"Jesus will come back soon." Or so promises a graffito on an abandoned market stall in the centre of Port-au-Prince. In Haiti, miracles are much needed but in short supply. As if Haitians-the poorest people in the Americas-did not have enough to deal with, torrential rains hit their country and the neighbouring Dominican Republic this week, unleashing floods and devastating mudslides. Some 2,000 people were reported killed in the border region between the two countries, half of them in one Haitian town. For Haiti, the floods add to the pains of a country exhausted by political turmoil and economic disintegration. It is still struggling to recover a sense of normality after the rebellion which ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in late February. For the second time in a decade, foreign troops have stepped in. But stability and economic recovery remain distant goals.
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