its to try and solve all their problems at same time, Economic, security, a MASSIVE reforestation, and proper building able to withstand both hurricanes AND earthquakes.
You guys are making it worse tho
Dominica and dominica republic are two different nations.@@LongLivesteph
@@bibitwoim also Dominican, im from macoris
It would be interesting to see a comparison between all of the former French, British and Spanish colonies. At first glance, it seems like a LOT of former French colonies are failed states.
And the Dutch
The Haitians MASSACRED every French man, woman and child in 1804. I'm afraid that you'll have to blame the failure of Haiti on somebody else....or maybe BECAUSE there weren't any white folks, as there were in the DR??
But i have been told the horrible it was the Spanish inquisition....
Like which ones ?
Tunesia is reportedly the most democratic and least corrupt country in Africa...
As a Dominican I thank you for bringing awarenes to this topic! Stay strong my fellow Haitians, there's still hope for a brighter future.
The only hope is for DR to reconquer their land and establish isla Hispañola.
@@lelnin I don't think Haitians or Dominicans want that any time soon.
@@lelnin Nope
@@lelninhell nah
@@lelninHaitians wont want that. There’s a big use of voodoo which will be a problem. If they didn’t do that, we would be happily united.
Who would administer the reparations? The Haitians themselves? If so, it will only be stolen by corruption and not a penny will see improvements to Haitians' living standards. Can't just throw money at problems, there has to be some kind of mechanism to ensure the money goes towards its intended purpose.
My guess is that it wouldn't come in sacks with $ printed on them. Probably a mix of favorable capitalization and infrastructure spending
I’m from The Bahamas and can’t thank you enough for this video. The entire history of Haiti is so sad.
no its not .haiti has good history
They killed all the white people and then built the only country they could
France and USA made them pay over 21 Billion dollars for their independence and US soldiers stole their gold… If France gives back the money things might change in Haiti….
@@FelixAnt I guess if you want a history of lessons full of what not to do?
@cocunotcracca someone didn't watch the video lol
As a Haitian still living in Port-au-Prince, you have my thanks for this very insightful review of our history. I wish I could say that things are getting better but that is absolutly not the case. I love my country so much and it's sad that you can't see yourself optimisticly within a year or 2. This spiral may never end.
The spiral will end eventually my friend, you just have to believe things will be better. I wish you and your country much fortune in the coming years.
I hope the best for you and your country my friend..Haiti could be a great place..
@@DarkLobster69 Yeah, just believing has always worked great
Dude, you got internet access...make friends literally anywhere else in the world and get out of there
@@TheSangsonbut harder to get out than internet access lol
Im from Antigua and Barbuda, currently in Guyana, I wasnt aware that our country were sending people over to Haiti, let alone the magnitude of the situation the countrys been in ever since 2021. I hope peace and prosperity can be met within Haiti one day
Better leave before Venezuela decides to take Esequibo and your stuck there.
@@joe-pm4lsIf Venezuela does any moves, the US military will blast Maduro's ass straight to the moon.
Misuse of commas.
@@AwesomeHairook?
@joe-pm4ls 😂. Venezuela isn't going to do anything cause there's oil and the US is boots on the ground. Maduro will get the Noriega treatment from our military very fast. He already knows this...fafo.
There's this song from my childhood that I tend to sing whenever I think about Haiti. It's pretty much my prayer for a brighter future. The song is called Sove Peyi Mwen, meaning save my country.
"Sove peyi mwen
Bondye, Ou konnen nou soti lwen, wo-oh
Veye fanmi mwen
San yo, m pa t ap janm ka anyen, no, no, no
W a sove peyi mwen
Nou p ap kite l menm jan demen
Chanje krangou tounen vant plen
Nou p ap kite l menm jan demen"
-Christopher "FREEDOM" Laroche, 2004
Translation:
Save my country
Good God, you know we came a long way
Watch over my family
As without, I wouldn't have become anything
You'll save my country
Don't leave it the same way tomorrow
Change hunger, turn it into a filled belly
We won't keep it the same way tomorrow"
Having been raised in Haiti for a while, the country holds an important place in my heart. I don't know if I'll ever be able to see Haiti prosper in my lifetime, but I pray that somewhere in its course, it gets to see greater days.
Note: in the translation, 'You' refers to God.
thank you for sharing this! I am a 1st gen Haitian American and it’s sad how far removed I feel from my culture. I will definitely check this song out and hold it near and dear ❤
Haiti dedicated itself to Satan, so it got what it wanted. I know that seems like a bad thing to say, but when evil takes over a land, then it always gets d
e
s
t
r
o
y
e
d
.
As a Dominican living abroad, thank you for covering the histories of both nations with scrutiny and not shying away from their imperfections. I didn't know about the conspiracy with Aristide. It definitely helps me see the situation in Haiti differently. Thank you.
DR sounds nice but it's not all that. When I visited La Romana and a few other places I turned around...
you visited the wrong side of la romana, la romana has casa de campo and it soroundings arguably one of the richest places in the americas. @@nonyaluvnlyfe6494
@@nonyaluvnlyfe6494 Im haitian, the thing is, Haiti compared to ANY country in the americas makes that country look "very nice", even if it's also a 3rd world country with an even higher murder rate. The problem is, the standard of living in Haiti is much lower overall
@@nonyaluvnlyfe6494 there’s still a lot of poverty in DR, I know what you’re talking about cuz I’ve been to La Romana multiple times, but the thing is, overall the country has grown in such a way no other country in the Americas has, DR was one of the poorest countries in Latin America just 35-40 years ago, now its HDI is slightly higher than giant countries like Brazil as of 2023, all of this was achieved in some few decades, if this trend continues, I can’t even imagine what DR will be like in some 50 years from now, hopefully they won’t mess up like Venezuela or Argentina which were expected to be fully developed by this time and then they went backwards.
@@Jean-vp1yryeah the DR might actually become fully developed before bigger Latam countries like Colombia & Venezuela, hopefully they keep it up. Also Latam as a whole should strive to become developed or near it by 2050
From 2016-2019 I led several teams on mission trips to Haiti every year.
The last time I was there we got stopped by a roadblock of several armed men. We were concerned but we trusted our driver and interpreter, who we had known and worked with for years. He rolled down the window and said something to one of the men, and based on his body language they knew each other. They chatted like friends for a few seconds before the armed man started barking out orders to the others to clear the way for us to pass.
The whole ordeal lasted just a minute or two. Afterwards we asked our driver what all that was about and he, in a roundabout way, confirmed it was a gang, but that he was a childhood friend of the the head guy’s younger brother so we had nothing to worry about as long as we were with him.
A year later we get the heartbreaking news that our driver’s wife was shot and killed while shopping.
I haven’t been back since and probably never will.
That’s wild
Wow. RIP to that poor woman & her entire country 🙏
You LED missions and didn't bother to learn at least some French? Oh my, how american.
@@aljoschalong625 Because he didnt dude. Generally people are chosen for specific conflict areas for their skill set. This is a case of too many video games. Prob a seal recon 69 zulu sniper.
@@thugger-vandross Would be if it were true
Corruption, Corruption over and over. The millions of dollars in aid that has been stolen is insane.
Hillary Clinton's brother made millions on US aid to Haiti. Look it up.
Those million of dollars Haiti never seen. The information is out there so if you guys truly want to know, the information is there. Asked Clinton and his wife for the money that supposed to help rebuild Haiti. Yes, they do have corrupt politicians who are only working for their pockets, but so are the people who take part of the corruption. Clinton also destroy our rice production so he could sell his rice in the country. Talking about corruption, you will be surprised some key people who are involved in destroying the country. America is not innocent in what is going on in Haiti, and so are some other countries. For example, if someone is doing something where the law is prohibited, and I get involved in that, I am at wrong as much as that person. To what level? That's a different story.
Funny that people think rep dom is different than Haiti on this point
UN needs to help build infrastructure and stop throwing money at them , only to disappear with each disposed president. The wall looks great, take note Biden.
Ask French, USA and beyond why? No matter what they will never control Haiti. Yes, they us alot of bad things. But Haiti will rise again despite that well designed plot for daring to abolish slavery. They keep up stealing from us for the longest and yet they blame it on us.
What an informative documentary. Thank you. I have been so ignorant in my history of Hispanola. I am now more informed. I have subscribed.
Marvelous graphs of important data.This includes geographic/seismic data. Excellent documentary.
I know a woman whose parents are from Haiti and who has been to both Haiti and the Dominican Republic. I've only been to the Dominican Republic. One thing that I found odd that she said is that both countries seem to have drastically different environments and just "feel different." Your video explained a bit about why she felt that way, especially concerning deforestation.
Haiti is dry like and mountainous while the DR is green forested rains more.
Haiti is a black majority country and RD is not. That's why one has gangs, drugs, crimes and the other one not.
@@Xenlacasa45
Stated to be false in this very video. In fact, Haiti gets more rainfall.
yea i went to the DR/Haiti border a few years ago and you can see the difference. the haitian side becomes like a desert instantly. you can almost see a natural border because of the difference in foliage.
My grandfather RIP when I used to visit Dominican Rep as a little boy says Haiti is cursed because the majority of people do voodoo. And DR is a Christian nation that’s is why
I appreciate the mention of the Haitian aggression against the DR in the first half of the 19th century. Many historians when describing why Haiti is poor, they omit how after winning independence, they oppressed their neighbor.
I was quite surprised that Haiti ruled DR for 22 years before finally being overcome and evicted !
and did you appreciate historians mentioning the Parsley Massacre of more than 20,000 Haitians at the Massacre River of 1932 under the orders of U.S. backed Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo? or do you appreciate historians mentioning how the U.S. sugar cane factories dominated Haiti, taking ownership of all the sugar cane farms to enrich the U.S? wink wink LOL
Please, do some research. You are right that Haiti did occupy DR (which they had no rights to) after their own liberation but remember that slavery was still present in DR...which means it was already an oppressed society (at least for black ppl) and it was the Haitians who abolished slavery for black people in DR during this occupation. So, please, tell me, who exactly was oppressed. ..better yet, don't
@@jangregory169 Haiti continued to have forced labor for many decades after the slave revolt against the French. The idea that the Haitians selflessly occupied their neighbors on the East side of the island to "free" them is ridiculous. They taxed the average person heavily so they could steal the labor from another nation, turning everyone into slaves of the Haitian state. Maybe talk to a Dominican historian and see how they see it. The story of the oppressed becoming oppressors is not unique historically at all. Just don't pretend as if the Dominicans don't have legitimate grievances against the Haitian government.
Nah bro, only white people can be oppressive.
“On the brink of becoming a failed state.” On the brink? Sounds like the brink is in the rear view mirror at this point
ur 3 months too late bro
Makes no differences. They are already a failed state
Definitely a confirmed failed state now
that is comedy gold
@@skyyy4570 my comment was based on the information in the video which was published three months before my comment. So, I’m not sure what you’re on about, but you do you
Not just the French, the Duvaliers took away everything the people had...
Dont forget the haitian gangs doing the same thing lol😂
You do realize the Duvaliers were installed by the u.s. right?
@@o.f.ftrack3444 Not quite installed, Duvalier was elected democratically before he abolished democracy in the country, but they undoubtedly provided significant support.
@@eyeofapollyon6739so installed
@@ricklou273 No, Duvalier was already comfortably a totalitarian dictator by the time the US started sending him aid.
As a Haitian this is the best foreign video I’ve seen on Haitian history and Haiti-Dominican relations. Extremists on both sides are usually the loudest and give their respective people a bad rep. Also love seeing the comments filled with Dominicans expressing empathy and interest in the tragic history of a naturally beautiful nation. I wish people exposed the unity and empathy of both nations and the unbiased history. I’m proud of our neighbors for achieving all that they did to grow and make their country prosperous. Hoping to see the same for Haiti in my lifetime 🇭🇹 🇩🇴 ❤️
The Dominican Republic is the best potential partner of a stable and functional Haiti. if Haiti was a relatively safe, stable, with the basic infrastructure for trade, commerce and tourism, trust me that Haiti would be filled with Dominicans going there for tourism or business. I would love to visit Tortuga Island, Gonaive, Les Cayes, and Jeremie, as a Dominican, but it is simply way too difficult due to the lack of basic infrastructure. i am sure many other Dominicans have an interest in knowing Haiti other than Port-Au-prince or the border towns.
@@sonnymartinez3051 oh I’m sure of it! Me as a Haitian it’s too dangerous to visit my own parents hometowns so I feel you 🥲
@@sonnymartinez3051The sad situation is the risk reward for DR government or any government to provide any support is too great. The DR plan is obviously to build the wall, stay their distance and let the inevitable happen. After the dust settles, go pick up the scraps.
Honestly, what is can the DR do? Haiti is an asymmetrically different nation from Dominicans, so an integration is out of the questions and will only lead to more problems. The best that Dominicans can do really is safeguarding and protecting their nation and territory from the chaos that governs the neighboring nation. DR has already helped out Haiti with real tangible aid more than all the countries of the world put together, and still continue to bear a heavy burden with Haitians.
@@sonnymartinez3051 agreed. I would say that's the only option
I’ve been to Haiti at the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line’s privately owned beach. If you go just beyond the visitor area in the tree line there is a massive fence that looks like it belongs in Jurassic Park to keep the locals away from the tourists. When you’re in Jamaica, or any other Caribbean island, you just walk around the city along with the native inhabitants like any normal country. It was weird to such a drastic difference between the island nations.
I've been there as well. I spoke to local workers there that said the island was a pleasant free getaway for Haitians, but now they can't go there. They are very unhappy about it but feel powerless against parasitic foreign occupation.
@@UrbanCommentBot It's not "foreign occuption" for a private property to erect a fence to keep violent or looting trespassers out. If that fence was removed, rampant looting would occur.
Hm, although I was being a bit dramatic with that term to over empathize with the feelings of the people, I feel like you had to ignore parts of my comment to make that response. And that's fine. Thanks for your perspective.
@@naekosl3059 you mean looting from the previous inhabitants of Haiti by (presumably) the ancestors of the tourists. I’m not calling for violence against the descendants of slave owners, but there’s a reason the people in Haiti are struggling
The cruise line could just stop going there if it's so bad for Haiti. I doubt that would help the country at all though
Haiti is in far worse conditions that we can imagine, as many of their children are kidnapped, many men are killed, and the population suffers from disease outbreaks without a healthcare system. I truly feel for my neighbors and wish they recover from the terrible fate they've had.
Yeah it's such a terrible fate it's not like they had anything to do with it. It just sorta happened, must have been the wind.
@@Challffz I take it you haven't watched the video? The analysis has thoroughly concluded that it was mainly France's and the US's fault
From trinidad in cribbean.this has. Been infirmstive....but also d eleohant in d room is reparation and gpod ethival nstive leadershp
@@paratame105 It's one-hundred percent white people's fault that blacks can't figure out civilization no matter where they live, yup! Agreed!
Now there is a people who are owed reparations! The country was forced to buy themselves out of French slavery long after slavery had ended! 😡
Very historical and comprehensive presentation. I really enjoyed it!
As a Dominican, this has to be the best non biased analysis I have seen on youtube. Well done.
Your government killed 37000 Haitian people and are sending guns and munitions to destabilized Haiti ... Did you missed that part of your story !?
Wanna talk about your invasion of DR for 22yrs and the Moca massacres😂
Also pretty stupid to believe the DR is arming Haiti so the they can use the same weapon against the DR😂 pretty counter productive😂 it's your own Haitians from Florida sending in those weapons the elite that fled Haiti and the thugs too😂
@@emmasarlanis not enough time in an hour to explain every historical event, how about the trujillo era? The Mirabal sisters? And many other things. The subject of this video is explained wonderfully. Maybe he can go in depth in another one on these events you mentioned. I would happily watch as well.
@@oscarpatxot659Lmao the victims😢
I grew up with my Haitian dad never really talking about Haiti and what was going on. This video shows what my family in Haiti is really going through. This is just, horrible.
Look mate, I had to shatter your precious sad thoughts, but Haiti is messed because of Haitians, not because of the French or the American or deforestation. Absolutely laughable and your family would be much better off cleaning out their own country instead of blaming it on someone else.
same always wondered why the older i get the more i understand when i do my own research.
Yup
Solidarity and sympathy to you and yours!
I would say they can come up here to America but the right wing nuts will probably be just a dangerous.
I remember flying from Miami to Trinidad Is. about a dozen years ago and going directly over the border between Haiti and the DR. The pilot mentioned what we were about to cross and to "look at the difference in the two countries." Haiti looked like a barren desolate landscape and the DR a lush green land.
Well, you only saw about 10% -15% of Haiti. The 90%-85% is picturesque.
The first country to break away from slavery…. 🤔
@@nanounepha2600. Not even remotely accurate at this point in time. The “picturesque” landscape has been destroyed by the Haitians.
@@nanounepha2600 not anymore
That right ,DOMINICAN REPUBLIC populations takes care for forest and Rivers and GOD blessing every day our nation
The last payments Haiti had to make, were in 1947. More than a decade later, Haiti and DR have still (surprisingly) the same GDP. Meaning both countries started in the 60s with comparable economical situations, even political.
Over the last 60 years, Haiti received around US$20 billion in aid for reconstruction and development.
And here we are ... believing that another $20 billion will change something.
DR developed a civil society while Haiti perfected the art of anarchy.
It would be interesting to look at how DR managed to do this, especially since the 60s, and why Haiti failed, under similar conditions.
Haiti chose low class crime culture as a way of life. There is now amount of money that can fix these cultures. Examples of failed low class crime cultures that stubbornly remain impoverished by choice despite having huge amounts of money thrown at them in order to help them change: Afghanistan, Haiti, and Urban African Americans. Some people choose poverty because they think it is cool.
@@lprice5583lies-stop spreading ignorance-
@radiantgoldensun6438 Not lies. Different groups make different choices on how they want to live. All those choices add up to create a culture. Haiti has made poor choices collectively. That's their culture. Giving them money won't change the choices they make. There are already decades of aid that has gone to Haiti with little change. Their needs to be a cultural shift in Haiti before money will do any good. Once the people of Haiti show that they can be responsible and stop stealing and killing each other, you will find out that they won't need any aid. Foreign investment and the industriousness of the Haitin people will lift people out of poverty. The problem is that people have to choose a culture of peace and improvement while punishing the corrupt and murderous individuals in their society. So far, I have not seen the people of Haiti do that.
@@lprice5583 fake news, every culture has derelict behavior, you wrote that whole essay dismissing the fact that Haiti has been systematically kept oppressed allowing bad behavior to flourish-blaming Haiti while across the river DR is selling smex, trafficking ppl, and poisoning and killing US tourist-continue the ignorance though…
@@lprice5583 yawn, more ignorance, go read the ENTIRE history🤷♂️
I am dominican, and I learned things in these videos that I had never heard before. Great work 👏 👍
Why do Dominicans hate Haitians and black ppl in general?
Me no black papi
@@tjones44236😐
protejan esa frontera, hermano
There are a few different issues at play with Haiti, but the short answer is a complicated history of colonialism, slavery, and racial tensions that were uniquely damaging to the nascent Haitian state.
Whereas Haiti was the second independent nation in the Americas, the nations who secured independence after Haiti did so in much different paths. The United States secured independence with the help and recognition of France and Spain, and most of the colonial administration pre-independence remained in control after independence. While there were certainly adjustments, the leaders and power bases before and after American independence were largely the same. Other prominent breakaway factions accomplished the same: Simon Bolivar and his independence campaign exploited numerous existing administrators with sympathies towards independence, Brazil was de facto independent and at one point the actual seat of power for the Portuguese monarchy (who fled Europe during the Peninsular War), and the Dominican Republic had a number of issues on their path to independence but enjoyed protection by the United States during the last stages of independence.
Haiti enjoyed none of this. The Haitian revolution was led in first stages by Toussaint Louverture, who was a freed slave and had little experience or political connections to rely on. He was tricked into meeting with the French under pretense of negotiations, at which point he was arrested in 1802 and died less than a year later in a French prison. Jean-Jacques Dessalines, another freed slave, largely took control of the Haitian revolutionary forces and established an independent Haiti in 1804, before being assassinated in 1806. Prior to his assassination, Dessalines ordered a mass killing of French citizens residing in Haiti, with at least 3,000 French executed and many thousands more fleeing to the United States.
There were several consequences of this mass-killing, and of the general political disorder of both Loverture and Dessalines being removed from power in hostile manners in short period. The first is that the new state of Haiti was, rather uniquely for the various colonial nations that would pop up in the coming years, almost entirely devoid of Europeans. Some were spared, mostly Polish residents who had supported the revolution, but those not killed had fled. This was quite damaging as the remaining residents were largely former slaves who lacked the same education as the white citizens and the racial tension was worsened by these acts. Further, the mass execution and tales of the residents who fled to the United States inflamed the slaveowners of the South and created a paranoia about a potential mass slave revolt and mass killings of white southerners as happened in Haiti -- such paranoia continued well into the United States Civil War, with Confederates and Confederate sympathizers warning of "the horrors of St. Domingo" in the early years. This led to policy of isolation, began in 1804 by President Thomas Jefferson, and Haiti would not be officially recognized as an independent nation by the United States until *1862.*
While all of this was damaging enough, the isolation also opened the door for diplomatic extortion of the Haitians. In 1825, the French government sent numerous warships to Haiti demanding the former colony pay an indemnity of 150 million francs for the property lost in the revolution (that is to say *the slaves who had revolted against them*) in exchange for diplomatic recognition. To pay the indemnity, the Haitians had to take out exorbitant loans, sometimes at interest as high as 18 per cent per annum, and as a consequence of having no international recognition were obligated to take these loans *from the French* (and later the United States) as no other countries would treat with them. It is estimated that by the late 1800s, some *eighty percent* of the total Haitian revenues were being diverted into French indemnity payments, and the French during this period maintained control over the entire Haitian treasury, which they forced to be located in Paris until the official government debts were paid back in *1893.*
But while the French indemnity was repaid, this was still only *part* of the issues facing Haiti. The other issue was that even after fears of a slave revolt were quelled, the United States remained belligerent at best towards the Haitians. Andrew Johnson in 1868 had plans made for an annexation of Haiti by the United States, and in 1890 the United States sent a fleet of warships to Haiti in an attempt to pressure the Haitians to "lease" a port to the United States. Newly elected president Florvil Hyppolite refused the demands, which angered the United States (and led to them insisting that the warships sent to Haiti were merely for *peaceful negotiation,* not for any threat of violence.) Haiti's troubles continued when the Germans in 1897 demanded a pardon for German national Emile Luders, along with a formal apology, an indemnity, and a host of other embarrassing demands, backed by yet another fleet of warships. This became an issue as the United States viewed the Luders affair as a sign German influence had grown too strong in Haiti. Political instability during the following years eventually prompted US businesses to lobby the government to intervene in Haiti, an intervention that was granted by Woodrow Wilson in 1915. American marines occupied Haiti and established a military regime with a puppet government.
The changes brought about by the American occupation were extreme. Where the Haitian constitution had previously banned all foreign nationals from holding property, the US occupation transferred control of all customs houses, banks, and treasuries (along with associated financial and administrative institutions) to the United States. About 40% of the Haitian wealth was seized by the United States and used to pay off loans to American banks that had been used prior to pay the French indemnity. The United States had final say over all expenditures by the Haitians, and was granted by treaty control over all foreign relations and economic affairs for ten years, later extended to twenty. When the Haitian legislature refused to ratify the new constitution being forced on them in 1917, the United States occupying forces dissolved the legislature and did not allow a new legislature to meet until 1929. At this point, prominent black Americans began protesting, with W.E.B. duBois and the NAACP decrying the conditions in Haiti. The United States occupation had effectively reversed older racial politics and granted rights to the mulatto class while suppressing the Afro-Carib classes that comprised the majority of the Haitians. Conditions continued to deteriorate as the US puppet regime began a forced labor policy in Haiti, requiring Haitian citizens to work on various "economic" projects without compensation and resulting in a large number of deaths from overwork. These deaths also were joined with the large numbers killed by US forces during revolts against the occupation.
Finally in 1933, the situation had become so untenable that the United States began withdrawing from Haiti and returned control back to the Haitians. However, the United States continued to enforce the treaty stipulations that gave them financial control until debts were repaid, which was maintained until the final payments in 1947. During this final stage, the portion of Haitian revenues going to foreign debt payments still accounted for 20% the total. While the occupation did result in some infrastructure and economic reforms, the end result was not that glowing either: Haiti's education system was essentially dismantled, replacing prior comprehensive education with a strict vocational system that only taught agricultural practices and siphoning even more money from Haitian institutions in those set up by the United States. Segregation had been imported from the American South and enforced in Haiti, and altogether somewhere between 3,000 and 15,000 Haitians died during the occupation.
So to give a condensed answer: a combination of French and United States hostility toward Haiti, and extortionate policy toward the island, effectively deprived Haiti of almost 125 years of economic development that they only began to recover from in 1934 (after the occupation ended) or later in 1947 (when the last of the indemnity-related debts were paid). While the colony was rich and fairly well situated, the indemnities siphoned almost all of this wealth into the hands of French and American banks while keeping the new country from actually investing its wealth.
Very descriptive! As born and raised in Dominican Republic, no even in school, teached us so much about the history of both countries. Thank you
2:54 “injure more than $12,000” 💀
@@Ranguvar13”twelve thousand others.”
Native born people from most countries are some of the most ignorant people in the world about their own country’s history. That’s why talking to them is usually a waste of time if you want to learn history.
Taught -- not "teached!"
Yep
I visited the DR 20 years ago on my honeymoon. It was a natural wonder, just beautiful. I remember all the lovely celebrity homes. It was hard to understand how the island had such different countries on it. We didn't visit Haiti, but have fond memories of the Dominican Republic.
It’s even better today. The Dominicans are lovely friendly people, the by-product of increasing prosperity and employment. Although I was there for work, I took time to tour around. You are right, it is a natural wonder.
It's not hard to understand. One side has been run by Haitians, and the other side by Dominicans.
It's like failing to understand why Japan is awesome and Ethiopia sucks...
It's the people. It's always the people.
@@piobmhor8529just don’t try and go too towards other places that aren’t tourist
@@javiazar the people play a role thats for sure but to a certain degree the people in charge hold a much more significant role in where society is headed. Now I don't know much about Haiti but I do know much about Iraq's, Lebanon's, Lybia's, and Egypt's history where in every single country since WW1 the west especially the US, UK, and France always supported tyrants that the people don't want over actual good leaders who wanted whats best for the country and the people. literally every single time a good leader emerges the superpowers would wage direct and indirect warfare just to place a tyrant in his place and this continual degradation in leadership supported by the west will ultimately create the society that is often looked down upon as "uncivilized". unfortunate.
Haiti is just as beautiful.
And they blame the DR for not wanting any part of that mess within its borders.
It's like in the US. No one wants to go into 'their' communities.
There was a satellite photo showing the contrasts of the island of Hispaniola. Haiti looked completely barren, the Dominican Republic looked alive and its forests green. Sometimes pictures speak a thousand words.
yea, looks like they cut ALL trees down ? their side just looks like dirt :(
@@dixiedawgs8946 very desperate situation
The trees, shrubs and all forms of vegetation, after drying are used for fuel. Cooking gas and electricity are very expensive and there availability is unreliable. When you live in Haiti you have to be completely self sufficient and it's off grid.
Thanks to France
@@acmhfmggruthat is not an accurate statement at all.
As a Haitian, watching this and realizing the true impact of all these major events we’ve gone through gives me an overwhelming feeling of sadness. I was only 4 years old when Aristide went into exile, to this day I had no idea it was because he was the first to ask for reparations. I thank you so much for retelling the whole story in such a thorough and unbiased way, videos like yours that help spreading awareness keep me a bit more hopeful for my country’s future. Haïti’s many complex issues are just the result of a very unfortunate butterfly effect
I would bet it’s because of the Voodoo. Unfortunately, Haiti paid a demonic price for its freedom
The reason America doesn't like socialism is because socialist countries can't be exploited, that's why they have an embargo on Cuba, out of resentment.
When I look at the footage of Haiti, I can't believe that it is an island in the Caribbean Sea. It looks like I am looking at the landscape and the people living in difficult conditions in Africa, during the 1980s concert, LIVE AID to AFRICA, which I watched as a child I saw footage of hurt childrens. I myself grew up in the communist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the republic's huge debts led to the breakup of Yugoslavia. All the newly formed countries on the territory of the former republic inherited the financial debt to the World Bank, Russia, USA, UK, France. Despite the civil war in the area of Croatia, Bosnia, which suffered a nationalist bloody attack by the Serbian population in these republics. Despite suffering and years of war, we are still paying the debt we created during the communist regime. However, two new countries are doing relatively well and these countries are Slovenia and Croatia. I hope that your leaders who ruled with a hard and bloody hand did not kill intellectual and educated people in all these decades. Without education there is no progress for society and the state of such a society is soulless. If you have smart and educated citizens, the leaders cannot trick them. By regulating systems and society, dictators make their people stupid, and teach them that others (other countries) are to blame for all the problems in their own country.
@@peterbabickoncan6192 They are Africans but living in a different place. As for Africa itself, many governments remain in existence because of the billions of dollars of free money (not loans) given to them by Western nations and Japan in order for their governments to pay workers and maintain infrastructure. Without that money, a number of African governments would fall as they cannot collect enough taxes to keep on going. Thus Africa is artificially orderly and civilized by the appearance of governments. WIthout the external support, Africa, despite the abundance of natural resources and land and water, would devolve to appear like Haiti. Even Anthony Bourdain in his travel videos across parts of Africa showed that they couldn't even maintain knowledge and technology at the 1850's level. Actually, math and science was quite advanced by the 1850's. I wonder how many Americans could even maintain that level of society if SHTF.
As someone from the US, I'm so sorry for what our government has done to your country and your people.
Maybe your country's path to freedom is a slow one, but it has already passed many milestones. If we were to zoom out by another 100 years, maybe we would see a brand new Haïti that is hard to imagine right now. Hope is never lost, and I thinking the Haitians are strong, brave, and not easily defeated.
The Haiti-República Dominicana conflict is one that's rarely talked about in mainstream media, myself I had no idea about it until I met a Dominican colleague last year who told me the entire history, territorial claims etc. So it's great to see quality content about this topic in this channel. Keep up the great work
They claim DR belong to them😂😂💀Dominicans were created in the island, they were brought in the late 1700s 100-200 years after the creation of the dominican people
DR will take over the entire island one day lol
@@LaSombraaThey will get 👏
@@LaSombraaDR is enemy to every single black nation on planet earth 🌏
same here im dominican , thanks for the attention!
I remember my family went on a cruise back in 2005 that included a stop in labadee Haiti. I remember them telling us not to venture off of the private beach area but i also remember thinking that it was one of the most beautiful, idyllic island places id ever seen in my life. Sitting on the perfectly white sand beach actually felt like a dream. It was so heartbreaking to me to think the people that lived there couldn't enjoy that same beauty.
Thanks! Great coverage on this unique island of 2 countries. I always learn from you folks.
I was a part of a humanitarian mission to South America in 2022. Every other country we stopped in we went into port or anchored right off shore. In Haiti we had to stay far offshore and do circles due to the gangs potentially targeting our ship. Also, hundreds of Haitians tried to get to our ship via makeshift rafts to escape the country. We were accompanied by American coast guard ships that had to cut off the rafts and help them back to shore. When we set up or medical site on shore it was guarded by a detachment of Marines and fenced in. There was a big desperate crowd who could have overrun the site. We had a plan in place in which if the site was started to get overrun we would drop everything and run to the transport boats. We only provided care for a day when one of cranes bringing up our people on a transport ship snapped and dumped everyone into the water. Everyone survived, and we noped out of there before anything worse happened.
Zoinks!
It's so damn hard
δεν έχεις καμιά πιθανότητα να σώσεις αυτούς τούς ανθρώπους διότι δεν μπορούν να εκπολιτιστουν, βλ. και όλες τις χώρες της Αφρικής..
Wow, I had no idea things were that desperate, and it breaks my heart. Love to all of you angels who tried to help.
how much aid can even be provided when there is such a high cost just to be present
Honestly, giving a bunch of money to the corrupt mafia-like "government" of Haiti doesn't seem like a very good idea. It would make more sense to invest in specific infrastructure and education projects than just giving money.
Giving money to these places is never a good idea. Because the problem isn't lack of money, it's greed. Why feed your people when you can siphon off money to build yourself another palace?
I usually don’t agree with not paying individually but I agree in this scenario.
It’s not up to you if it’s a good idea it’s what owed to them. And the French and American government didn’t have any problem with the guy right up until he asked for that money. so he must not have been too bad. If you wanna call the Haitian government Mafia style, you better be calling the United States the same thing because that’s exactly how they act.
@MrPaytonw34 See, you're not wrong with calling the US governmen mafia. The differences is tho the US government is an effective mafia. Haitian government has proven not to be. It's also just concerns made by many , to just giving an unelected President money which would legitimacy him.
That's not going to work either. Fundamentally Haitians just love electing strong men, and "Haiti First" style politicians who not coincidentally always end up being authoritarian autocrats who try to turn themselves into eternal presidents. Haiti produces nothing of value and has no significant natural resources. It's a failed country with no realistic way forward.
Okay I actually like the transition to the ad. Also i feel like more creators should do their ads at the end of the video, rather than at the start or in the middle. That was cool, good work
It's really sad to see a fellow caribbean island with conditions like this...makes you realise how fortunate you are
I read about this disparity back in 2006. Back then DR was still described as being "poor". It's amazing how much progress has been made on their side in that time.
Around that time, I read a book "Why Nations Fail" that put the contrast between Haiti and Dominican Republic as one of their topic examples.
It’s not when you consider the US & France’s actions against Haiti since ~mid-1800s. It’s literally clear cause & effect up thru the 2004 ousting of the best leader Haiti’s had.
@@paisan8766
There's always a racist desperate to blame western countries instead of the actual cause.... You should feel ashamed, racist.
@@paisan8766
Well obviously your corrupt government at the time accepted these terms without first telling France to drop dead. Your leaders were obviously bribed to accept the deal as they didn't give a fuck about anyone else but themselves. France was in no position to invade Haiti in 1870 when the Germans kicked their ass so bad. I would imagine had the leadership of Haiti at the time had approached the Germans for weapons (like the Boers did), they would have given France a bloody nose if they even thought of invading the place. But no, as long as those lighter skinned elites got their cut, why should they give a damn about anything else?
@@paisan8766yea, crazy how much active destabilization by two world leaders can keep a small island nation destabilized.
In the Dominican Republic, the government pours millions into funding forestation projects to schools and different organizations so they can go out and plant thousands of trees. There are always commercials on radio and TV about the importance of planting trees and taking care of our flora and fauna. There's seasons where you can not fish, hunt, or you'll be in a lot of trouble with authorities out there.
Haiti has not had authorities for years
This is 100% true, been seeing this effort since I was a child. Even in my brief stints while visiting DR you heard about these efforts.
That is very wise.
yeah also when you are about to graduate from the State University (UASD) they include in your bill a fee for a tree to be planted.
I went to Punta Cana a few years ago. Amazing place. Y'all do an outstanding job. Keep it up.
I been to DR I seen the economy getting much better now from Santo Domingo to small towns like Samana!
Video ideas for the Modern Conflicts series:
- Mexican Drug War
- Somali Civil War
- Cabo Delgado Insurgency
- Yugoslav Wars
- Bougainville Separatist Crisis
- The Indo-Pakistani Wars/Kashmir
- Ugandan Bush War
- Rwandan Genocide
- The Two Congo Wars
- South African Border War
- Angolan Civil War
- Sri Lankan Civil War
- Nepalese Civil War
- Central African Republic’s Civil War
- Rise of Boko Haram
- Rise of Abu Sayyaf/Piracy in the Sulu Sea
- Ambazonia Separatist Crisis
- Azawad Crisis/War in the Sahel
- Algerian Civil War
- Decline of Venezuela
- Salvadoran Civil War
- Guatemalan Civil War
- Decline of El Salvador
- Liberian Civil War
- Sierra Leonean Civil War
- Colombian Conflict
- Ivorian Civil War
- Western Sahara
- West Papua Crisis
- South China Sea Dispute
- Shining Path Insurgency in Peru
- Rhodesian Bush War
- Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea
- Sino-Vietnamese Skirmishes After 1979
- The Two Sudanese Civil Wars
World is definitely fucked up
Guyana Venezuela conflict?
They have a claim @@harryroadman1089
Why are you so obsessed with war?
Add Ukrainian Orange Revolution , Revolution of Dignity
and Yeltsin Black October
This was an extremely well produced and informative video. Thank you so much.
Thanks for the donation, we really appreciate it
Too well in fact.
I lived in DR for about a year, we did a day trip to Haiti. This was almost 20 years ago. The difference between the two was extraordinary. Trees on one side, near desert on the other, houses on one side, hovels on the other. And I remember while the ordinary people were clearly mired in abject poverty with whole families of children literally sharing one person's clothes between them - hanging around in the background were well dressed (and clearly dodgy) young men on motorbikes watching everything.
I'm not sure when Haiti wasn't in really bad way.
Sheer human greed and lack of any foresight for the future is why the Haitian side is so heavily deforested. In 1923 over 60% of Haiti's land was forested. In 2006, less than 2% of the land was forested, even worse today I am sure. They violated that land like the trees were goods in a supermarket and they just looted it until there was nothing left.
@@CountYulith Forced poverty drive people to desperation. Paying reparations for slavers, with what should've been your closest ally(the U.S) backing it is disgusting.
@@godofthisshitThe US loved slavery and kept it for longer than Haiti. Haiti has been by itself and attacked since day 1 by the French and other western colonial/imperial powers.
This current intervention is meant to set up a new puppet government in Haiti so that the US can continue to rob Haiti. The Haitians would be better off with the gangs/warlords organizing a new government than what’s set come from outside forces.
@@godofthisshit Unfortunately, lack of foresight is lack of foresight no matter how much your situation sucks, and trees won't feel sorry for you and grow faster
@@gracequach6769 I disagree. If someone runs out of $500 is a lot different than if someone runs out of $500 million. $500 must be spent to survive, $500 million isn't required for one person to survive.
God bless you. Your show, your history, your teaching on history. Your program, your entities, are teaching 🌎🌍 globe history in the millions.
As a Haitian, I'm impressed with this documentary. Job well done sir.
I actually support the respiration request by Haiti for France to payback but...
Given the instability and risk of corruption (in term of the billions being misused)
I think it would be better for it to be 10-15 billion (not 21) (with adjustable inflation year by year) to be pay back and over *next 20 years* instead of 1 time payment*.
Long term stability is what Haiti needs and not relaying on a sudden of a jackpot income to resolve its economic need. e.g Many nation had in the past opt to invade their neighboring island/nations as a way to stabilize/centralize their domestic control ... edit: some nation are still doing it today instead of spending the effort to resolve the problem & cultural improvement.
*Payment can also be made directly such as construction of hospital, school -etc which can create the condition of making it more appealing for France citizens to accept the terms.
While the target is for this to create a positive circle (reversing the negative circle created from the debt crisis)
33:08 Cross Finger this video by @RealLifeLore don't get mass flagged by Little Pinks //Taiwanese Canadian :)
Money doesn't matter at all. Money is just a medium of trade that is representative of labor.
If they don't work, the money will be meaningless because there will b nothing to buy, and the few things available to buy will just be ultra expensive
Why don't Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and Oprah go and take care of their people??? Building a wall is racist!!
@@michaelwang6125 I agree, to deter corruption, maybe the money could be put into a neutral account and the money going directly to build the infrastructure of the country. These purchases could be overseen by the UN. Sounds a bit colonial or like policing but at least it would ensure the country's' infrastructure is slowly rebuilt.
@@tedundercarriage8183 Who hurt you? 😂😂
I grew up next door to a Haitian family. During the summer, a few of their relatives would come stay with them, one of them being a boy around my age. We became great friends over the next few years, until my neighbors moved and I never saw him again. Then the 2010 earthquake happened and I wondered if he’s okay. Wherever he is, I pray he and his family are safe and hopefully living somewhere in better condition than their homeland.
Honestly, he was probably eaten by his fellow countrymen
I stopped to think why DR didn’t intervene in Haiti or why they didn’t just annex the region once it collapsed fully, and it’s quite clear why they did neither. It would cost DR a lot of time, money, & man power to annex the region and bring stability back. Some Haitians probably don’t want to be apart of the DR inciting rebellious guerrilla warfare sorta like what’s seen in Israel/Palestine. So from the DRs perspective building a wall and wanting nothing to do with their failed neighbor is the easiest most cost effective way to deal with the problem.
We need to build a wall 🇺🇸
That’s right
Haiti is a cesspool which cannot be fixed. The ONLY thing the DR can do is isolate as much as possible from the rot that is its neighbor.
DR is better off than Haiti by a lot, but DR is still a poor country overall, getting somewhat better every year but still poor. It would be suicide for DR to absorb Haiti. Imagine assimilating 12 M of the poorest people in the world, it would turn DR in the poorest country in the Americas. Not even Mexico or Brazil economies can absorb 12 M poor people.
Plus the video also said that Haiti invaded and occupied the DR for 20 years after they received independence. Dominicans see the Haitians as the invaders and occupiers.
Wow, this video really made me sad. The Haitians have really been through so much and the future is still uncertain.
I want to express a massive amount of gratitude for the time and effort you put into this video. I’m a middle school history teacher, I just got on winter break, and I watch your channel for fun. Since we spend a lot of time on slavery, I’ve always been fascinated by the Haitian Revolution. This video was a godsend! I watched the entire video and enjoyed every second of it- but I realized that I didn’t retain much of the information - you loaded it with so many important details. This evening, I came back for seconds with a notebook and pen (old school style). I paused the video often, researching important topics and resuming when I was satisfied. I spent like 4 hours in total between the two watches and all my pausing and I’ve got to say- I enjoyed every second.
These long form videos are high quality man. As an educator myself, I give you props for the quality AND quantity. I can’t imagine how many hours went into it. Subscribed and liked!! Looking forward to the next!!
Jesus!
Educators using unverified material from a YT video for school curriculum. How crapy education has become in the USA, for crying out loud!
@@MerryXmasMfkrs I said I was watching his channel for fun. I don’t use his videos for education material - I also stated in my comment that I’m a US history teacher. So the Haitian Revolution is something I am fascinated by, but Haiti and the DR are topics I do not teach about, not even for a minute. The topics I do teach about are things like US slavery, the American Revolutionary War, and the Civil War.
@@rohankataria8414 Phew! What a relief.
@@MerryXmasMfkrs hahahaha don’t worry, we have an iron clad curriculum that I adhere to! Have a great day man!
@@MerryXmasMfkrsI will say as an American, the US education system is not good at all.
I know it’s unlikely this is seen but I wanted to say i’ve been loving the long form videos. Such high quality content and filled with information. It outcompetes all the short term videos that spam youtube.
Let's introduce islam to Haiti, probably that'll help!
@@PaulaBeanget the f outta here, it’s not about religion
Most channels long the content out, noone produces short stuff anymore. Most hour plus videos contain no more than 20 minutes of content. Some channels even slow down the speed of the audio to make the video longer and adjusting to 1.25 or 1.5 turns it back into how a normal person speaks
@@PaulaBeanit is the religion of peace and they need some peace? 🕊️ 🗡️
@@arostwocentsreligion of peace?
*coughs* Syria, Sudan, Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan, Chechnya, Libya, Chad...
Certainly the religion of peace, yeah
I'm lived in the RD since 2010 so I wanted to clarify some points the RD has gone out of it's way to help Haitians who come to the DR to easily obtain a government ID (cédula) so they can live & work in RD. 75% of births in public hospitals are hatian. The wall is primarily due to the fact that on the RD side of the the island is a protected forest which Haitians frequently invade to cut down trees. The RD won't send troops to Haiti to help restore order because #1 Haiti previously ruled the RD as you covered but additionally Trujillo attempted to exterminate all Haitians (not sure why you excluded this from your video). #3 there's no interest in the RD to help Haiti so any president who tries would be committing political suicide.
💯
The Haitians need to quell the rabbit-like birth rates...That's part of the poverty problem
Although most things are true, DR also revoked the right to a passport a in the later half of the 2010s and the fact that disaster refugees have been classified as migrants and that there anti-Haitian protests shows that there is still a deep divide.
@@Tank175 they were classified as migrants, given a cédula and permitted to stay and work. Ie the "refugees" were integrated into society as opposed to the refugee camps you see in most countries. & yeah there are ant-hatian protests, it's to be expected when the majority of the of tax money goes to supporting Haitians over dominicans. Not to mention the recent Haitian bullshit with them damming the river that drifts temporarily into Haiti. What the domican military should do is just divert the river so it doesn't flow into Haiti since Haiti insists on building the illegal dam.
@@Tank175 well if we keep this up then there would be more Haitians than Dominicans in dr and that's no good
you made me want to go to the dominician republic, it looks Amazing on other photos😄
That’s your takeaway…
i keep seeing the influx of haitian immigrants into mexico, and i as a mexican person wanted to find out more about what’s been going on with haiti. My god, can this country and people just get a break!!!!! nothing but interventions, disasters, and ,isfortunes. I send blessings to the unfortunate people from haiti.
Do you live in Mexico.. Or the U.S.?
@@Buffalo_Souljai live in USA, but travel to mexico often to visit family.
thank you for your blessings
I am/ was a US Marine. I was deployed to Haiti as a very young man and it was my first experience in another country. Haiti then back in 2003 doesn't look any different than what Haiti looks like in this video in 2023. I will quote Roudolf Bandings WW1 account, " Rubbish doesn't require and explanation it always looks the same...." While I was there the same problems and happenings were prevalent. Trash is just heaped into the streets, the gangs were ruthless, usually they can't even bury their dead then and used to in some areas put a corpse on a pile of trash and pigs would eat them. I as a young man felt very sorry for the people of this nation. I wish for the best of folks that live in Haiti and it is only the people there that can get their country on its feet, asking the world to intervene may not be the answer they seek.
Don't expect much in a country with an average IQ of 67.
Correct, no matter how much the outside world funnels into Haiti, if it doesn't help itself it is just throwing money away. They have to change it themselves.
I totally agree
@@bscottb8
Who are you?
Just a troll that hates Hati?
@mikeoveli1028 Did you not even read the comment. It's up to the country itself to build. They kicked out the people who kept order and mismanaged themselves. Because of greed and selfishness. And it's spelled Haiti not Hati. when the US left they couldnt control themselves.
The Dominican Republic has a huge tourist economy that has existed for decades, which Haiti never had at the same level. Punta Cana is one of the biggest resorts in the Caribbean and that was founded by a New York entrepreneur and a Dominican entrepreneur back in the late 60s.
DR was also heavily featured in Jurassic Park, so Hollywood added yet more value to the nation back in the 90s.
While DR caught lightning in a bottle with all the support, shame that Haiti got struck by lightning twice in the past decade with the Earthquake and gang wars.
The DR is still a pretty impoverished country as my mom was born and immigrated from there when she turned 18. Many places still don't have regular plumbing or even paved roads.
I think it's a little chicken vs egg. Haiti has been too dangerous for even aid workers for most of my life; not so the DR
My mother left La Romana at around 20. Still knows almost nothing in English. 😅
I swear I’ve been watching your videos for years but I never noticed I wasn’t subscribed, ever. Your videos always hit my feed for years thanks brutha keep going. Preventing history from repeating itself.
I appreciate all the work that you put into making this video about Haiti and the Dominican Republic. I discovered quite a bit I didn't know. The French double debt is particularly tragic in my opinion. It seems that NO country who came through Haiti actually helped them at all, but damaged them so they had trouble helping themselves.
@@Yvette5489Bolivar went to officer's training school in Spain. Haiti did provide arms.
Every country has it hard, no excuse
True, but the Clinton Foundation DID HELP...themselves to global earthquake aid money.
The gangs and corrupt politicians make it difficult for other countries to help. He mentioned that in the last few minutes
😢😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😢😮
I have not been back to Haiti in several years. The last trip was to bring a young Haitian back to the US for a college degree. He went back after finishing his degree, married his girlfriend and had a child. He has not been able to accomplish much due to the political environment with the gangs. We will not go back even though we used to fly in into Port-au-Prince and drive ourselves across the island without any major worries. We have friends on the island, in Haiti and the DR, who are struggling to survive. What ‘government’ is there makes it hard to help. I was in Jacmel after the earthquake and remember the sights of buildings pancaked. The horror of the loss of life could hardly be imagined. One day, I pray the island finds peace.
Do this person with his family have a way to get out?
@@soniacanalla900 Unfortunately they do not. They have contacts in Florida Haitian Community that have been trying to get them and others out of the country legally but that is a challenge with their non-existent government, the corruption of public officials, and the limited access to the US Embassy.
I really like the way you used the modern Citibank logo when explaining their predatory actions in Haiti. Yup, it's those exact same bastards.
Overly simplistic nonsense
@@fhowlandShading light on the exploitation of a nation is of course nonsense. How dare they bring it up, we should all pretend it didn't happen and ask Haitians to suck it and adult up. Who cares if with such a debilitating history moving forward complicated.
@@fhowlandaww little banker is mad his employer got called out 😂
In order to achieve peace, Haiti needs prosperity. Poverty notoriously breeds gangs and crime.
In this case you can’t bring prosperity if you at aren’t peace.
I'm an American living in Haiti since 2012. Thank you for doing this video. I'll be sharing it with a lot of my family and friends.
That is amazing! How would you describe your life there? The State Department has urged all Americans to leave Haiti due to the worsening security situation; do you not share their assessment? Do you think that the Kenya-led UN mission discussed in this video would help? Thanks!
Why in the world are you living there?
An American living in Haiti..... WHY???
Absolute squalor, women and girls being raped tortured and killed, people being hacked with machetes, violent gangs killing innocent people, gang members tying people to trees and setting them on fire, people getting "necklaces" in the streets
Voluntarily going there sounds like insanity
Im commenting so that when you respond I’ll get a notification! I’m intrigued!! Pls answer the questions!!
Be careful 🤍
As a Dominican I’m very sad to hear how Haiti has fallen into anarchy, I prey that Haiti will rise again
dang
becareful what you wish for they willl ruin your country
One day soon they will start blaming the Dominicans for their problems Because whites are waking up and we realize we're not there problem .
Walls don’t work. CNN told me so.
Pray
As a Jamaican praying for Haiti that one day thing will get better thank u sir for this document
Without european trade or american help jamaica would be in the same spot soon lol
@@AnitaAngeI highly doubt that
@@Mrs.T305 Why doubt what you can do your own research
@@AnitaAngedo you realized they are the source of Haiti problems??? Now you are saying without their help same situation. 😂😂😂
@@rushrush6754so sing the old song how france is reason , Please do tell old wise one 😂 Why isn't the DR experiencing in these problems like hati Why is most If not all black countries experienceing these sorts of problems even the ones that where never Colonized tell me why whitey is to blame
Great reporting! Thank you!
The first documentary that in my view, encapsulates the real problem with Haiti. I also got clarification in some events that really help to see the problem in a different light. Thanks for that. It's really complicated and sad at the same time. I wish the best for the Haitian people. They've suffered so much.
They killed all the white people and then built the only country they could. They got what they wanted without all those evil white people.
As a Caribbean Person myself with Jamaican and Trinidadian parents. I’ve always observed the overall level of countries that were colonized by the British(or French in this case), and those that were colonized by the Spanish and there’s been this economic difference that is very visible when you look at certain countries and their overall economic stability. I’ve been impressed by how Haiti is a very special example (considering the fact that they were the first I believe at least the first Caribbean country to break away from their colonizers,) but they had it off probably the worst because if you look into the past history of Haiti between 1804, and the late 1900s Haiti’s never really fully gotten out of that state of internal stability and many other countries in the Caribbean have. It’s pretty, interesting.
what have you concluded from your observations?
Panamenian here. Ive also noticed territories colonized by the Spanish(latinamerica) didn't progressed too much nor had any unity and have been under constant dictadorship.
While territories colonized by the rest of Europe(England, France, others) inherited science, culture, progress, unity and have uplifted people's quality of life. The only exceptions have been black/african and arabian territories. Those territories once free instead of carrying the west progress have just turned back into the primitive, tribalistic, extremists, divisive, cruel areas; with money from resources to buy modern stuff to keep their dictators and military forces content.
Sad, tendency.
@@hermitcard4494 based
They imposed naval blockades,and extorted money from Haiti that would've gone towards educating the young nation's citizens,and therefore education in Haiti is for profit from kindergarten through university. And the US occupation of Haiti was another blow to Haiti's eventual fate because Haiti's central banks were looted and Haitian public land could be privatized by foreigners thanks to the occupation
No colonizer was good. Colonization destroyed India's culture, brought India into massive poverty, left 93% people illiterate, killed us for famines and wars, burned our literature and libraries, left India with trillions looted without industrialization by 1950s.. Western countries enjoy their premium lifestyle today due to past colonization and reverse industrialization. Except, India is no poor but a state developing fast and is capable of making it developed unlike Haiti.. For example, per capita income was 3 times less than Haiti in 1980. But today India is 3 times of Haiti.. Haiti didnt even double it per capita in 40 years while India made it 18 times!.. And I think this is insane for a country of 1.4 Billion people.. Haiti is the extreme version of pakistan where government and military both are flawed except the Pakistan govt controls the nation not the gangs.
as a french person who likes to think i'm well versed in geopolitical stuff, i did not know half of this. i just realized we never ever talk about haiti in france. i guess they know what they did.
Of course they know 😂😂
They don’t talk about all the colonies they had in Africa and are still being exploited to this day?! Now why would they
@@lemmyjay2546 No they do talk about Africa but they don't ever talk about Haiti
Haiti is just worse bad people
Yeah the French got slaughtered babies were beheaded and then 200 years of absolutely nothing which is blamed on the people that were killed lol
Fun fact: all other french colonies in the Caribbean/South America (Martinica, Guadaloupe, French Guyana) would become integral part of the French Republic. None got independent. Nowadays the descendants of the former slaves of these former colonies enjoy a high standard of living.
True but none of these colonies have a history like Haiti... Haiti has the most brutal and horrific slave system in the Western hemisphere and the slaves were overwhelmingly the majority so truthfully Haiti got the absolute worst side of French colonialism in the world and none of these countries had to pay "reparations" to France for fighting for their independence which hindered Haiti's development and advancement till today... so it's most definitely not the same thing... it's like comparing Haiti and the DR... it's fruits and vegetables
This video aged so well, as of today you can add " but wait! , there's more!"
As a dominican, THANK YOU Joseph. There are a few mistakes here and there, but this is by far the most fair and unbiased video I’ve ever seen on this topic done by an American. I appreciate how you disproved the myth that Haiti is poor solely because of the debt it had to pay to France. And thank you for not blaming DR for Haiti’s problems, something international media falsely claims all the time.
Polymater's video is also very objective. You will like it as it is also very balanced
Exactly 💯 they like to blame DR as if we have anything to do with haiti lacking in everything as a failed country . They did this to themselves , they assassinated their own president and still have none , they are ran by gangs and are multiplying like 🪳🪳🪳🐀. To top it all off , they worship SATAN .
France needs to address thier colonial history, or it will be done for them
@@TonilategolaVietnam anyone?
Just curious, why doesn't DR just invade/occupy Haiti? I presume Dominicans would know far more how Haiti operates than Kenyans.
What an outstanding documentary: history, geography, economics, poliitcs all covered in a thorough, interesting commentary. Well done!
There's some false information still
its typical anti-white propaganda. @@Lando-kx6so
@@Lando-kx6so Or straight-up lies by omission. The French exacted that debt for the death of their thousands of colonists, who's murder and subjugation, involved in the slave trade or not, was an actual *goal* of the Haitian government in its early years. The French don't owe Haiti a single red (crimson) cent.
The U.S., or more specifically, Citi Bank, however, do have an argument for debt to Haiti (and secondarily to France). We had no right to interfere in a blood money deal, much less to *keep* that debt (purchasing debt to forgive it is another matter), *but* that money owed to Haiti would only be the interest. The principal would still be owned by (owed to) France, for blood we never spilled.
Moreover, there is no reason to pay a corrupt government this sum, as they are likely to use it for further depredations against the Haitian people. Or, more minimally, to keep the overwhelming sum from being seen by the Haitian people.
But no mention of IQ statistics...
cool bro, well done@@mattf9899
The saddest part of all this is that the ordinary Haitian people deserve better
No, they don't, every population deserve the country where they live.
@@alexanderdelacruz3162 nah, human rights actually matter.
Just came across this video. As a Jamaican and a fellow Caribbean citizen, I very much appreciate this excellent and historical documentary presentation as to why Haiti has long been considered the poorest country in the Western World. Thanks to this free UA-cam video, now I finally know the complete story!
Haiti is not poor. They are kept in poverty. Haiti has many resources.
@@jujubeanzzz5413The result for the citizens is the same.
@@chilibeer3912 Just like Congo.
Almost like Jamaica !
Tropical fruit is their only resource, but that's being exhausted right now.@@jujubeanzzz5413
this is probably one of the most informative and interesting videos i’ve ever seen on a country’s history. Thanks for making me a more informed person! and I hope the US and France realize what they’ve done.
you do realize tho, that slavery existed all over the world even before france or us. basically you can if you want always trace any problem to this if you only go back in time enough time. Speaking from a country which was enslaved 700 years and then occupied 50 years and still managed to come out from the other side.
@@mrsmerilyyou OBVIOUSLY didn't see the darn video. Haiti was the FIRST black republic and they kicked Napoleon's butt. They haven't been slaves since 1804 in the height of the transatlantic slave trade so why are you bringing this up?
The usa has done nada. The usa has bailed the whole island put multiple times only for it to come back on it's our fault theu suck. Gtfoh. So many of yall lack basic streets smarts that's why yall can't see some people are hustlers others are addixts
@@lolab6770haiti kicked napoleoncbutt a straight lie. Napoleon sent his 18th best legion and they beat them
@lolab6770 you wrong calling it the heigh pf translatoantic slave trade. Before 1820s the the usa had ships patrolling to stop slave ships. They slave was outlawed by government but guess what people will be people. Then slave was contraband like cigarettes could be today. Just the reality of it and just telling the truth is considered racist
Just being a French colony puts any country at a massive disadvantage
@@ronlacker326???
@@ronlacker326?
@ronlacker326 then why is rawanda , Jamaica , Atlanta, tulsa Oklahoma, booming then?
Large parts of North America and Vietnam used to be French colonies, all doing great today, only the black colonies are in total disarray, all of them.
I guessed you missed the part where Haiti invaded The Dominican Republic immediately after they got independence. That is one former colony invading another former colony. Don't you think that something else might be the cause of all this violence?
I remember I took a trip to the DR. The resort i stayed on told me not to talk to the "natives" trying to sell us stuff on the beach, and warned us not to go on any excursions that weren't sponsored by the resort. I didn't know the DR was that bad. Most of these island resorts will build walls tall enough to keep the visitors from seeing what's really going on. Aruba was the same. The residents said their island was poor and they didn't make any money despite it being a beautiful tourist attraction.
How is haiti doing ? 😂
I m a Dominico-American in the Dominican Republic. Also, a soldier. A lot of people think we hate each other, but we don't, many Haitians in DR. Many welcome, studying and working very hard. Others are not, like criminals and and gang members. Thanks for sharing the knowledge 👍.
We just want them to go back to Haiti. No resentment here
That’s interesting. I must say every Haitian I know claims that the Dominicans and Haitians do not get along.
@ytpr9420 exactly same with me
false i lived in D.R for 4 years and dominicans treats haitians like lower class citizens even worse and dominicans is not as smart as haitians but dominicans are very cruel toeards haitians
After reading La Fiesta del Chivo by Mario Vargas Llosa I had the feeling Dominicans despised their island brothers. Glad to know that isn't always the case.
I'm dominican 🇩🇴 and this guy really did his homework, I can testify to the veracity of what has been said above, just got a new subscriber
Dominican Republic was a spanish province where everyone , black or white, enjoyed spanish citizenship, while Haiti was a french slave colony. Many of the governance structures that existed under spanish rule were preserved after Dominican Republic got its independence, while Haiti has been in chaos and wars with their former colonizers since then.
Japan lost millions of men and got entire coties nuked yet they buily themself up to the 3rd biggest economy
@@guzelataroach4450That's because America conquered them and continues to use them as a bulwark for the coming war with China.
Nothing about the situation is similar.
Not an accurate depiction of DR but go on
@@guzelataroach4450, the USA privileged Japan for being a transcontinental empire unlike former colonies.
@@guzelataroach4450the U.S. subsidized Japan’s industrialization.
Thank you for your great videos 😊
I studied Caribbean history and only skimmed over events in Haitis history. This video is brilliant and very in depth. Thanks for putting this together.
Haiti has its issues but was behind or had a hand in many of the freeing of slave colonies throughout the Western hemisphere and was the only true free colony at that time.
@h00liganEnt and that may explain why colonial powers do whatever possible to suppress Haiti 🇭🇹 to collapse and build up the other side of the island 🏝.....
@@jeffwilson8246that's a stretch for sure. What colonial powers? France and Spain are not colonizing anywhere now. Also, it's highly unlikely that any other country cares all that much about Haiti. What would keeping Haiti down actually matter anyway?
I have studied Haiti. It fascinates me the most.
Frequently in Haiti in the 1980s, first as a Coast Guard officer on the Cutter Hamilton doing g HMIO (Haitian Migrant Interdiction Operations) and later, flying to and over Haiti as a Coast Guard C-130 pilot. At night, flying overhead, you'd see innumerable fires as people burned down trees for charcoal to sell in the cities. By then, it wasn't to pay international debt but to raise some cash. The years of deforestation caused crippling erosion, carrying away untold acres of agricultural soil.
Thank you for putting this video together
I knew absolutely nothing about DR and Haiti before today. I love this channel.
The quality of your visualizations have improved significantly with time! It's a blast to watch these videos with so much information to help understand and support what you're saying! I write this comment while paused on the combined map at 46:22
Shoutout also to the breakdown of the densest countries at 33:14. I also liked the other frequent display and comparisons of leading countries in some measure throughout the video, like the density one.
Imagine taking a flight to DR but your flight gets diverted to Haiti ☠️
Blame the French for that
@@mnm5165 It's the *KFC people* to blame
I pray French people who are flying to New York have their flight diverted there to see the damage they did inshallah
If you want to make yourself mad, scroll down to the depths of these comments and see what the incels down there are saying about Haiti, it’ll make you sad.
@@mnm5165Is the pilot French?
@@peterjones5243don’t play dumb bro you know who’s fault this is
I love how he likes to put cost in what it would be for us to fix it but for them it would be much cheaper
My family left Haiti in 1987. We would regularly go back to help build houses, churches, and schools. That 21 billion wouldn't even scratch the surface of the problems. Especially if it's going to the government. The money goes through too many hands before it reaches the people that need it. Haiti has been through enough. There is no simple solution. We'll need a carefully thought out combination of strategies with solid contingencies. Something that will get the people back to believing in the future of Haiti 🇭🇹
I'm of the opinion that Haiti will never get better as long as it remains 'Haiti', let it collapse and new nations rise to take over the land, the entire country has been too mired in corruption since it's inception (even it's inception could be argued to be mired in corruption given some information I learned about the people leading the whole revolt against France...)
Having lived in Haiti for many years as a foreigner in the “good years”, my heart breaks for the country’s kind and hard working citizens 😔
I feel the same, having lived in Haiti at the beginning of the 1980s. 😢
@@mick-berry5331 I visited Haiti twice about 40 years ago to supervise some work at a textile factory. Despite the poverty the people were welcoming and courteous, I used public transportation without fear and stayed at a wonderful hotel in the hills. It is so sad to see what has happened to that country and I am so sorry for its people.
And thanks to this video we can now blame the french.
Nope, not paying a penny to old issues that happened well before my birth
So why did the Haitians have to pay for things that happened a century before their birth?
So... haiti is basically a sub-saharan african country in the middle of the americas, in the caribeans
The blacks were brought there by the French as slaves to work the sugar plantations. The carib Indians who were the indigenous peoples were wiped out.
Yes…. But…. There’s so much else 😅
Yea basically said lets go back to stone age
@@benm38 no, there's really not..
@@Brandon-kg9ue na
What is the fabric covering the woman's face and hat in the photo at 19:38 ? That is so crazy looking!
Santiago de Caballeros was indeed badly damaged by an earthquake in the last 150 years, so the fault zone in the North has not exactly been silent. Loved the thoroughness of the video.
I grew up there after I was 8 years old. Love the old Santiago.
@@Macmax7077 I used to spend time in the ruins in the haciendas of the Bloisse and Benoit families. You get immerse in the peaceful environment and don't feel the passing of time
Maybe Haiti should of focus on it's self after gaining independence in 1804, instead of using her own money and soldier's going around all those south American countries helping them being free. including Dr. Haiti was the one who had that major earthquake in 1842, Google it yourself. the Dr benefit's from foreign investor's, I mean 80 percent of Dr investment's is foreign, and Haiti doesn't. 5 foreign countries invested in Dr infrastructure, Columbia, Brazil, us, Costa Rica, and I believe Canada or France, so why wouldn't the Dr look more prosperous than Haiti when Haiti is the one who's dealing with the sanctions?
@@Macmax7077all y'all info base on bias
@@ClaudioJimenez-wr6ixim a native santiaguero meaning all my ancestors born there ,right now in we are kicking out haitians because their population is growing in great amount ...they came in large numbers out of no where
this was an excellent video, thank you for sharing
British: "We're the most heartless colonial force"
French: "Hold my croissant"
what France did is nothing surprising. It's called "war reparations". A very very commun war negotiation. People just feel bad because "black people sad"
Haiti has been independent for over 300 years
Well said, and with humour
@@Domhnall1989it's easier to blame colonialism 🤭
@@Domhnall1989 since 1808 but you are right that is along time: 216 years!
Great and informative video. You got a new subscriber.
I’m a Dominican and live in Santiago. We have more than 3 million illegal Haitians in the Dominican Republic. That number is not accurate because the government doesn’t know. Similar to the problem in the U.S. with illegals. Haiti's problems were caused by the International community and exacerbated by internal political infighting. We in the Dominican Republic don't have the resources to help our populace much less to help them. And yet the U.N. and other international powers blame us for building a wall to contain the Haitians. We can't fix a problem that was created by other nations.
Another commenter from DR mentioned that 80-90% of all agricultural and construction workers are Haitian in the DR. I can’t help but wonder what would happen to the economy if these workers suddenly got deported, regardless of whether they are legal or not. I’m from the US so I understand your sentiments towards illegal aliens, but as with DR and Haiti, it is truly the Mexicans, both illegal and legal immigrants that hold much of our huge country together. What perplexes me is the fact that DR and Haiti are two countries on the same relatively small peninsula, with too much genetic intermingling to not be cordial with each other, this part confuses me. No not ever Haitian had some Dominican blood and not every Dominican has some Haitian blood, but certainly there has to be a middle ground? It is reported that atleast 1 in 10 Dominicans come from Haitian decent?
Very interesting perspective.
Thank you for your comment
Well said
@@willeatsgenetically we are not quite the same. We are more Taino Indian than African. The Spaniards mixed more with the taínos than with the blacks. Blacks didn’t arrived to the Caribbean until the 1700 hundreds. Columbus discover Hispaniola in 1492 more than 200 years before. The government should force companies from hiring Haitians. But like always they don’t care about the plight of the Haitians. Just like in the U.S they don’t care about the illegals migrants flooding the country. If they did they would build a wall to stop them. Because those who suffer are always the illegals.
I'm Haitian American and I support building a wall. The Dominican Republic building a wall to keep Haitian illegals from coming in, isn't racist, xenophobic or anti-Haitian. Many countries have illegal immigration issues and are trying to protect borders. You should see the problem African countries with illegal immigration.