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Haiti

The western half of the island of Hispaniola, the nation of Haiti is a focus for the spiritual tradition of Voodoo and its spirits, The Loa.   “Ayiti” means “land of high mountains” in the language of the native Taíno. Haiti is the third largest Caribbean nation, the first independent nation in Latin America or the Caribbean, and the only nation established by a successful slave revolt (in 1804).   Unfortunately, the success of the Haitian republic has been mixed, at best. The nation has seen ongoing upheaval and conflict, broken by periods of dictatorship. Dr. François “Papa Doc” Duvalier ruled Haiti as President from 1957 until the succession of his son, Jean-Claude (“Baby Doc”) in 1971. The Duvaliers were ousted in 1986. They maintained their rule with the assistance of the Tonton Macoutes, a secret police named for “Uncle Gunnysack,” a Haitian bogeyman known for kidnapping children, carrying them off in a sack over his shoulder to cook them for breakfast.   In addition to its political conflicts, Haiti has also suffered through a series of natural disasters, from hurricane and storm-related flooding to a devastating earthquake in 2010 which left hundreds of thousands dead and many times more homeless, causing massive damage to the island’s already shaky infrastructure.   TORTUGA The small Haitian island of Tortuga is off the northwest coast of Hispaniola. It was named Isla Tortuga (“Turtle Island”) by Christopher Columbus, and he and his crew were the first Europeans to set foot there.   In the 1600s, the English, Spanish, and French wrangled over possession of Tortuga, often in connection to conflicts on nearby Hispaniola. The upheaval and frequent division of the island between different authorities made it a haven for pirates operating in the Caribbean, particularly the self-declared Brethren of the Coast, a coalition of pirates and privateers governed by their own code of conduct, emphasizing independence, democracy, and an equitable division of spoils. Welsh pirate captain Henry Morgan was one of the most famous of the Brethren, along with “Bloody Jack” Carter and the infamous Captain Blood.
Type
Geopolitical, Country

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