Greater Antilles

I've decided to focus on the Greater Antilles for the 4th collective harvest on post-colonialism. I've decided to choose the Greater Antilles because it has been my region of focus for the entire semester in my geography class and I've been able to learn a lot about the past and present societal issues. I feel this is an important region to focus on for post colonialism because of how heavily affected the Greater Antilles (Jamaica, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Haiti) is by outside forces. Europe controlled the area in the 15th and 16th century. Because of their invasion, culture was changed. The majority of the population is Mulatto, meaning mixed, or have European decent. Due to the cultural blend, there are a multitude of languages spoken in the area such as French, Spanish, and English. More importantly, these areas are heavily affected by post colonialism because despite many of their fights for independence, they do not have the resources to thrive. As I read in an article called "Colonialism and neocolonialism in Jamaica" by Maurice Haughton, it referred to the region and more specifically Jamaica, as "an umbilical chord that was never severed at birth." This meaning that although Jamaica was given independence from Britain, they were never able to thrive afterwards because the economy was hurting and there was no outside help used to help flourish the economy and outside trade. It's the equivalent to a baby being born but never having its umbilical chord cut, meaning there is no real separation for growth. Jamaica has been independent for 51 years. However, they are labeled as a third world country because outside influences are still able to determine the economic flow and control what goes in or out of the Caribbean.