Haiti and Mexico

Overview

In Haiti Stefan visits the notoriously violent slums of Cite Soleil with Brazilian UN soldiers. He tries mud cakes made of pure clay, which are eaten for their high mineral content, and helps out with UN food handouts. Later on, he is invited to a voodoo ceremony, a practise which is widespread in Haiti. He then travels to the once-successful rice-growing region to discover what happened when the US persuaded Haiti to remove rice import taxes. The price of rice plummeted and local production collapsed, causing widespread poverty. Many local women now have to walk for hours up mountains carrying 25kg sacks of food aid. He also visits the luxury resort of Labadie which is out of bounds to everyone except wealthy cruise ship passengers. But despite the inequality, the income from tourism could be one of the few ways for Haiti to develop economically. Mexico In Mexico, Stefan discovers that free trade with the US means Mexico is importing corn and exporting people. Vast numbers of Mexicans are leaving the countryside where agriculture has collapsed and jumping the US border. He visits an illegal immigration theme park where people pay to experience what it is like to try to break into the United States. Stefan travels to Mexico City, where there have been riots over rising food prices, and in the rural south he visits a village where 45 people have died during conflict over farmland. He also meets Zapatista rebels who want greater rights for Mexico's indigenous communities. They are blaming the US for the Free Trade Agreement that has spelt disaster for 1.5 million farmers who cannot compete with subsidised US food. Finally, in Tijuana Stefan meets former farmers about to jump the border and are angry that US trade has forced them off the land, but then refuses to give them work permits.