Jalil Dabdoub | France needs to right the wrongs in Haiti

The Gleaner reported that “France’s president says that making Haiti pay for its independence was unjust” addressed the position of French President Emanuel Macron on the injustice imposed by France on Haiti over centuries.

Macron stated that a historic injustice was imposed on Haiti when it was forced to pay a colossal indemnity to France in exchange for its independence 200 years ago. This is only partially correct. What Mr Macron (perhaps wittingly) failed to state was that Haitians were forced to pay to free themselves from the bondage of slavery. Just born and still in its infancy, Haiti was purposely financially crippled by France for daring to break free from slavery and aspiring for the French ideals of liberté, égalité, fraternité.

Haiti, France’s former colony, fought primarily for freedom from bondage and not just independence as a nation. The revolts and war in Haiti spurned other revolts throughout the Caribbean, leading to the eventual abolition of slavery. Haiti became the Caribbean’s first sovereign state, the second republic in the Americas, the first country in the Americas to officially abolish slavery, and the only country in history established by a slave revolt and became the world’s first free black republic.

These achievements by the former slaves of Haiti should have been rewarded. Instead, Haiti was shackled by use of the financial system and made to pay France the outrageous sum of 150 million gold francs (today’s equivalent of $560 million according to a New York Times report). A debt Haiti continued to pay until 1947.

TOOK LOANS

To pay that debt, France made sure that Haiti took out loans from failing French banks. This resulted in Haiti’s “double debt”, firstly a ransom inflicted for freedom then loans to pay that ransom! A New York Times report found that:

“Haitians paid about $560 million in today’s dollars. But that doesn’t nearly capture the true loss. If that money had simply stayed in the Haitian economy and grown at the nation’s actual pace over the last two centuries — rather than being shipped off to France, without any goods or services being provided in return — it would have added a staggering $21 billion to Haiti over time.”

Imagine the gross injustice of having to suffer under slavery, resisting slavery and fighting for your inalienable rights of freedom and self-determination only to be punished for succeeding in that struggle!

Your news report also stated that Macron announced the creation of a “Franco-Haitian joint commission, tasked with examining our shared past”, studying the “impact of the 1825 indemnity on Haiti”, and proposing “recommendations” to the governments of both countries to “build a more peaceful future”. If Macron is sincere, then the terms of reference of this commission must commence with the quantum of reparations due to Haiti and the commencement date for the payment of the same.

Instead of acting in a contrite manner, over the years, France continued an imperialistic approach to Haiti, including political interference and the imposition of financial burdens either directly or through the international financial system.

While former colonies must accept responsibility for their own current predicaments, there is no doubt that the shackle of colonialism continues to hinder development of former colonies both economically and socially.

STARTLING EXAMPLE

Haiti, however, remains an extreme and startling example of the brutality colonisers inflicted on people by way of financial shackles. Today, the entire system in which the international arena operates was created by colonisers for the benefit of colonisers. The international system of finance and governance was never created to serve all nations. Its creation was solely to serve the former colonisers and aid them in exerting power and control over the formerly colonised countries. It was conceptualised as a tool of continued extraction while allowing the newly independent colonies to believe that they were now independent.

International organisations such as the UN, the IMF, and the World Bank were all created at a time when most countries existed as mere colonies. For example, the UN started with approximately 50 countries because the rest of the world was then colonised. The structure of the UN is undemocratic and serves the narrow interests of the powerful countries. This is clearly seen in the veto power exercised by the UN Security Council members. The veto power is a constant source of abuse used by the Security Council members to protect their interests and the interests of their allies. Any doubt about the UN’s inability to act in the interest of any country or people other than the Western powers is on full display with the carnage in Gaza inflicted by Israel, an entity created through colonialism of indigenous Palestinian land.

These international organisations in many ways serve as shackles on former colonies. Shackles which the governments of many former colonies are not fully appreciative of. Most leaders of former colonies, including our own Caribbean leaders, tend to be a spineless, supine bunch, one blending into the other. Unaware of these shackles, unwilling to bring change, not only to their own countries, but to an exploitaive international system. A system which restricts development of these countries by extracting from them every iota of the resources they possess, including human capital.

Former and current colonial powers can never erase their past or their flagrant abuses of human rights. But they can go a long way in salvaging whatever self-respect they may have left by not merely speaking beautiful words but by acting on those words. This would include the paying of reparations and the ceasing of support for current colonisers such as Israel. In doing so, they may redeem themselves of their horrid past, a past which, in all likelihood, will forever remain a stain on their national identities.

Jalil S. Dabdoub is an attorney-at-law. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.