Miragoàne

Miragoane, the third largest port in Haiti, is a city of considerable poverty and strife. Several ships from New York, USA, and Miami, FL, USA transport cargo to Miragoane during fairly regular port calls.

The city was reportedly used as a rest stop by pirates long ago and was later used by Reynolds aluminum to support a plant for refining bauxite from the indigenous soil. Reynolds moved out in the 1990s, leaving behind the power plant it had built for the town. Slowly, the luxury of electricity vanished due to lack of fuel and maintenance (read "government support").

Since then, the majority of what small amounts of cash are in circulation were derived from stevedoring operations and distribution of the cargo from ships. Food was what small amounts of cargo the people could afford supplemented by fish from the bay and, possibly, some locally grown vegetables and goats.

Removed somewhat from the anarchy of Port-au-Prince, Miragoane enjoyed relative peace until perhaps 2005. The road to Port-au-Prince is an open haven for thugs who are no better than the "highwaymen" of old. The Port Captain of Miragoane, Captain Guy (pronounced "Ghee" with a hard G), was murdered on this road in December 2005.