So, my friends, in ze year 2002, ze former presi-dent of Haiti, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, he say to France: “You owe Haiti 21 billion US dollars!” Mon dieu! Why? Because in ze year of 1825, France forced poor little Haiti to pay a HUGE indemnity to recognize its independence, like “Oh, you want to be free? Well, pay!”
In 2025, April 17th, we celebrated ze 200th anniversary of zis “indemnity” agreement. And in January of zis very year, ze former presi-dent of Haiti, Leslie Voltaire, he said to France: “Time to pay! Reparations for this robbery!” Even Naomi Osaka, ze famous tennis player with Haitian roots, she say in a tweet, “When France will pay Haiti back, huh?”
Ah, but let me tell you it is a very complicated story. It starts with ze Haitian Revolution—yes, it is big, very big! France, she bring slavery to Saint-Domingue, which is now Haiti, in ze 17th century. But ze enslaved people, they say “Non!” and they rise up, they fight, they win! Vive la liberté!
But wait! Instead of France saying “Oh, bravo! You can be free!”, France says “Ah, no, no, no. You pay us for your freedom!” Can you believe it? They want money for losing the slaves! Zut alors!
In 1825, after many failed negotiations, France comes back and say: “You want independence? You pay us 150 million francs oui?!” It’s like they said, “You are free, but pay up or we’ll bring ze cannons!” So, Haiti, they borrow money from ze French banks, ooh la la, just to make ze first two payments. But, of course, they cannot pay! And so, Haiti goes deeper into debt, like non-stop spiral! Very sad.
Zis “independence debt” hurts Haiti’s economy for decades, and they cannot develop schools, hospitals, or infrastructure. In fact, Haiti ends up paying more than 112 million francs over ze next 70 years—about $560 million… which, today, could be anywhere from $22 billion to $44 billion! Mon dieu, what a scandal!
And so, French presidents, from Jacques Chirac to Nicolas Sarkozy to François Hollande, they don’t want to talk about it much. But Hollande, in 2015, says, “Oui, we must settle ze debt,” but then he tries to backpedal and says it is just a “moral debt”—not material. C’est incroyable!
Ze legacy of slavery is still clear today. In France, about 14% of people live below ze poverty line, but in Haiti? 59%, mon ami! It’s a disaster! The gap is huge!
Recently, President Macron of France, he say in 2025, “We must examine our common past”, but still, no word on reparations, you know? Just more talking. Très frustrant!
So, many Haitians, they are still waiting for real compensation—not just words, but real money! C’est tout! Vive Haiti!
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