Haiti

Hispaniola is an island in the Caribbean that is home to two countries, Haiti and Dominican Republic. Both are poor but Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Haiti, the Western Hemisphere’s poorest and most deforested county, is plagued by corruption, gang violence, drug trafficking, organized crime and a general lack of economic opportunity. Despite their shared possession of Hispaniola a chasm separates Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Each country is home to roughly 10m people, but the Dominican Republic’s GDP is nearly ten times that of Haiti (see chart). The gap in measures of health and education is similarly large. The situation is further complicated as the Dominican Republic is sending people of Haitian descent back to Haiti. These Haitians are treated as second class citizens and believe that the Dominican Republic wants to take over the entire island.