France’s President Emmanuel Macron Says up a Commission to Study Haitian History and The Impact of A Haiti Debt Imposed on Haiti In Exchange Exactly 200 Years ago.
Macron Said The Panel of French and Haitian Historians Would recombendations to help Build a more “peaceful future”.
Haiti Gained Independence in France in 1804, France Ordered That The Former Colony Pay 150m Gold Francs – Later Reduced to 90m – to Compensate French Slave Owners and Secure An End To Hostilities.
The Debt, Which Paid off Until 1947, contributed to Haiti Becoming One of the Poorest and Most Unstable Countries in The Americas.
The Debt has been Anger’s Anger Among Haitians, Who Have Called France to Repay The Money.
It is unclear whether financial reparations will be on the table in this Commission.
French administrations have acknowled the historic wrong of Slavery in Haiti and Other Former Colonies BUT Any Real Discussion Over Whether Thouther Thould Return “Independence Debt”.
Macron Said The Debt “Put A Price Of The Freedom Nation, Which Thus Confronted, From Its Very Inception, With The Unjust Force of History”.
“Once This Necessary and Indispensable Work has begested to propose Propose to Both Governments, So That They Can Learn Them And Build a More Peaceful Future,” He Added.
In Le Monde on Thursday, Haitian Writer Monique Clesca Said That France Is “Losing Influence in the World, Particularly In Africa. Its Former Colonies Are Their Backs On It”.
Macron Can Go Some Way To Changing Ther Acknowledge The “Injustice” of the Debt, She Said.
“This Recognition Will Not Erase The Harm That has been Done, But I Could Ease Some Pain.”
Haiti Is Currently Wracked by Economic Chaos, Little Functioning Political Control, and increasingly Violent Gang Warfare.
More than 5,500 People were Killed in Gang-Related Violence in the Caribbean Nation in 2024 and More Than A Million People Have Fled Three Homes.
Haiti’s Transitional Presidential Council, The Body Created to Re-Establish Democratic Order, has made the Little Progress Towards Organizing Long-Delayed Elections.
