Haiti

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Haiti is truly a sad sight to behold. It has the perfect cocktail of bad conditions to create a poor country. Haiti was a French colony, until a successful slave revolt in 1804 made Haiti an independent nation. Since Since that time, national governments have largely been unstable or ineffectual, and internal wars have been common, preventing the nation from industrializing and modernizing. The US was little help, as during the early years of Haitian independence, the US, especially southern Democrats, was reluctant to help a nation run by slaves. This history of ineffective government is only made worse by the geography of Haiti, which is plagued by earthquakes, such as the tragic 2010 earthquake that claimed the lives of over 100,000 Haitians.

The cholera epidemic that came as a result of the earthquake only further exemplifies Haiti's poor infrastructure. Only 54% of Haitians have access to sanitation, which breeds disease, especially cholera. This problem will not be solved until Haiti gets a stable government, which will encourage investment, economic growth, and industrialization, but the task of creating a stable government will be a difficult task.

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