When an earthquake devastated Haiti in 2010, the international community pledged billions of dollars toward recovery. Much of that aid never went to rebuilding Haiti – or even to the Haitian people. But Haiti’s instability goes back even farther. In fact, it has a lot to do with outside political forces dating back to the country’s origin story as the world’s first Black republic.

Today, episode 4 of “Line in the Land,” a podcast from Texas Public Radio and the Houston Chronicle. We’ll be back with episode 5 next Tuesday. We’re airing an episode from “A Line in the Land” every Tuesday through the end of August.

Read the full transcript here.

Host: Joey Palacios with Texas Public Radio and Elizabeth Trovall with the Houston Chronicle.

More reading:

Haiti’s struggle has worsened in the year since the slaying of its president

As Haiti reels from crises, U.S. policy decisions are called into question

Op-Ed: The West owes a centuries-old debt to Haiti

Binge all the episodes of "Line in the Land" here. Episodes are in both English and Spanish. "Line in the Land" was made possible, in part, by the Catena Foundation, providing more than 100,000 asylum seekers in the U.S. with community and legal support. Learn more at asylum.news