QUESTION:

With reference to Cuba, Haiti and Trinidad, discuss the factors that may be hindering the
process of development in these countries.
Growth and development have a symbiotic relationship among themselves. Economic
growth is an increase in the production of economic goods and services while development
refers to an improvement of the quality of the standard of living of the people. Development
is vital in a country’s economy in order for growth to occur. It is measured using the
Human Development Index which utilized measurement of the age life expectancy, level of
education and income for country. There are given indicators that promote and hinder
development. These indicators help the country identify where investment of the country
should and shouldn’t be allocated. In addition, Caribbean countries such as Trinidad, Cuba
and Haiti may experience these indicators that may encourage development or obstruct
development. Moreover, the factors that may cause hinderance to development in countries
like Cuba, Haiti and Trinidad are man-made and natural disasters, global conditions,
distribution of wealth and resources, tourism, political ideology and use of technology.
Firstly, earthquakes, landslides floods, droughts, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions and wildfires
are all man made and natural disasters that affect Caribbean countries one way or another.
Natural and man-made disaster have a tendency to undo years of development and Caribbean
countries experience drastic negative effects due to them such as destruction of natural
resources required for economic growth and increase in unemployment rate by damaged
business buildings. For reference, on Sunday 27th January, 2019 the city of Havana located in
Cuba was hit by a tornado with estimated winds up to 155-199 mph. Consequently, this
tornado resulted in 500,000 people without power and 200,000 without water in addition to
11 health institutions and 46 schools damaged. The loss in power, water and institutions will
caused the Cuban government to halt the country’s projects and production as well as use up
the country’s emergency resources in order to aid those in need. Thus, slowing the
development process in Cuba. Furthermore, in 2010 in Haiti, the country experiences an
earthquake of magnitude 7.0 alongside with many aftershocks. It took the life of over
250,000 persons and those that survived were placed in tents to live. That being said Haiti
loss a large amount of it working class and hence the country’s business operation was at a
standstill. Today, Haiti’s economy has still failed to regain its footing after the devasting
earthquake. It faces multiple crises as worsening food insecurity and malnutrition as well as
water-borne disease and epidemics. Development in Haiti has appeared to cease due to the
country constantly experiencing natural disasters and using it little resources to rebuild back
its infrastructure and economy. To continue, Trinidad encounter extreme flooding in 2017
due to Tropical Strom Bret. The flooding occurred due to the country large amount of
pollution in drains and rivers and resulted in many crops being damaged. Subsequently, many
of the country’s population stopped buy local produce in fear of contacting any illnesses and
therefore Trinidad’s government issued that all physical resources in all divisions would be
utilized to assist communities especially farmers. Similar to Cuba, usage of these resources
had caused development to slow down as the country need to first focus on recovery of the
loss resources before developing. Whether man made or natural, disasters cannot be
prevented and has an effect that takes years to recuperate from hence it hinders development
heavily.
Secondly, most economic activities in the Caribbean are affected by globalisation.
Globalisation is the process of the economies and cultures of different countries coming
together on a worldwide scale. Global conditions help increase world trade and reduce
international barriers which promotes development in the Caribbean however it also hinders
development in terms of competition and marginalization of small economies. To begin with,
Trinidad and Tobago are affected by many global conditions such as Brexit and drop in oil
prices. Brexit is the exit of Britain from the European Union. The European Union is an
economic and political union involving European countries, its function is to allows free trade
among member countries without any extra charges. Through this Britain gives way for its ex
colonies to enter into the European market with having said that, as Trinidad is an ex colony
of Britain, its exit will produce a domino effect. Britain’s exit will cause Trinidad to lose it
foothold in the European market which will reduce the foreign exchange within the country.
This hinders development as it deters foreign investors which can help the country economy
grow. In essence, another example is that Trinidad gains majority of its revenue via oil and
thus with oil price dropping due to the over population of oil in the Middle East, it causes a
decrease in the government revenue and therefore it cannot undergo development projects or
improvement of resources as there is no fund or lack of, hence hindering the development
process. Likewise, Haiti’s Independence debt to France has resulted in obstruction of the
country’s development. The Independence debt occurred after slavery, where the French
government demanded that the Haitian government pay French slaveholders’ compensation
for the theft of their land that was turned into profitable sugar and coffee plantations. Even
though, the debt was paid off in 1947, it is one of the main factors that has cause the
country’s poverty. Due to the country using it resources to reimburse France and not build its
economy as a consequence development is hindered. Continuously, since 1960s the United
States of America had placed an embargo on Cuba due to the overthrow of President Batista
and the seizing of 1.8 billion worth of US assets in Cuba. In 1962, President Kennedy hence
declare embargo upon all trade between the United States and Cuba and in 1963, the United
States prohibited travel to Cuba. Albeit, that President Obama lifted this embargo, Cuba still
have a lack of diverse resources as imports and exports within the country were limited due to
restrictions and as stated development is measured by the Human Development Index. It
states the more options a country has for its citizen the more well developed it is, therefore
lack of choice, lack of development. In a synopsis, global conditions are unpredictable, and
each hinders development in its own way country to country.

Thirdly, equality is ensuring that all receive equal/same opportunities. The distribution of
wealth and resources refers to the way in which the wealth and resources of a nation is
divided among its population. It is measured by the Gini coefficient that states what
percentage of the population controls the wealth in the country. The closer it is to zero, the
more equally the wealth is distributed. For instance, Cuba Gini coefficient is 0.28 and this is
based on the fact that Cuba is a communist society and therefore assess to consumption is
classless however it is not at zero due to Cuba still having present the two percentage of
bourgeoisie. Additionally, Trinidad exist as a capitalist society and therefore its Gini
coefficient is neither high nor low at 0.40. Lastly, Haiti is a poverty-stricken country and its
Gini coefficient is highest among all three countries at 0.60. As a result, this uneven
distribution of wealth hinders development as not all classes are receiving the benefits the
countries can provide and thus talents and resources are being loss and the country is not
using all its available resources. As well as lack of equality in terms of distribution of wealth
and resources leads to social stratification where the bourgeoises will always be at top and the
middle and lower class will always be below, as there is lack of social mobility. To reiterate,
no Caribbean country is at full equality as there will be always be someone with the need for
more and thus is will continuously hinder development.