Why Haiti Is So Dangerous And The Dominican Republic Is Thriving

As an airline pilot, I used to fly the Caribbean and landed in both Haiti and DR. From the air the border between the two is so dramatic that you have to rub your eyes to make sure they are working. There is not a single tree in Haiti except around the hotels etc. The rest of the country has been stripped of all growth for firewood. The border is like a green wall on the DR side and a desert on the Haiti side. It looks like it had an A-bomb test site.

I’m Dominican and to all the haters here, we’re obviously not Switzerland but we are still very well off compared to most developing nations. One thing we dont do is go backwards. We might not be “first world” but we’re definitely heading there in a few decades. Edit: 4.3k likes 👍 Awesome 😎 Good News: DRs doing fine Bad News: Haiti has gotten worse

I'm Dominican and I was born very close to the Haitian border. My grandfather was a capataz in a batey (a sugar mill/processing plant) and he raised my father among Haitian workers and their families, to the point my father could speak Patois without an accent. He was both close enough to the Haitian community to love them dearly but not to romanticize them, or what I call real love. One of his favorite topics until he passed away (coincidentally the day before the Haiti earthquake in 2010), was that by having the only known successful slave revolution in the world, and the ensuing crushing French reparations that lasted for centuries and made sure that Haiti would stay crushed, Haitians became proud but distrustful of European influences. The revolution also didn't abolish slavery as much as it morphed it (both class exploitation and the horrible practice of the restavek persist until this day) The Haitian revolution just changed the color of the despots at the top. After Haitians invaded and were kicked out of the DR, there is a manifest destiny on their part that the "whole island is Haiti", and that is obviously something Dominicans hate. Us Dominicans are our own people, beautifully mixed and proud, with a different language, religion and culture. While the Dominican Republic, for all its historical trips and slips, embraced progress and democracy, the Haitian vanguard was killed off or silenced while the despots took turns. So yes, Trujillo was the worst dictator in Latin American history (a tall order) but he at least surrounded himself with intellectuals and progressives who created a civil society that, unintended by Trujillo, moved the country toward democracy after his death. Progress and education take generations to take root, and with every passing decade, the Dominican Republic increased its literacy rate, its commerce, trade agreements and most importantly, love for the environment. Haiti did not, as has continued to lag. This disparity breeds a lot of resentment in poor Haitians. I wish I had a magic pill for Haiti, there are many lovely people there, but the truth is that it will take generations to fix Haiti. Unfortunately, the only way I see Haiti improving is through foreign intervention. And with resources that have already been depleted by Haitian barons and their enablers in the US and Europe, there isn't much left to entice foreign powers to want to attempt it. The international community cannot expect the Dominican Republic to carry the corpse of a dying Haiti.

One of the problems Haiti faced after independence was that the rulers tried to reinstate the French sugar plantation system, rather than diversifying their economy, and even tried to impose that system on the Dominican area when they conquered it, which is one of many reasons the Dominicans rebelled to kick the hated Haitians out.

When you mentioned that Haiti received help from all over the world after the 2010 earthquake, you failed to mention the Dominican Republic. We used almost ALL of that year's budget only in help to Haiti, because we knew that if we didn't help them there, they would all come to our side.

I personally know some “doctors without Borders,“ that went to Haiti to help out, and we’re promptly kidnapped, and one was tortured.

Watching this from Districto Nacional in Dominican Republic, my heart goes out to my brothers and sisters on the West of our border. I pray for the stabilization of Haiti and the people's living conditions🙏

Mindboggling. I have been a frequent visitor to the Dominican Republic. I literally forget its on same island with Haiti. 😔

I once watched a Jacques Cousteau episode on Haiti where they dove all around the island and there wasn't a fish in sight. The people killed everything by using cyanide to catch fish and wire fish traps without ropes or markers because someone else would raid them, no size limits or any conservation at all. They also cut down all their trees for charcoal leaving the land wide open to erosion, he had an aerial shot of all the mud running off the shore into the ocean smothering the reefs. Probably the most poorly governed country in the world

Dominican Republic is wonderful and people there are super welcoming.

I went to Punta Cana and I fell in love with the beautiful people, beaches, and food. So many great memories ❤

Haiti isn’t deforested because of the French. A tree can grow quite tall in 30 years. It’s been 200 years since France left. Trees can grow back. The US was quite deforested because they used wood for ship building and wood for heating and even power trains before coal was common. Today the US has more forests than ever since we use less wood and don’t need newspapers. Haiti has no wood because the common people cut down trees for fuel. If they had a power plant they wouldn’t need to do that. However most Haitians have no reliable electricity or gas.

My family is Dominican and I visit DR every year. While I was in the Navy, I got a chance to go to Haiti and it was insane how poor everyone was. Like, they literally had nothing at all and it was so sad. In my head, I figured they couldn’t be much different than DR but unfortunately, it was worse than I could have ever imagined. Much love to my Haitian brothers.

My father was an Optometrist who sold his private practice when he was on the younger side of life. He went to work for an Opthamologist and did refractions (eye examinations) for this Opthamologist. The Opthamologist went to Haiti every year and took his staff with him. He performed free eye surgery to the Haitian people and the rest of the staff performed their normal duties for free as well. Even back then, 1970's-1990's I remember hearing how poor these people were. This Doctor, was the real deal. He was a kind and generous man, incredibly smart and talented. He followed and acted on his beliefs to help these poor people stricken in poverty.

I've always wondered about the stark contrasts between the two nations sharing the island. Thank you for this thoughtful analysis.

I'm Puerto Rican and my Ist time visiting the Dominican Republic reminded me so much of my Borinquen that I would consider moving there permanately

Wow! I've never been to Haiti, but visited the Dominican Republic briefly. I have nothing but kind things to say about all the people I met and interacted with, everyone was so friendly and kind.

Wow I’m Dominican Thank you for doing this video, I learned something new and also you are right… we knew there was a big difference but this video explains it well.

I'm Dutch and after my retirement on 1-1-11 I moved with my Dominican wife to her country. We live in the 2nd city Santiago de los Caballeros (1 million inhabitants). I can find here all the facilities, I had in Europe and in ~1 hour by Jeepeta we can be at the beach. The only thing we miss is our family, her sons and sisters live in Belgium and my family in the Netherlands. I like it here, partly because my wife's cooking is a creative mix of European and Dominican food. I feel safe, because all windows and doors of the house have metal bars, just like in a jail, but now intended to keep the criminals out. Like in all big cities, you have to avoid certain areas at night. But you can go downtown to a restaurant or bar or you can go to a local bar or carwash for a Presidente (beer) and for dancing the bachata.

I’m Dominican in my 40 years, Haiti has never been able to forge ahead. My heart aches for the Haitian people, but their governments have destroyed the country.