By Rhett "PR" Butler

The time was 4:53 pm local time on January 12th 2010, 7 minutes from quitting time at conventional workplaces and about an hour or two after children leave school in traditional societies.  Welcome to Port-au-Prince, crippled economically and socially by history and now the nation's capital and the crown jewel of the battered island decimated by a magnitude-7.0, earthquake; the country's most severe in over 200 years.

In the days following the news of the earthquake, the pictures, stories of bodies strewn across roads and barrage of video streaming from within Haiti have left an indelible impression of horror and helplessness.  Tales of stockpiled food and medical reserves not leaving warehouses on the island as well as panicked looting as a result abound leaving the world holding its breath in anticipation for the worse.  The result has been a worldwide effort of humanitarianism that has seen everyone from small children to the world's renowned entertainers contributing to Haiti's reconstruction.  With international cooperation at an all-time high, optimism is starting to grow for the future of the island.

Before this devastating earthquake and certainly after, the fact remains, Haiti is a conundrum that history has made equal parts glorious gift and extensively cursed.  UDub!News takes a closer look at Haiti during one of the most pivotal times in its fragile existence.

THE GIFT

As a land of a myriad gifts Haiti was blessed with an abundance of natural resources.  Inhabited first by the Taino Indians until 1492 when the colonialism mission of Christopher Columbus landed claiming the island for Spain.  Any resistance by the indigenous population was met with murder.  The need for valuable resources like gold to be mined by the Spaniards deepened.  Only one Taino Indian rebellion, the destruction of the first Spanish settlement of La Navidad, was successful before Columbus' hand secured early Spanish rule.  However, although only one successful rebellion against what would become centuries of slavery and colonialism, it was the precursor to a future glory.

The Spanish governors began to import African slaves via the1517 Authorized Draft of Slaves by, Charles V, and the economic interests of the more powerful French led by Napoleon Bonaparte.  At this point Haiti starts a society that will forever be built on and socially impacted by slavery.  Only in Haiti's case the generations that suffered slavery revolted and won independence.  Through leadership exhibited by General Touissant L'Ouverture and Jean-Jacques Dessalines, Haiti remains the only country to successfully liberate itself through a slave revolt.  This is the gift, a true triumph story to the highest degree based on the severity of their lives. 

As the only country founded by a slave revolt, Haiti is an inspiration for all societies of oppression.  As a free country a person of color has led Haiti since the ouster of the colonial system.  It is an example that countries can be ruled by a society of the people and by the black majority.  However, the independence of Haiti also aided other countries achieve certain victories as well.  In particular, the United States.

When Haiti expelled its oppressors, Napoleon Bonaparte took heavy military losses from the uprising and an outbreak of yellow fever.  As a result, his control of the bustling Port of New Orleans was at risk from the British, with whom impending war seemed inevitable, and even the fast rising American government.  However, the successful slave revolution in Haiti and eventual war with Britain led Napoleon to sell not only the Port of New Orleans but also the entire Louisiana territory to the American government.  Without the access to the natural resources of Haiti the port had no use to him and France abandoned its quest to dominate the New World.  As the largest victory, at the time, against a major world power, the U.S. would never have benefitted from the Louisiana Purchase if it weren't for the trickle down effect from Haiti's liberation.

THE CURSE

As a result of liberation and usurpation of a major world power, Haiti has experienced unprecedented turmoil since its inception.  In July 1825, King Charles X of France sent a fleet of 14 vessels and thousands of troops to re-conquer Haiti.  Under pressure, Haitian President Jean Pierre Boyer agreed to a treaty in which France would formally recognize Haiti's independence in exchange for a payment of 150 million francs (reduced to 90 million in 1838) – an indemnity for profits lost from the slave trade.  Once agreed upon, this set in motion a history of insurmountable debt and future borrowing that has lasted all the way to present day.  President Boyer was eventually ousted for making this decision and since then Haiti has suffered through 32 coups and a succession of leaders that have looted government accounts and set back the positive growth of the country.

As a haven for natural resources and proximity to other natural resource havens in South America, Haiti has also been the target of exploitation for centuries.  This has led to theories that super powers like America plotting to take control of the island.  Flash back to Roosevelt Corollary of the Monroe Doctrine, where former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt entered the country to exert the right of the United States to intervene and stabilize the economic affairs of small states in the Caribbean and Central America if they were unable to pay their international debts.  This occurred from 1915 to 1934 to the dismay of the island's population. 

Tension between the Dominican Republic, which shares the entire island of Hispaniola, and Haitian natives has always been high.  Upon the exit of the occupying U.S. troops in 1937, Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo ordered his Army to kill Haitians living on the Dominican side of the border; the event is now known as the Parsley Massacre.  In a three-day span between 10,000 and 20,000 Haitians were murdered along with an institution of racial discrimination called, Antihaitianismo ("anti-Haitianism"), which allowed targeting of the mostly-black inhabitants of the neighboring country.  Haitians have forever been treated as second-class citizens since the French and the Spanish split the island and tales of modern-day slavery in sugar cane plantations are rampant to this day in the Dominican Republic.

THE CURSE IN TODAY'S PERSPECTIVE

The total devastation of the capital city, Port-au-Prince has led to some dubious theories across the world.  In America, Spiritual leader and founder of the 700 Club, Pat Robertson claimed that Haiti made a pact with the devil when it liberated itself successfully from its oppressors.   This pact with the devil has led to a history of economic disruption now natural disaster.  The fact that anyone could believe that self-liberation from slavery can only be achieved by making evil deals with the "devil" is not only cruel but reveals a lot about Pat Robertson.  It is important to note that the Haitian Ambassador to the U.S., Valerie Jarrett on the Rachel Maddow show (MSNBC) pointed out that fact that the U.S would not have achieved the Louisiana Purchase if Haiti had not revolted and succeeded.

(Note: Charles V, who authorized the slave trade in Haiti on behalf of Spain was the ruler of The Holy Roman Empire; undoubtedly united through Christianity to Pat Robertson)

Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez has always been a huge critic of imperialism and countries that seem reminiscent of imperialism.  Pointing out that U.S. and U.N. peacekeepers are using brute force to quell the panic on the streets of Port-au-Prince has many looking closer at his words.  Video images of U.S. troops firing warning shots to people pulling at gates and storming USAID vehicles seemed out of line to many.  Theorists now believe that this new occupation, not seen since the Roosevelt Corollary, is a precursor to a plan for total restructuring of the country, much the way the Dominican Republic has been.  The tropical atmosphere and proximity to the Dominican Republic U.S. tourist destination's set up the idea that the U.S would transform the country into a tourist trap for its own interests.   

Also, the fact that there are oil reserves in Venezuela, which is not far from Haiti, and it would be in the best interests of the U.S. to have Haiti as a launch pad for South American resource control has led to other sinister theories.   One is that the U.S. knew there was an earthquake coming to Haiti and did not warn the island instead preparing to invade it in the earthquake's wake.  A report detailing that the U.S. Department of Defense held a Haiti disaster relief scenario at the U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) in Miami one day prior to the earthquake has surfaced.  The holding of pre-disaster simulations pertained to the impacts of a hurricane in Haiti however, they were held on January 11 the day before the earthquake.

Last, A grim report prepared by the Russian Northern Fleet for Prime Minister
Putin was released stating that the catastrophic earthquake that was the 'clear result' of a United States Navy test of one of its 'earthquake weapons' planned to be used by the
Americans upon the Persian Nation of Iran but had gone 'horribly wrong'.

The Russian Northern Fleet has been monitoring U.S. Naval movements and activities in the Caribbean since 2008 when the Americans announced their intention to re-establish their Forth Fleet that had been disbanded in 1950, and which was responded to later that year a Russian flotilla led by nuclear powered cruiser Peter the Great began their first exercises in this region since the ending of the Cold War.

Though virtually unknown to the American people, the use, and perfection, of earthquake weapon technology has a decade's long history.  It began with the former Soviet Union exploding of a nuclear bomb in September 1978 then 'redirecting' the shockwave towards Iran.  The result was a catastrophic 7.4 magnitude earthquake.

Since the late 1970's, the United States has 'greatly advanced' the state of its earthquake weapons and, according to these reports, now employs these devices in the form of ‘shockwave bombs.'