Dominican Republic

By Teresa Bo in Americas on January 14th, 2010
Photo by Getty Images

I'm writing this on my blackberry as I am driving to Haiti from the Dominican Republic.

Again, nature has destroyed Haiti’s chances of getting back on its feet - or at least, that is what we are being told.

The truth is that natural disasters in Haiti always prove to be more devastating than in the neighboring Dominican Republic or in Cuba. Lack of infrastructure, deforestation and severe poverty are some of the reasons why.

After former priest Jean Bertrand Aristide was removed from office, a UN mission known as MINUSTAH brought in over 7,000 peacekeeping troops to prevent the country from being torn apart by violence.

By Omar Chatriwala in Americas on January 13th, 2010
Photo by Carel Pedre via Twitter

At 21:53GMT on Tuesday, the Caribbean nation of Haiti was hit by its strongest earthquake in more than 200 years, causing what is being described as "a catastrophe of major proportions".

Heavy casualties are feared after numerous buildings were levelled by the 7.0 magnitude earthquake.

This blog post, previously named "Haiti Earthquake: Latest updates", followed events in the immediate aftermath of quake.

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