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February 1, 2010

Lessons from U.S. Occupation of Haiti

Peter Shawn Taylor, Globe and Mail

AP Photo

It will take at least a decade to fix Haiti, according to last week's international conference in Montreal. In fact, it will take far longer than that. History has already proven that 19 years is too short a time to build both the infrastructure and democracy that Haiti needs.

If any period might be considered a “golden” era of development and modernization in Haiti, it must be the U.S. occupation from 1915 to 1934. While by no means a resounding triumph, colonial rule by the Americans did have its successes. And it provides a convenient frame of reference for what the rest of the world can expect as it tries to rebuild the benighted country.

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TAGGED: United States, Haiti

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