Can Haiti be saved?
Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, a base for dozens of armed gangs who even forced their Prime Minister to resign. Haiti always seems to be in a state of chaos. It's been that way since it became independent back in 1804. But maybe that's not the country's fault completely. A group of NGOs has gathered in Geneva. They're trying to form an independent commission to help undo a historic justice. They want France to pay a ransom that it took from Haiti back in the 1800s, the price it extracted for Haiti's freedom. How much money does the coalition want France to pay? Anywhere between $150 to $200 billion. Here's our report. Have you heard of the term war reparations?
It's a specific type of payment given by a losing country to the winner of a war. This has always taken place in history. Germany paid this to the victorious Allies after World War II, and after World War I as well. France paid this to Britain after Napoleon was defeated. War reparations are a way for the losing side to pay for the lives lost. This is how it has always been, the business side of war. But what if the roles were reversed? If the winner of a war had to pay the loser, even if the war was justified? If it was the morally right thing to do? We don't have to imagine that scenario. It's what happened to Haiti. And the country has been suffering for 200 years because of this.
Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. It's a country in the Caribbean Sea. It occupies half of an island, Hispaniola. The other half is a different country, the Dominican Republic, where the people are, on average, 10 times richer than the Haitians. What led to this stark disparity? Simply put, France. Haiti was once a French colony, called Saint-Domingue. France filled it with sugar and coffee plantations, and slaves to work on them. By the year 1789, 90% of the people in Saint-Domingue were slaves, subjected to barbaric cruelty by the French colonizers. So, the slaves rose up to break their shackles. They finally won their freedom from the French in 1804, after fighting for over a decade. The people even defeated Napoleon's armada, making a place for themselves in history.
But the joy was short-lived. Napoleon was beaten in Europe as well. The French monarchy was restored, and they wanted their colony back. France sent another armada in 1825. 500 cannons were pointed at the now free nation of Haiti, and the French made them an offer at gunship point. Pay 150 million francs for your freedom, or we'll enslave and kill you again. Let's look at a contemporary comparison, the Louisiana Purchase. The US actually purchased much of the present-day South and Midwest from France back in the year 1804. More than 2 million square kilometers of land, about 77 times the size of Haiti. How much did the US pay France? 80 million francs or 15 million dollars. 21 years later, France forced Haiti to pay almost double this amount, 150 million francs.
Now, obviously, Haiti did not have that kind of money. So France made it borrow the money from French bankers. There were banker fees and interest, which meant Haiti was paying off the ransom for 122 years. The final payment was made in 1947. That is when Haiti was free of the French debt. So how much do you think the total debt was worth? And that is a question that will be debated by a United Nations group, the UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent. Twenty NGOs have come together. They're asking the forum for justice. They want France to return what it took from Haiti. When you add interest, it may be between 150 to 200 billion dollars. France will deny this, of course.
They have only ever acknowledged a moral debt that they owe Haiti, never actual compensation. Haiti is the poorest of its neighbors, brimming with gang violence and a history of impoverishment. The French robbery played a huge part in this mess, and this time, Paris should be the one paying.
