A small cabal of oligarch families who migrated to Haiti really run the country. They are known as BAM BAM, phonetically in Creole “Gimme, Gimme.” The acronym stands for the Brandt Accra, Madsen, Bigio, Apaid Mevs families. Below these oligarchs are the traditional light-skinned Haitians of French ancestry, whose role is to carry on the racial caste system in Haiti. The “mulaterie” are on a lower rung that controls the arts, entertainment, small businesses and everything else. A dark-skinned Haitian can own a bodega, but not a supermarket. The diaspora has no place in this system.
