Rocks

I made the off-hand comment to my father during his stay in Haiti:
"If there was somehow an international market for rocks, Haiti would be the wealthiest nation in the world."

There are rocks everywhere. I have read extensively about Hispaniola's geology, but I have yet to figure out why every hillside and landscape is covered in stones. These rocks make farming an impossibility and a simple hike uphill a potentially deadly (or very painful) experience. It is almost as if some titan who used these rocks as golf balls was smacking his driver and Haiti was his driving range. Now, if I could only invent a range-cart to harvest all of these rocks...

Haiti was built on shaky ground. Besides the rocks that litter the land, the nation of Haiti literally sits in one of the worst areas in the world in regards to tectonic activity. The island of Hispaniola has the unfortunate prestige as being the only area in the world known to geologist where two major fault lines parallel each other so closely. Thus, a recipe for disaster that has played itself out numerous times.

The fault line to the south runs directly under Leogange, Port-au-Prince, and within mere miles of where my feet stand now. This is a strike-slip fault. The land to north of the fault line is determined to head east while the southern half of the island wants to go west. As you might assume, this doesn't work out too well and thus we get huge earthquakes such as the one on January 12, 2010 as a result.

The other fault line is more of a subduction fault. It lies just off the coast from Hispaniola. This fault line is where the Caribbean plate is literally colliding with the North American plate and subducting underneath it. It has also produced massive earthquakes, including the 1842 Cap-Haitien earthquake (an 8.1!) that destroyed much of the city.

Haiti: Resting on very unstable ground

After reading about the geology of this place, I found it fascinating as to the parallels the underlie the political foundations upon which this unstable nation rest, albeit likely just coincidence.
In 1791, Haitian slaves revolted and obtained freedom from France in 1804. Ever since then, the country has been at the throws of foreign powers and authoritarian governments. In 208 years of history, they have has 33 government overthrows. Talk about instability!


So let's look at the two different fault lines:

1) The subduction fault in the North. The island is literally colliding and trying to become a part of the North American plate (upon which the entirety of the US and Canada sit). The Caribbean Plate is getting shoved under the North American Plate. Quite fitting seeing as  almost every president that has ever found power has attempted to allow foreign investors (mostly American) to jump start the economy. And every time, the people get upset by the certain subservient nature under which they will be forced. At least two instances in the past, they have literally blown up the Presidential Palace, whose destruction in the 2010 fame received worldwide fame. So, it is pretty apparent that the island does not want to become part of North America.

2) And then there is the strike-slip fault in the middle of the nation, the one that is literally ripping the nation in half. Ever since Haiti received independence, the nation has been divided between factions who remain loyal to the north (capitaled interestingly enough in Cap-Haitien) and those who remain loyal to the South (capitaled, at, yes, Port-au-Prince). So much division, in fact, that the nation was actually two different nations (The Republic of Haiti in the south and the Kingdom of Haiti in the North) from 1811-1820. And, as 33 rebellions might point to, Haiti certainly does not like it when someone stays in power too long and establishes any sort of stability.

So, what does the future hold for this very unstable country? I am not very sure. I just finished a 400 page political history of this country and all it did was make the situation seem more insolvable and dire. All I can hope for in the next two months is that there is not another coup-d'etat. Oh yeah, and just two weeks ago, Pere Val told me that the Senators are attempting to overthrow President Martelly. Awesome.