The Iron Market - Marche en Fer - in Port-au-Prince has been iconic symbol of Haitian community aspiration for over 120 years.

A US report says death toll from last year's disaster was exaggerated

In the frantic aftermath of the 2010 earthquake, you heard a similar refrain across Port-au-Prince: where on earth, most Haitians were asking, is the UN when you actually need it?

Former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide returned to Haiti yesterday, ending seven years of exile in South Africa and ignoring US opposition to a homecoming some fear could disrupt Haiti's presidential election run-off tomorrow.

Protesters demanding that Haiti's outgoing President René Préval leave office immediately set up burning barricades yesterday and threw stones at police and UN peacekeepers.

They got there in the end, but the tortuous route Haiti took to finally arrive at the two candidates who will contest next month's presidential election can hardly fill its people with confidence about the integrity of their nation's democracy.

Haitians waited nervously last night for electoral authorities to announce who will contest March's scheduled run-off election for the presidency, amid growing criticism of a process, which has already sparked widespread allegations of corruption and voter fraud.

Former dictator speaks out with claim he wants to rebuild country

Sending a fresh ripple through the choppy waters of Haitian politics, the country's deposed former president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, has declared that he is ready to end six years of exile and return home "today, tomorrow, at any time".

Two days after returning to an astonished Haiti after almost 25 years of exile in France, former dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier was charged with corruption, theft, misappropriation of funds and various other crimes last night, in relation to allegations of mass brutality and unfettered corruption during his 15 years of rule.

It is the Western hemisphere's poorest nation, hobbled by generations of corruption and social turmoil which have resulted in two-thirds unemployment and an economy entirely reliant on overseas aid. That was Haiti, even before the disaster that struck at around 5pm on Tuesday, 12 January.

Over the years Independent readers have shown tremendous generosity in donating to our annual Christmas Appeal. Scores of charities have benefited from that kindness, with thousands of lives improved in some of the poorest corners of the world.

The aftermath of Haiti's election continued on its chaotic course yesterday with international monitors validating the polls even as candidates produced further evidence of widespread fraud.