The tone of media coverage coming out of Haiti has been changing rapidly.
From sympathy the reports are now focussing on looting and crime. A special attention is paid to the differences between Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
There may well be a subtle, or not so subtle, racism involved here.
Regardless, a couple of points.
First, both Haiti and the Dominican rely on agriculture to a large degree. Yes there is trade but neither nation is Singapore. And so population density is very important -- and here Haiti is definitely at a serious disadvantage:
Dominican Republic
208.2/km2
Haiti
361.5/km2
Add to this the slight but real advantages to climate in the Dominican and some basis for Haiti's poverty emerges.
As for looting, well, the national prison collapsed allowing at least 3000 convicts out into a capital city already in chaos. And don't forget people in need take and some people behave badly even without need (remember Montreal during the police strike?).
2 comments:
It's not so subtle.
What's worse is that the reporting is based on fears, not actuality. The interviews I've heard of people who are actually there are stressing how peaceful it has been overall.
Actually thats a very good point. Reports tend to focus on the "exciting". I was once in a country that was in the midst of a revolution (which succeeded) but in general everything wnet on peacefully as if nothing was happening. I spoke to someone with family in Haiti who told me, if anything, crime seems down in his family's area (granted, not the capital)
Post a Comment