In Haiti, Tracing a Paradise Lost
by Peter Kujawinski
Haiti is a fixture in my mind, as permanent as memories of high school graduation or the weekend I first met my wife.
I lived there twice as an American diplomat for a total of four years since 2000, but its hold on me is not a function of time. Of all the
countries I lived and worked in, Haiti stood out as the most beautiful, the
most colorful and the poorest. It melds French, African and Caribbean cultures into something truly unique, less than two hours from Miami. Yet it also resists easy definition. It is an open, free place filled with secrets.
Today there are conflicting signs about where Haiti is going.
The U.N. Security Council decided recently to close down the peacekeeping
mission it has maintained in Haiti since 2004.
The U.N. Secretary-General’s final
report on the mission concluded: “The many setbacks and
challenges notwithstanding, including the disaster caused by the January 2010 earthquake and at least six major hurricanes, substantial headway was made, and today the Haitian people enjoy a considerable degree of security and greater stability.”
Link to article in the NY Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/04/travel/in-haiti-tourism-economy-caribbean.html