Geography Of Haiti

The O.A.S. could eventually help verify elections in Haiti, but its immediate priority should be working alongside U.N. Agencies and civil society to manage the exodus of Haitians fleeing the country’s violence for South America and the United States. Orderly refugee resettlement, negotiated among member states, would reduce the risk of Haitians falling prey to human traffickers and other criminal outfits operating in the Americas. For all MINUSTAH’s significant shortfalls, over 12,000 blue U.N. Helmets in the country nevertheless made a difference on the security front. During the mission’s 13-year operation, Haiti had peaceful transfers of power across four successive presidencies, the professionalization of the Haitian National Police (H.N.P.), and a 95 percent decrease in kidnappings over 10 years.



Based on reports to Noonsite from cruisers, petty theft from yachts is on the rise in the Caribbean in general. Cruisers should take basic safety precautions and use common sense when leaving the boat or going ashore at night. Dinghy thieves operate throughout the Caribbean and the best advice is to place your dinghy on deck and chain it overnight.

Because the shape reminded him of a turtle's shell, he chose the name of Tortuga. There is several good beaches in Tortuga Island; Point Saline, at the western tip, is considered by many to be the best beach of the island. People from different European countries, mainly from England, came to live in this island. In 1625, French people came to this island from the Saint Kitts island. They lived on the southern part of the island where there are flat lands and tried to grow some crops like tobacco. They also went to Hispaniola, which they called la Grande Terre ("the Big Land") to hunt wild cows and pigs and, because they used a Taíno cooking technique with smoke known as "boucan", they were known as boucaniers ("buccaneers").

The rain and wind were so intense that Schwartz said staff saw floodwaters reach a 20-foot-tall bridge. Further away, the La Digue Bridge was overtaken, and it actually collapsed, cutting off the peninsula's only major thoroughfare to the mainland. But while Fond-des-Blancs was spared the most severe damage, it doesn't mean the people there emerged unscathed. According to Liz Schwartz, the media and communications manager for the St. Boniface Haiti Foundation, which runs the hospital, the eye of the storm crossed further west instead, out to the very tip of the peninsula. St. Boniface is a pretty important part of the local Haitian community, and it paints an important picture of what happens to poorer countries when large weather patterns hit. Halfway down that peninsula is St. Boniface Hospital, which provides affordable medical care to local Haitians.

They occupied the island, but were expelled by the French and Dutch colonists in 1640, at which time the French built Fort de Rocher in a natural harbour; the fort enabled the French to defeat a Spanish invasion force the following year. Throughout FoProBiM’s over 28 years of existence it has been, and remains, the only Haitian operated and Haiti-based NGO dedicated to the protection and management of Haiti’s coastal and marine ecosystems and adjacent watersheds. Currently FoProBiM is capable of providing various types of project expertise including design, management, and execution in the fields of education, advocacy, scientific, and technical training and support.

– The freezing temperatures across the country aren’t just hard on the humans. Likewise, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Haiti’s first democratically elected leader, relied on gangs of urban slum dwellers to defend his presidency against being overthrown, which nonetheless occurred in both 1991 and 2004. A little over a week ago, 17 individuals from a U.S.-based missionary group were abducted in the latest brazen attempt of its kind. In April, kidnappers interrupted an evangelical service being streamed on Facebook Live to seize the pastor and three churchgoers. A few days later, in yet another event, five Catholic priests, two nuns and three others were taken while heading to a church service in a suburb north of Port-au-Prince — only to be released after three agonizing weeks.

The inhabited area was divided into four parts; the first of these was called "Low Land" or "Low Country." This region contained the island's port and was therefore considered the most important. The town was called Cayona, and the richest planters of the island lived there. The second region was called the "Middle Plantation"; the farmers of this region were unfamiliar with the soil and it was only used to la toti grow tobacco. The third part was named "La Ringot," and was positioned on the western portion of the island.

By providing protection, services and food in a country where nearly half the population is food insecure, gangs are capturing the loyalty of the people. By wielding weapons and controlling territory, they are rendering themselves indispensable to the social order, enhancing their leverage over future political outcomes. During this time, criminal groups — including Aristide-aligned bandits known as chimères and legacy structures from the disbanded Haitian Army — capitalized on these scandals to shore up their own legitimacy, encouraging Haitians to view the U.N. Some gang leaders fashioned themselves as contemporary Robin Hoods, distributing money, foodstuffs and stolen merchandise to their devotees. The vast majority, though, asserted their control over turf through violence, illegal detentions and extortion. That’s a tall order for a barely functioning state.

Meanwhile, Haiti’s internal challenges continue to mount. It’s still reeling from an unresolved political crisis following the July assassination of President Jovenel Moïse and the humanitarian fallout of an August earthquake. But until the Haitian government gets crime under control and brings the gangs to justice, the restoration of the constitutional order and the country’s humanitarian and economic recovery will remain elusive.