This was previously published in my old blog hosted on old domain.
Original Title :Haiti Would not be so poor if the world had not watched it pay France 90 million Francs (21 billion today's currency)
Many of us are quite unaware as to the true reason that Haiti is as poor as it is. And it certainly has nothing to do with simply bad management of government or the natural disaster that frequent the country all too often. Some 200 years ago Haiti was forced to pay France to be able to claim its sovereignty and peace from France. Haiti paid 90 million Francs (21 billion now) to their colonial powers to secure their Freedom.
Many of us only know half of that story that is that the Haitian people fought valiantly for their freedom and were thus rewarded as the first Caribbean country to freedom. Many would say as punishment or as a direct consequence Haiti was shunned by the rest of the Western world (at the time most of the Western Hemisphere was still controlled by Europe) and thus none of Haiti’s neighbours wished to trade with the country.
Haiti therefore had to resort to a combination of shark loans (high interest) and later aid. The country has never recovered since. The sad part of it is that Haiti was once the richest country in the Western Hemisphere and it was the prized colony of France.
Excerpt from multiple sources:
Mr. Joseph Philippe Antonio, Haiti’s Former Minister of Affairs, “you will notice a certain embarrassment on their part. You will notice that they (France) begin to talk about how much cooperation and aid Europe has given to Haiti, when we raised the very specific question of the ransom of 90 million gold francs Haiti paid to France for its independence. We in fact paid much more because we were forced to take out loans at very high interest rates at the time the debt was incurred.”
Haiti has sought the money from France the last time being when President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was in power.
In other words they Haiti sought reparations from France.
Mr. Joseph Philipe Antonio:
“Let me underline for you that lately there have been other countries, other populations who were victim during this period [of slavery] who have requested indemnity for the wrongs done to them from several European countries. At the onset, all of these countries said they would not pay, but in the end did in fact pay. They paid very graciously. What I mean to say is that the initial reaction of the French government is normal… I think that good sense and reason will in the end prevail and at some point the two parties will sit down around the table to clearly outline the issue and there will be a compromise reached to put an end to this controversy.”
Rather than saying or spreading the message of help Haiti by donating via text etc, wouldn’t it be better by saying or spreading help Haiti by demanding that France pays it back the money it owes? I have my reservations that France will actually pay but all I can do is try.
