We have already visited this area in the postings on this blog, "A Journey Around Cuba" and "Puerto Rico". There is a multi-national colonial history and several European languages are spoken.
Nassau is the city that is home to the majority of the residents of the Bahamas. It is on the island of New Providence. The Bahamas was populated by Loyalists leaving the U.S. because of it's war of independence. The resort of Atlantis is on the adjacent Paradise Island.
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https://www.google.com/maps/@25.0738405,-77.3385351,3a,75y,160h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipMlIHDg-bo21J8JG8XBzyFUDNZ3EZArBgnm8CYA!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMlIHDg-bo21J8JG8XBzyFUDNZ3EZArBgnm8CYA%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya143-ro-0-fo100!7i8704!8i4352
Freeport, another town in the Bahamas, is on Grand Bahama Island. Development began in this area in the 1950s.
https://www.google.com/maps/@26.555957,-78.602228,3a,75y,60h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipObIQERRRNvQKYmtCMPOIHqNdXry5dcwAz8z1Z3!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipObIQERRRNvQKYmtCMPOIHqNdXry5dcwAz8z1Z3%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya188.878-ro-0-fo100!7i11000!8i5500
In the late 15th Century there was a town in what is now Jamaica that was a notorious hangout for pirates. It was buried under the sea by a tremendous earthquake in 1692. A town was founded nearby that is now the city of Kingston. It replaced Spanish Town as the capital of Jamaica.
In 1958 the West Indies Federation was founded, of English-speaking Islands, it lasted for a few years.
Here is Kingston.
https://www.google.com/maps/@18.0039318,-76.7881227,3a,75y,300h,100t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipP0xe6-DYtkryTcu2FQVIhXzJGNLTfpb_bWMADP!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipP0xe6-DYtkryTcu2FQVIhXzJGNLTfpb_bWMADP%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-10-ya300-ro-0-fo100!7i6912!8i3456
This is Spanish Town, adjacent to Kingston.
https://www.google.com/maps/@18.0099828,-76.9577057,3a,75y,300h,100t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipOk1vEfVh-5jA7VOtF4eQ8WPoTiroBQYtJFaxyS!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipOk1vEfVh-5jA7VOtF4eQ8WPoTiroBQYtJFaxyS%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-10-ya329-ro-0-fo100!7i6656!8i2730
Montego Bay is popular with tourists and is at the other end of the island of Jamaica from Kingston.
https://www.google.com/maps/@18.4618669,-77.9473034,3a,75y,83.89h,90.56t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipMd8w7lJwDFDlb6RLExUzZlAf1JYkk8kfvfAbRv!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMd8w7lJwDFDlb6RLExUzZlAf1JYkk8kfvfAbRv%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0.562701-ya239.88745-ro-0-fo100!7i8000!8i4000
Port-Au-Prince is the capital city of Haiti and home to about half it's population. Haiti shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic. Native Indians called Tainos lived on the island since ancient times.
Spain and France divided the island between them. The western third of the island was the French colony of Saint Domingue. Toussaint Louverture is considered as the founding father of Haiti. He led a rebellion that resulted in a proclamation of the new nation in 1804. The slave rebellion that ultimately led to the new nation is credited to Dutty Boukman.
The primary language is Creole, based on French but has become a separate language.
In the late 20th Century Haiti was long ruled by the father and son of the Duvaliers.
I remember the news of the overthrow of the son, "Baby Doc" Duvalier. It was in early 1986, just before the similar overthrow, on the opposite side of the world, of Ferdinand Marcos. Pope John Paul may have inspired the revolt, visiting Haiti and insisting that "Things must change". Duvalier ultimately returned to Haiti, from France, before dying of a heart attack.
In January 2010 Haiti suffered one of the most devastating earthquakes in human history.
Here is Port-Au-Prince.
https://www.google.com/maps/@18.5426969,-72.3413107,3a,75y,220h,100t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipO4SeuHv0WxKq6cSTqtC-WH1MQ-4YV2Ahr-04nX!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipO4SeuHv0WxKq6cSTqtC-WH1MQ-4YV2Ahr-04nX%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-10-ya330-ro-0-fo100!7i3584!8i1792
Santo Domingo is the capital city of the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti. The Dominican Republic is the eastern two-thirds of the island that speaks Spanish. Santo Domingo is the oldest still-existing European settlement in the western hemisphere.
Christopher Columbus landed on the island and Santo Domingo was founded by his brother. It was an early Spanish staging area to the rest of the western hemisphere.
What is now the Dominican Republic had been Spanish Haiti. Independence was gained, first from Spain and then from Haiti. Spain later temporarily regained control.
U.S. forces took control of the Dominican Republic in 1916, over it's debts.
If anyone wants to study how dictatorship works, or even admires how someone can gain absolute control over a country, then the Dominican Republic is a case in point. Rafael Trujillo, who ruled for more than thirty years until his 1961 assassination, was the dictator of dictators.
I cannot imagine another leader in recent history who had such absolute control over his country and kept it for so long. Rafael Trujillo is simply without parallel in the annals of dictatorship.
We may sometimes think that a dictator seizes power against the will of the people. But that is not usually true. Many dictators are elected, but then expand their powers from there, often taking the "president for life" route. It is true that the special necessity of leadership following a disaster may lead away from democracy, and it was a hurricane that led to the increase in Rafael Trujillo's power. But dictators can also bring stability, and someone that was in power over thirty years must have something going for him.
The U.S. militarily intervened in the country's civil war of 1965, after the rise of Fidel Castro in neighboring Cuba.
The first thing that I think of when I hear of the Dominican Republic is baseball players.
Here is the old part of Santo Domingo.
https://www.google.com/maps/@18.4739361,-69.8882722,3a,75y,152.38h,106.08t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipMnzKrgND6eXK_gD12Ix20fSDtDLh0zkd5b5TFv!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMnzKrgND6eXK_gD12Ix20fSDtDLh0zkd5b5TFv%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-17.08792-ya112.18957-ro-2.8762372-fo100!7i7680!8i3840
Santo Domingo is also a modern global city.
https://www.google.com/maps/@18.483416,-69.9361643,3a,75y,260h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipPv2P8uy7ctilvVLDNX44Dw92J0xhbWDcywT4R1!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipPv2P8uy7ctilvVLDNX44Dw92J0xhbWDcywT4R1%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi6.844603-ya165.41928-ro3.4811668-fo100!7i7680!8i3840
Santiago De Los Caballeros is the second city of the Dominican Republic, and has been the capital of the country in the past. It was founded early in the 16th Century.
https://www.google.com/maps/@19.451281,-70.7073108,3a,75y,80h,110t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipONfT76jHxpvvgCNgcgpEZDQFpwQ-cBy6dxQnSA!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipONfT76jHxpvvgCNgcgpEZDQFpwQ-cBy6dxQnSA%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-26.492975-ya295.5777-ro-1.2140244-fo100!7i5760!8i2880
Port of Spain is the capital city of Trinidad and Tobago, even though the nation's primary language is English. This is a very prosperous country, where Hinduism is a major religion due to migration in colonial times.
https://www.google.com/maps/@10.6635976,-61.5146024,3a,75y,320h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipOv_iMiwP8GAx67m698v13-tK-Qsg2GDa_VxXmd!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipOv_iMiwP8GAx67m698v13-tK-Qsg2GDa_VxXmd%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi0.69692916-ya226.64958-ro1.8297955-fo100!7i7200!8i3600
When we hear of Guyana often the first thing that comes to mind is the horror of Jonestown, in 1978. Remember that we saw Jonestown in the posting on this blog, "Jonestown, Charles Manson And, The Gnostic Gospels".
But this actually had nothing to do with Guyana or the Guyanese people. It was an agricultural settlement in a remote part of the country that a cult from the U.S. had been allowed to set up. It is completely unfair to define this beautiful and peaceful country by this catastrophe that had nothing to do with them.
Guyana is on the mainland of South America and is known in geography class as the only country on that continent that primarily speaks English. The capital city of Guyana is Georgetown.
https://www.google.com/maps/@6.8103867,-58.1655472,3a,75y,346.72h,104.18t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipP0lABiQC497ClQTNipIrnGOaBHzc--dLjd69el!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipP0lABiQC497ClQTNipIrnGOaBHzc--dLjd69el%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-14.180063-ya346.72025-ro-0-fo100!7i7200!8i3600
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