Dominican Republic and Haiti: Country Studies

Rafael Trujillo in the Dominican Republic from 1930 to 1961,
and Francois Duvalier, followed by his son Jean-Claude Duvalier,
in Haiti from 1957 to 1986.
Accompanying these political developments was the grinding
poverty of the vast majority of the population in both countries,
apart from a small wealthy landowning class. Although
the Dominican Republic has succeeded in improving its lot,
Haiti today is considered by the World Bank (see Glossary) to
be the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, and extensive
malnutrition continues to be a serious concern. Moreover,
a 1998 study done under the auspices of the United Nations
Population Fund concluded that at an average of 4.8 births per
woman, Haiti had the highest birthrate in the Western Hemisphere,
double that of Latin America as a whole. Haiti's infant
mortality rate of seventy per 1,000 is twice as high as that of the
Dominican Republic, and Haiti's gross domestic product
(GDP—see Glossary), variously given as between $200 and
$400 per person, is less than one-fourth that of the Dominican
Republic.
Haiti's high birth rate has put enormous pressure on the
land, given the country's small amount of arable land in relation
to the size of the population. National data gathered in
1995 revealed that 48 percent of the total land area in Haiti was
being cultivated, although only 28 percent of the country's
land is suitable for farming. The situation has resulted in serious
soil erosion, loss of forest cover, and meager incomes for
rural dwellers, who are estimated to represent some 59 percent
of the population. Agriculture produces only about 25 percent
of gross national product (GNP—see Glossary), yet agricultural
work engages about two-thirds of the national labor force.
Haiti's economy has suffered not only from inefficiency and
corruption but also from the three-year United Nations (UN)
embargo placed on the country following the ouster of the
democratically elected government ofJean-Bertrand Aristide
(1991-94). To obtain needed funds from the United States and
the International Monetary Fund (IMF—see Glossary), Haiti
promised in 1994 to make such reforms as privatization and
reductions in the size of its civil service. In practice, however,
the Haitian administration found it politically unwise to maintain
these commitments. Nevertheless, Haiti continues to
receive international aid, including World Bank funding for
two projects seeking to assist the poorest elements of the population—an
Employment Generation Project and a Basic Infraxxi