Housing or Companies for Haiti?

Mexico City (AIPE) — In 1945, the Second World War devastated various European nations and primary German cities had also suffered deadly bombings. Still, the view was far worse in Haiti after the recent earthquake.

The U.S. government conceived of the Marshall Plan, which consisted of granting millions of dollars to various European countries for the construction of housing and hospitals. In the German case, Chancellor Konrad Adenauer and the economic minister, Ludwig Erhard, informed the American authorities that the Marshall Plan would either be installed the way they wanted or they would not accept the aid.

The North Americans proposed the construction of enormous buildings that would house multiple families, but this suggestion was rejected.

What did Adenauer and Erhard want? The Germans asked the American government to invest their resources in companies so that German workers could have a stable income and re-initiate industrial production. Housing would come later. The plan was implemented as the Germans wished, with the creation of companies that converted — in just a few years — West Germany into a world power.

The Haitians need help, but if we want such a disaster — like the suffering seen during World War II in Germany and Japan — to allow Haiti to convert itself into a nation with lasting progress at such a crucial moment, it is necessary for the Haitian government to establish economic conditions that will increase investments in firms and machinery.

It is necessary for the wealthy nations to see Haiti not only as a disaster zone, but also as a country where one can invest. Only in this way will the Haitians avoid returning to the same levels of misery they experienced before the earthquake.