Haiti's potential

One thing to consider when it comes to geography, is that this is more than just pointing to places on a map. It is also about economies, politics, history, climate, and a broad range of subjects. And now we go into the subject at hand.....

Haiti. When many people think of the island nation of Haiti, this is what many people think of. Images that come to the mind are desperate poverty, government coups, and the 2010 earthquake. Little thought is given to Haiti's potential as a nation. It was once the richest colony in the Western Hemisphere. However, that wealth was built from the slave economy. Once a colony of France, it became the first Black republic in the world. It was the first nation founded from a slave rebellion. It it currently the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere. However, there is potential for Haiti.

Below is a map of Haiti's economic activity:

                                                                                             

As one can see, Haiti is a major producer of coffee, as well as having resources of sugar cane and cotton. Reserves of copper are found in the northern section of the nation. With sugar cane production, there is potential for Haiti, not only to be a major sugar producer, but a producer of alternative fuels. Brazil has made ethanol from sugar cane. Being a producer of sugar, Haiti has that same potential.[2] There is room to grow the sugar cane industry.

It has been speculated that Haiti has vast reserves of oil, that have not been drilled. If this is the case, this will be of a major benefit to Haiti. This could bring large amounts of revenue to the nation of Haiti.[1]

 Haiti has a strategic location, with Jamaica and The Bahamas nearby. Haiti is directly due south of Venezuela(approximately 525 miles from Jacmel, Haiti to Maracaibo,Venezuela as the crow flies). The location would make it a great place for shipping via sea.

The sunny climate of Haiti lends itself to solar energy. In fact, Haiti has opened the world's largest solar-powered hospital.[3] With this in mind, there is more room for the solar energy industry to grow.

Haiti's geography is what lent its name. Haiti comes from the Arawak word. Ayiti, meaning land of  high mountains. This is a mountainous nation. This is also a nation where there are beaches, such as Labadie Beach. With beaches and mountains, there is still the potential to build the tourism industry over time. 

Haiti has gone through so much, and still goes through many things today. However, Haiti still has some potential, given its geography.

Sources:

1)http://www.defend.ht/money/articles/economy/3767-haiti-six-oil-exploration-permits-awarded-behind-closed-doors

2)http://news.stluciastar.com/is-sugarcane-ethanol-haiti%E2%80%99s-salvation/

3)http://www.designboom.com/architecture/worlds-largest-solar-powered-hospital-opens-in-haiti/

The Original Gateway To Latin America.

Take this image into your head. There are bananas being brought in from Honduras, along with other various tropical fruits.  You can find people who are coming from places like Cuba, Honduras, and Haiti. French Creole and Spanish are languages that can be heard. The climate is quite warm and humid, much of the time with ample rainfall. Well, given this vivid description, you could say this is Miami, Florida, USA. And you would be right in saying this. This is indeed Miami, today. It is important to consider that this is not the city of subject. The city being spoken of is really New Orleans from years past.

Miami is the current gateway to Latin America today. However, New Orleans is the original gateway to Latin America. In fact, even before Miami was even thought of, New Orleans was a major point of transit to and from Latin America.

Geographically, this actually made perfect sense. New Orleans was founded at the southern end of the Mississippi river, just as the Mississippi river is beginning to empty into the Gulf of Mexico. While New Orleans is not technically on the Gulf of Mexico, its relative proximity to the Gulf of Mexico has provided an important role. New Orleans was founded by the French, but it was also ruled by the Spanish. This is a lesson in historical geography.  New Orleans under Spanish rule began to prosper. It was a major seat of power for the Spanish in North America, as was the city of Havana, in Cuba. Spanish galleons coming from Cuba would often go to New Orleans, bringing in people, and commerce.

One influence of the Spanish is that Louisiana would be the first place in the modern-day USA to have Asian settlements. The Philippines used to be a colony of Spain. While under Spanish rule, galleons would come from The Philippines, bringing with them Filipino servants. Sometimes they would jump overboard and settle in the swamps of what is now Plaquemines Parish. Because of this, the village of St. Malo was founded by Filipinos.

Even after Spanish rule ended, New Orleans would continue to have influences from the Caribbean and Latin America. After the Haitian Revolution, Napoleon gave up his colonial hold on North America, selling French-held lands to the USA in what is known as the Louisiana Purchase. New Orleans was now under American control. At the same time, people from Haiti went to New Orleans, the nearest major port to Haiti. At the time, Miami didn’t even exist, so New Orleans was a major point of entry for many immigrants. New Orleans would also be the first major city to have a sizeable Honduran population. The American Fruit Company had land holdings in Honduras, mainly banana plantations. Honduran immigrants were brought to New Orleans by the American Fruit Company during the early 20th century.  To this day, the Greater New Orleans area has one of the largest Honduran communities in the USA. During Castro’s revolution in Cuba, many Cubans went to Miami. However, a sizeable number of Cubans went to New Orleans.

From the outside, New Orleans doesn’t seem like it would have ever been a gateway to Latin America. It doesn’t have the aesthetics that Miami has. No Art Deco buildings, mostly English being spoken in the streets, you hear jazz music and dirty South hip-hop, most of the buildings look like they date from the 18th and 19th century.  However, if you scratch the surface, and look at New Orleans from the perspective of historical, cultural, and physical geography, you will find that New Orleans was the original gateway to and from Latin America.

http://www.neworleansonline.com/neworleans/multicultural/multiculturalhistory/latino.html
http://www.louisianafolklife.org/LT/Articles_Essays/Hondurans1.html
http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-04152004-123822/unrestricted/Euraque_thesis.pdf
http://www.nola.com/175years/index.ssf/2012/01/ties_with_cuba_the_times-picay.html
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-01-28-Haiti-New-Orleans-connection_N.htm
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/beverly-bell/new-orleans-haiti_b_1841502.html
http://blog.prcno.org/2010/01/13/haitian-roots-in-new-orleans/
http://www.filamako.com/2010/04/saint-malo-oldest-filipino-settlement-in-usa/