Agreed. As an example of the abject poverty there compared to even their closest neighbour.<p>Last night my parents recounted their trip (about 10 years ago) to the Dominican Republic. A lot of Haitian labour work in the DR in the fields etc (usual "immigrant labour" stuff you get everywhere). The average wage was about $1 a day. To put it in perspective in the DR (admittedly in the tourist resorts) you bought Coke for $1 :)<p>But $1 didn't buy you a lot more even in the non-tourist regions. And Haitians worked there, apparently, because the wages were good!<p>Calling it a mess is an understatement I think.<p>(I also showed my Dad this link and he said [rough quote] "it was pretty much a dying country when we went there")