PERSPECTIVES ON HAITI

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP84-00825R000100590001-1
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: November 17, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 8, 2000
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: May 1, 1969
• Content Type: IM

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DIRECTORATE OF
INTELLIGENCE
Confidential
Intelligence Memorandum
Perspectives on Haiti
Confidential
GROUP I
caccuoeo _1 "'W'S W'""'
CIA/BGI GM 69-6
May 1969
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.,-BAHAMA IS.
SALVADOR \' ""'-.- '
COSTA F C
L_~
PANAA
Perspectives on HAITI
Haiti has long ranked as one of the poorest nations
in the Western Hemisphere. Although it achieved inde-
pendence before any of the other colonies in Latin
America, its 165 years of self-rule have been characterized
by dictatorial, corrupt, and inefficient leadership that
precluded significant economic, political, or social growth.
Under the repressive rule of Francois Duvalier during
the past 12 years, the country's low level of development
has deteriorated even further. Problems created by
Haiti's weaknesses are compounded by proximity to
Communist Cuba and to the politically unstable Do-
minican Republic. The former lies 48 miles across the
Windward Passage to the northwest, and the latter shares
a land boundary to the east.
As the first Negro republic in the world, Haiti emerged
in 1804-after more than a decade of rebellion against
France-with an economy in shambles, a landscape
devastated by pillaging and burning, and a disparate
Negro-mulatto society that lacked the skills needed to
mold a new state. After independence, racial disunity
increased. The majority of Negro ex-slaves scattered
throughout the countryside, either settling on abandoned
plantations or fleeing to interior hills and valleys. There
they remained in self-imposed isolation, illiterate, speak-
ing only Creole, and developing a culture more African
than French. Most mulattoes, on the other hand, re-
mained in urban areas. In colonial Haiti, they had oc-
cupied a social position between French master and
Negro slave. When independence was attained, many
were literate, French-speaking, urbane freedmen of some
financial means. Being an elite group, they readily as-
sumed exclusive management of both the government and
commercial structure of the new republic. Negroes still
make up most of the population, whereas the mulatto
elite have never constituted more than 2 percent. Al-
though the latter have currently lost political control
to an aggressive urban middle class of Negroes, their
influence continues far out of proportion to their num-
bers.
Power is so centralized in Haiti that the country is
facetiously referred to by some as the Republic of Port-
au-Prince. All authority has been assumed by Duvalier,
who appoints and controls key personnel of the legisla-
tive and judicial branches of the Government, as well
as the local administrators of the country's five d6-
partements and numerous lesser civil divisions. Duvalier's
12-year rule, long by Haitian standards, is due in part to
his control of the army-traditionally the center of power
in Haiti.
RURAL HAITI
The world of the rural Haitian is narrowly circum-
scribed by a complex variety of physical, social, and
economic limitations. The land is a composite of denuded
hillsides, rugged mountains, grasslands, cultivated fields,
scrub trees, and hedgerows. Hills and mountains consti-
tute nearly three-quarters of the country, the highest
being the La Selle Range with a maximum elevation
of approximately 8,000 feet, The remaining flat to gently
rolling terrain is fragmented into several large noncon-
tiguous units-the Plaine du Nord, the Plaine de l'Arti-
bonite, the Plaine du Cul-de-Sac, the Plaine des Cayes,
and the Plateau Central-and numerous small intermon-
tane valleys and limestone depressions.
The original forests of Haiti have been cut back dras-
tically by both the inroads of agriculture and the ex-
ploitation of timber reserves for use as fuel and for
export. Forests are now confined generally to the upper
slopes of the principal mountain ranges. Thorny bushes,
stunted trees, and cactuses characterize the northwest
peninsula, the coastal areas in the southeast, and nu-
merous less extensive areas of low rainfallthroughout the
country.
Temperatures throughout the year are uniformly warm
to hot in the lowlands and somewhat more temperate
at upper elevations. Annual rainfall ranges from 20 inches
in parts of the northwest to more than 100 inches at
upper elevations in the mountains of the southern pen-
insula. For much of the country, annual amounts average
40 to 50 inches. Monthly differences in precipitation de-
termine the seasons, with a wet season from April into
November and a relatively dry season the rest of the
year. Rain usually falls in brief, intense showers that fre-
quently cause local flooding, road and bridge washouts,
and earth slumps. Hurricanes, which generally occur be-
tween August and October, have struck the southern
peninsula three times in this decade.
The physical environment often thwarts the efforts of-
the Haitian farmer. Although temperatures are sufficiently
mild to permit year-:round cultivation, inadequate rain-
fall sometimes limits production. Widespread areas re-
quire irrigation for at least part of the year. Even lo-
calities where irrigation normally is unnecessary may have
year-long droughts or delays in the start of the rainy
season, which result in reduced harvests or outright crop
failures. Measures to provide irrigation and to reduce the
hazards of seasonal flooding are either nonexistent or im-
properly utilized-ruins of canals built by the French
colonials and more recently by the United States are
scattered throughout Haiti.
Approximately 88 percent of all Haitians live in rural
areas. This ratio has varied little since independence, and
the effects of a century and a half of occupance by a
primitive peasantry show clearly on the countryside.
Few unoccupied areas remain, and the aspect is of an
endless and haphazard pattern of tiny cultivated patches
and small villages. The only areas of relatively low popu-
lation density are scattered throughout semiarid sections
of the northwest and southeast and at upper elevations
in the forested, rugged terrain of the southern peninsula
mountains. Based on a UN estimate of 4,485,000 persons
in 1966, the population density is 418 per square mile.*
In terms of density per square mile of cultivated land the
ratio is in excess of 1,000.
This memorandum was produced by CIA. It was prepared by
the Office of Basic and Geographic Intelligence and coordinated " Compare with the following densities per square mile: Cuba
with the Office of Current Intelligence and the Office of Economic 177, Dominican Republic 199, Jamaica 419, Trinidad 507, Puerto
Research. Rico 774, and Barbados 1,482.
pOM REPUBLIC
JAMAIC H iTA PUERTO RJCO
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International boundary
-?- Departement boundary
Q National capital
O Departement capital
+ Railroad
Surfaced road
- - - - Unsurfaced road
ale entie
ti
Cotes-de-Fey
Most Haitian peasants lead a hardscrabble existence.
Like their forebears, they live in dirt-floored, mud-walled,
thatch-roofed huts. Unlike the landless peasantry in much
of Latin America, about 85 percent of all Haitians are
landowners. Legal title to the land often rests only on
community acceptance, however, since cadastral surveys
are virtually unknown. Insecure and nonexistent titles
foster peasant apathy and facilitate official seizure of
land. Furthermore, traditional inheritance laws, whereby
property is equally divided among heirs, have decreased
the size of landholdings with each passing generation.
Over half of the family holdings total less than 6 acres
Mud and thatch dwelling in Artibonite Valley
Part-d a-Pa ix
Mole Saint-Nicotas o, IV VI R DX O li EST
Lafond
Saint-Marc
randeRiyi re-du-Nord\
Ouanaminth
int Ra?haeli
in size-often too small to provide subsistence, much
less an adequate cash income-and virtually all of the
holdings consist of several scattered plots.
Annual plantings of corn, beans, sorghum, manioc, and
rice are cultivated with an intensity unbelievable to a
temperate-zone farmer, for they must provide nearly
all of the family's needs. Mixed among these field crops
are mango, plantain, avocado, coconut, and other fruit
trees. Any surplus foodstuffs, as well as the annual
coffee harvest, are sold in the local market. The income
thus earned probably amounts to less than $50 a year
but is usually sufficient to provide such necessities as
_NBBILadere
S~ICM,17 H~~
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salt, cooking Ol, and clod. he tami y may own some which-contrary to popular belief elsewhere-is not
scrawny chickens, a few lean pigs, and a donkey. black magic but a complex body of beliefs and practices
Food shortages cause temporary famine, although that guides the Haitian in his social behavior, explains
death from starvation is not yet a widespread problem otherwise inexplicable events, effects cures, and estab-
in Haiti. The daily caloric intake averages only 1,850 lishes order where there might otherwise be chaos.
per capita, and much of this is in starchy foods. Malnu- Vodun contains both Roman Catholic and African ele-
trition prevails in rural areas, particularly among the ments, particularly the latter. Disparities between these
children, and lowers resistance to the many diseases that two diverse creeds are ignored by most Haitians, who
are prevalent throughout the country. In addition, few commonly attend Sunday mass after participating in a
people are free of intestinal parasites caused by polluted Vodun ceremony the night before. Protestantism, with
drinking water and contaminated food. The general mor- influence over about 10 percent of the population, is
tality rate is estimated to be 21.6 per 1,000, highest in less compatible, as it requires severance of all ties with
the Western Hemisphere, and life expectancy averages Vodun. The houngan, or Vodun priest, acts as medium
about 40 years. Various clinics and hospitals administered and is an integral part of each rural community.
by foreign religious and charitable organizations provide Throughout rural Haiti the National Government makes
almost the only medical assistance available in rural its presence known with a widespread network of secret
Haiti, as most Haitians trained in medicine are reluctant police and local informants. The army or the civil militia
to serve in such areas. Countrywide, there are only seven usually carries out the wishes of the regime in the coun-
doctors per 100,000 persons, and more than half of them tryside. Representative local government is nonexistent.
live in the capital or its environs. The National Government appoints the chief of even the
Illiteracy approaches 100 percent in some rural areas, lowest administrative unit, the section rurale, on the basis
despite adult literacy programs sponsored by Duvalier. of political reliability as well as status within the com-
Progress has been negligible because programs often are munity. When regimes change in Port-au-Prince the local
not implemented, educational facilities and teachers are chief usually is adept at shifting allegiance, thus insuring
lacking, and materials printed in Creole-the only lan- a lifetime tenure in office. He is not responsible to his
guage most peasants know-are scarce. constituents and frequently is the antithesis of a civil
Through the years, with the increase in population and servant. He performs favors for a price and often exacts
the encroachment of large-scale commercial agriculture, tribute. Such practices have been common at all levels
many peasants have been forced to farm marginal land of government throughout Haiti's history, contributing
in semiarid or mountainous areas. Subsequent clearing to the peasant's mistrust of government in general. Sec-
of slopes for cultivation, along with the indiscriminate tion chiefs and local military commanders usually col-
cutting of trees for firewood and charcoal, has denuded laborate in both legal and nefarious activities.
many watersheds and created a severe soil erosion prob-
lem. Some peasants, unable to maintain their families by
subsistence farming, have sought additional means of
support. Several sisal and sugarcane plantations in Haiti
provide seasonal employment, and some peasants are
sharecroppers on the farms of relatively prosperous
neighbors. Migration to urban areas, notably Port-au-
Prince, has increased of late but still is less common than
in most Latin American countries. In the past, many
thousands of Haitians have worked on sugar harvests in
the Dominican Republic and Cuba. Haitian labor is still
recruited for the Dominican harvest, even when the bor-
der is closed as it has been since 1967. In addition,
Haitians illegally infiltrate the Dominican Republic the
year around in search of food and employment. The
past decade has also seen a significant increase in the
number of peasants who fled from the depressed north-
west to the Bahamas, although this exodus has been offi-
cially curtailed of late.
Despite perennial hardships, the majority of rural
Haitians have remained independent, proud, and self-
sufficient, with a vitality that has enabled them to -sur-
vive and in the process to form a unique cultural identity.
The family is the basic social unit of rural Haiti, and
its bonds of loyalty are strong. Often the family provides
the only security available to an individual, there being
few social and political organizations with which people
can become identified. Kin several degrees apart may live
together or close by in the same settlement. Remarkably,
the strength of the family unit exists despite loose mores
that by Western standards would lead to family disinte-
gration. Nearly three-quarters of all children in Haiti are
born out of wedlock; common-law marriages are the rule,
and in one out of four of these polygamy is practiced.
The husband is the head of the family, though not in
the extremely authoritarian manner common to many
Latin American countries. The wife generally has a more
enlightened outlook, however, because of her frequent
marketing trips to town.
The life of the Haitian peasant is highly mystical and
is dominated by a host of supernatural spirits, throw-
backs to ancestral African gods. These are manifested
in the practice of Vodun (commonly called Voodoo),
URBAN HAITI
About 12 percent of Haiti's population is urban, and
approximately half of these people live in Port-au-Prince
and its suburbs. Port-au-Prince is the nation's political,
economic, and military center and is the only real city
in Haiti, as the provincial towns are more rural than
urban in aspect. One might even question the capital's
"city" status in terms other than size, for such amenities
as potable water, sewage disposal, public transportation,
electricity, and telephone service are distinctly substand-
ard.
Urban Haiti, unlike rural Haiti, is divided along upper,
middle, and lower class lines. The upper class, compris-
ing about 2 percent of the country's population, consists
of the mulatto elite, who generally trace their ancestry
back to the colonial era. It also includes a small colony
of Levantines, Europeans, and North Americans, some
POPULATION
URBAN AREAS OVER 15,000
(/965)
Port-au-Prince..----- 209,000
Cap-HaYtien -------- 38,000
GoneYves ---------- 21,200
Les Cayes ---------- 17,900
J8r0mie ------------ 17,200
RURAL POPULATION DENSITY
(Based on 1950 Census)
Persons per square kilometer
0 25 50 100 300
0 65 1 O .,.- 7$tS-
Persons per square mile
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but under prevailing conditions the rewards have bene-
fited him little. Integration of the peasant into the main-
stream of Haitian life would require major innovations
in a governmental structure that has been characterized
by a lack of continuity from one regime to the next, little
concern for the public welfare, and reluctance if not
actual fear of any dispersal of authority beyond the
capital itself. Also required would be changes in tax
administration and other fiscal policies, civil registration,
education, and control of natural resources. Currently, a
pilot project of the Organization of American States has
teams in Haiti assessing these problems.
At present, Haiti is faced with an inadequate food
supply for its increasing population. Temporary famine
has been reported in various localities during the past
year, and the situation is likely to deteriorate further in
the coming decade. The current rate of population
growth, estimated at 2 to 21/2 percent a year, is not high
for Latin America but is too high for a society of sub-
sistence farmers. Food production must be increased, and
the growth of population must be checked. Large-scale
emigration is impractical, if not impossible, as a sizable
number of Haitians would not be permanently welcome
anywhere. Curtailment of the birth rate-a difficult proj-
ect among illiterate and fatalistic people-holds the most
promise.
Haiti's future is inextricably tied to agriculture, since
the capital, skills, markets, and natural resources for
major industrial growth are virtually nonexistent. Al-
though land productivity is declining, attempts to change
the deeply rooted system of subsistence farming on
small plots-perhaps to a plantation economy-might
be disastrous to a society that invests so much of its
physical and spiritual self in the land. Initially, steps need
to be taken to legalize land titles and to introduce rudi-
mentary practices such as pruning, terracing, irrigation,
and fertilizing into the existing system of small farms
in order to increase food production without disrupting
peasant society. A properly administered system of small
landholdings may prove in the long run to be the most
suitable system of agricultural land use for Haiti. Cer-
tainly the concept of an independent, landowning farmer
stands in favorable contrast to the landless peon charac-
teristic of many Latin American latifundia societies.
Constructive measures to solve the Haitian dilemma
will require outside assistance, and this in turn is contin-
gent on either of two unlikely possibilities-a change in
direction of the present leadership or the establishment
of a new and more enlightened regime. Haiti's course
in the immediate years ahead could be of major signifi-
cance in considering the future of the many other
Caribbean islands that are beset by similar problems of
overpopulation, rural poverty, depleted soils, and a
meager resource base. Solutions to their problems will
become more difficult as the trend toward independence
continues throughout the West Indies and the obligations
of the United Kingdom, France, and the Netherlands
phase out. The prospect of a dozen or more Haitis in the
West Indies by the turn of the century is bleak but not
entirely unrealistic.
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provide important employment locally but are relatively
insignificant to the national economy, partly because
of contracts that give Haiti an inequitably small share of
the profits. Combined, bauxite and copper exports amount.
to about 14 percent of the value of all exports.
Manufacturing is confined principally to the processing
of sugarcane and sisal. Light consumer items are pro-
duced mostly in the Port-au-Prince area. Haitian wood
products for export and for the tourist trade are of good
quality, but the supply of valuable hardwoods such as
mahogany has been badly depleted. The principal manu-
facturing development in this decade, and a promising
one, is the fabrication of various imported materials for
re-export as finished products. Manufacturers have lo-
cated in Haiti because labor costs are the lowest in the
Caribbean and are competitive with those of Hong Kong
and Taiwan.
Despite some favorable aspects, there is little reason
to hope for improvement soon in Haiti's economy: for-
eign investors are discouraged by the repressive po-
litical atmosphere; Haitian investors usually are subjected
to Government extortion; and resources other than a
large but illiterate and unskilled labor force are few.
Furthermore, transportation facilities are limited almost
entirely to a sparse network of badly maintained roads.
After heavy rains some parts of the country are isolated
for weeks by washed-out bridges and impassable roads.
There is only one rail line, and that is used to haul
sugarcane to the refinery at Port-au-Prince. The recently
completed airfield near Port-au-Prince can accommodate
large jetliners. Local air service is restricted to a few
weekly flights from the capital to the major towns. The
capital has a telephone system, but service is frequently
poor. Haiti remains a country in which donkey, sailboat,
and shanks' mare are the most widely used means of
travel, and personal contact is the most reliable means
of communication.
EXTERNAL RELATIONS
The United States did not diplomatically recognize the
Haitian Republic until the US Civil War, largely because
southern planters opposed recognition of a nation of
freed slaves. Even after recognition the United States
paid scant attention to Haiti until 1915 when, because
of financial chaos that brought threats of European in-
tervention, US Marines occupied Haiti; the occupation
lasted until 1934. Material accomplishments during this
period were impressive, but when the Haitians resumed
sovereignty over their affairs, corruption and inefficiency
returned, and improvements in transportation, communi-
cations, and other facilities fell into disrepair.
Since World War II, US economic assistance totaling
approximately $100 million has been extended to Haiti.
Much of this money, however, has been swallowed up
by graft and mismanagement. Worthwhile projects, such
as an irrigation scheme for the Artibonite Valley and the
Pote Cole project to reform agriculture in northern
Haiti, were abandoned in 1962 when it became apparent
that Haitian officials were not interested in the benefits
of the plans but only in their personal enrichment.
Subsequent US Government assistance has consisted
largely of contributions to a malaria eradication program
and gifts of food and medicine. Nevertheless, Haiti cur-
rently is receiving a significant amount of external assist-
ance. Besides the US Government, major contributors
include private religious and charitable groups, the Or-
ganization of American States, the United Nations, and
various foreign governments.
The island of Hispaniola has been divided between
Haiti and the Dominican Republic for the better part
of two centuries. Cultural dichotomy is marked-French
with strong African overtones in Haiti, and Spanish with
a deliberately muted African background in the Domini-
can Republic. Although the Negroid composition of the
Dominican population increased significantly during two
decades of Haitian occupation in the first half of the
19th century, Dominicans consider themselves racially
superior.
Relations between Haiti and the Dominican Republic
have never been harmonious, and currently only mini-
mum diplomatic representation is maintained. The 224-
mile boundary, closed since 1967, is inadequately policed,
so Haitians filter into Dominican territory relatively
easily. Reliable figures are not available, but recent offi-
cial Dominican estimates place the number of Haitians
in their country at 200,000, most of these being illegal
entrants. Dominican antagonism in its extreme resulted
in the massacre of many thousands of migrant Haitians
in 1937, and it still persists. Peasants, especially along
the border, strongly resent the presence of Haitians
with whom they must compete for land and employment.
Friction may also develop over water rights, inasmuch
as some Haitian rivers have their sources in Dominican
territory.
OUTLOOK
Haiti's problems will not be alleviated without im-
provement of the peasant farmer's lot. His labors brought
riches to the French and wealth to the select few who
have subsequently ruled the country. His rewards-
land and the freedom to manage it-are still largely
unattainable in many other countries of Latin America,
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 of whom are very wealthy. Usually the mulatto elite ob-
serve in-group marriage, but occasionally they marry
foreign nationals. Although skin color as well as family
background may distinguish the elite, there are no strict
guidelines and their color may range from near white
to very dark hues. Lightness, however, is more usual and
much preferred. The elite are fluent in both French and
Creole (the latter being necessary for most daily ac-
tivities) and adhere to the Roman Catholic or Protestant
religion. A few elite families reside in the outlying towns
of Cap-Haitien, Les Cayes, or Je'remie, but the majority
live in the better suburbs of Port-au-Prince. Mulatto po-
litical and economic standing has gone downhill since
1946, when the last mulatto president was turned out
of office. By threats and blackmail the present Govern-
ment has forced many mulattoes into exile. Nevertheless,
those who remain must still, by virtue of their education
and wealth, be considered the social elite.
An emerging urban middle class, amounting to about
4 percent of the total population, has been evolving over
the past quarter century. It is composed principally of
Negroes and individuals with a dominant Negro strain,
although there are mulatto elements. Middle-class status
requires a primary school education, fluency in French,
and a job free of manual labor. Because these requisites
are achieved most readily in Port-au-Prince, the middle
class is concentrated there. Currently, the more prominent
members of the middle class are the so-called "black
bureaucrats" who are Duvalier's close followers. Many
are little more than petty thugs who have used their
Government position to amass a fortune. More typical
middle-class Haitians-government clerks, shopkeepers,
teachers, professionals, office workers, and skilled ar-
tisans-have not benefited significantly from Duvalier's
decade of power.
The urban lower class-Negroes all-comprises about:
6 percent of the population and is at least as impoverished
as the rural peasantry. The majority have migrated to
Port-au-Prince from the countryside, thereby trading one
form of misery for another since the slums of the capital
are among the worst in the hemisphere. Although rural-
to-urban migration is less pronounced in Haiti than in
many other Latin American countries, the population of
Port-au-Prince is estimated to have increased nearly 80
percent between 1950 and 1960, a growth that would
have been impossible without a significant influx from the
countryside. This increase has continued in the present
decade. Most migrants retain their distinctive cultural
traits such as the practice of common-law marriages,
adherence to Vodun, and virtually exclusive use of Creole.
The majority of lower class urban people are unem-
ployed or underemployed, as is evidenced by the hordes
of beggars, peddlers, and refuse pickers who roam the
streets of the capital. They do, however, have certain ad-
vantages over rural folk. Opportunities for education are
better, so fewer people are illiterate; residence in the
capital-Haiti's window on the world-broadens their
view; and theoretically they can rise to middle-class
status, although in practice economic opportunities at
that level are limited. Numerous lower class urban men
enhance their prestige by joining Duvalier's volunteer
militia (popularly referred to by Haitians as the "ton
ton macoutes"). It is the urban slum dweller who might
be most apt to create civil unrest. He is continually
exposed to extreme disparities between classes-dispari-
ties that are far less marked in rural Haiti.
ECONOMY
The Haitian economy is almost wholly agricultural, and
the export of farm products provides a significant share
of the country's foreign exchange earnings and of Gov-
ernment revenues. Agriculture employs 85 percent of the
2.6 million labor force, but most of this number are
self-employed subsistence farmers and unpaid family
workers. The precarious nature of an economy heavily
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dependent on the export of a single crop-a common
situation in other parts of Latin America-is compounded
in Haiti by grossly inefficient production methods.
Dominating the list of export crops is coffee, followed
by sugar and sisal. The coffee industry provides an in-
sight into the inefficiency that pervades much of the
Haitian economy. Only one producing unit has more than
100 acres, and most of the crop comes from innumerable
small farms, some with only a few bushes. Exports were
higher during the colonial era than they are today, even
though coffee at that time was secondary to sugar. The
decline is due in part: to decreasing yields caused by
infrequent pruning and fertilizing and by trees that are
too old. Also, as population increases, more land must
be converted from coffee to subsistence-crop cultivation.
Incentives to improve production are lacking, chiefly be-
cause of a marketing system that gives the peasant too
small a share of profits..
The sugarcane and sisal industries are more modern
and efficient, mainly because they are owned and oper-
ated by foreigners. Although many small sugar mills are
scattered over the countryside, two US-owned mills,
HASCO (Haitian American Sugar Company) at Port-
au-Prince and Dessaliries at Les Cayes, process the bulk
of the cane for both export and domestic use. Of the
several sisal plantations in Haiti, the most important is
the Dauphin plantation, a US holding in the northeast
near the Dominican border. This is an efficient operation
that produces fibers internationally known for their high
quality. Competition with artificial fibers during the past
decade, however, has depressed the world sisal market
to such an extent that the Dauphin plantation was forced
to close for 6 months in 1967 (it has since reopened on
a limited basis) and another plantation farther west along
the north coast has been closed for several years.
Cacao, citrus fruits, and a few other crops complete
the list of agricultural exports. The most recent attempt
at commercial banana production was begun on the
north coast in the late 1950's, but within a few years it
succumbed to a combination of disease and natural dis-
asters.
Haiti has few natural resources other than its farm-
land, scattered mineral deposits, and scenic attractions
suitable for the development of tourism. Reynolds Metals
produces about 400,000 metric tons of bauxite annually
from deposits near Miragoane on the southern peninsula.
A Canadian company mines copper north of Gonalves,
but its production declined from 5,900 metric tons in
1963 to 2,700 metric tons in 1966, and the entire opera-
tion was temporarily closed in June 1968 because of dam-
age from a flash flood. Both bauxite and copper mines
WWWWO
Mixed subsistence farming - dense
[ Mixed subsistence farming - scattered
Fenced gra2:ing
Coffee
Cacao
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