Space
Program of Haiti
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Level = 0 Development: Very Low
What has been going on in Haiti?
What kind of space power do they have?
Does Haiti have space weapons?
What are they planning over there? |
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Population: 8,600,000 / Language: French / GDP: $1600 / Cities: Port-au-Prince
OVERVIEW
The world's first black-led republic and the first Caribbean state to achieve independence, Haiti's pride has been dented by decades of poverty, environmental degradation, violence, instability and dictatorship which have left it as the poorest nation in the Americas. A mostly mountainous country with a tropical climate, Haiti's location, history and culture - epitomised by voodoo, with its music, drumming and dancing - once made it a potential tourist hot spot. Instability and violence, especially since the 1980s, have all but killed off this prospect. Haiti achieved notoriety during the brutal dictatorships of the voodoo physician, Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier, and his son, Jean-Claude, or "Baby Doc". Hopes that the election in 1990 of Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a former priest, would herald a brighter future were dashed when he was overthrown by the military a short time later.
A bloody rebellion, and pressure from the US and France, forced Mr Aristide out of the country in 2004. Since then, an elected leadership has taken over from an interim government and a UN stabilisation force has been deployed. But Haiti is still plagued by violent confrontations between rival gangs and political groups and the UN has described the human rights situation as "catastrophic". Meanwhile, Haiti's most serious underlying social problem, the huge wealth gap between the impoverished Creole-speaking black majority and the French-speaking mulattos, 1% of whom own nearly half the country's wealth, remains unaddressed. Furthermore, the infrastructure has all but collapsed and drug trafficking has corrupted the judicial system and the police. Haiti is ill-equipped to deal with the aftermath of tropical storms. Severe deforestation has left it particularly vulnerable to flooding. Full name: Republic of Haiti
President: Rene Preval Rene Preval, often described as a champion of the poor, won presidential elections in February 2006 with 51% of the vote. He was declared the victor after officials agreed to discount thousands of blank ballot papers. His supporters had taken to the streets, rejecting initial results which would have led to a second round. Mr Preval, the front-runner, said "massive fraud" was being used to deny him a first-round victory.
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Haiti's Space Infrastructure Haiti is one of the world's poorest countries, despite being independent for over 200 years, second only to the United States amongst the Western lands. Not only does it not have an agency, but also no infrastructure in which one would arise. The University of Haiti does not offer astrophysics, astronautics or aeronautics, while the government has no ministry devoted to science of this type. Haiti has no history of being part of any organization dealing with space, nor has any launch capability. Haiti lacks the industrial base, the educational base and the political foundation for a process like this to occur within it. Haiti operates no satellites and, not having a presence, has no space power. The government of Haiti in Port-au-Prince has no plans for attempting to further any ambition in space development or research. |
None
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TODAY AND INTO THE FUTURE
Nothing Planned
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