By Michael A. Dingwall
It has now been reported that the government of France has cancelled the debts owed to it by Haiti. Now while those who have been pushing for reparations from Europe for the so-called crimes of slavery are celebrating, the French cancellation should in no way be seen as a victory for reparations.
Third world countries like ours have been receiving debt relief for some time now. For example, Jamaica got four billion dollars worth of debt forgiveness from Britain between 1997 and 2004. Haiti itself got some from the Paris club some years ago. I can assure you that when these European powers were giving us these reliefs, reparations were the furthest thing from their minds.
However, I am still not sure how those who are demanding that France pay Haiti billions can still be so convinced that theirs is a just or even logical call.
Remember, when Haiti was “forced” to pay France compensation for Haiti’s war of independence over two centuries ago, it was Haiti that defeated France in that war – and not the other way around. I still don’t understand how the “victorious” Haitians could have been forced by the “vanquished” French to do anything.
Look at the choice that the “victorious” Haitians got after their “victory”. The Haitians could either pay France for recognition of the new Haitian state and be treated as a second-class nation deserving of little international respect and even less business dealings or they could have been proud in their military victory over the French, ignore the French demand and suffer with little international dealings. Sadly, the Haitians chose the former.
How then can the French be obliged to pay the Haitians reparations for an agreement that the Haitians stupidly went into – all by themselves? The Haitian leaders at that time must have realized that recognition of their new nation would most likely not result on equal treatment. Yet they went ahead and paid the nothing that they had. In many ways, the Haitians are the authors of their own suffering today.
Thus, in addition to the stupidity of Haiti’s first leaders, slavery was an accepted institution at the time – morally, legally and socially. As such, those who continue to waste their energies in demanding that France pay Haiti something that she doesn’t owe the country are perfect time-wasters.
Its no wonder the French President, when pressed on the issue of reparations for Haiti said no.

See related story:
Hollande’s vow to settle ‘debt’ to Haiti sparks confusion
by Stéphanie Trouillard From FRANCE 24
French President François Hollande had some explaining to do after vowing Sunday to “settle the debt” France owes to Haiti, with aides rushing to clarify that the debt referred to was a moral one and did not involve any financial compensation.
Speaking at the inauguration of the ACTe slavery memorial in Guadeloupe on May 10 – France’s national day to commemorate the abolition of the slave trade – Hollande surprised his audience by seemingly making a promise for his upcoming visit to Haiti.
“When I come to Haiti, I will, for my part, settle the debt that we have.”
Within seconds, the announcement was repeated hundreds of times on social media. “Haiti’s debt is to be paid? Am I dreaming?” asked one enthusiastic tweet.
Hollande’s words reawakened a claim made by many Haitians: that their country is owed back the money it was required to pay to France after becoming independent in 1804.
To offset the income that would be lost by French settlers and slave owners, France demanded that the newly independent state pay compensation amounting to 150 million gold francs. After a new deal was struck in 1838, Haiti agreed to pay France 90 million gold francs (the equivalent of €17 billion today). It was not until 1952 that Haiti made the final payment on what became known as its “independence debt”.
‘An unbearable insult’
But hopes of an imminent repayment were soon swept away. Aides to the French president quickly clarified that he was speaking only of the “moral debt” France owes the nation and not of any financial compensation. The misunderstanding was seen as a blunder by some and taken as an affront by others.
“Haitians, they’re laughing at you. This about-face, which is an insult to you, which is an insult to all of us, is unbearable. Because everyone heard correctly what Mr. Hollande said,” Louis-Georges Tin, president of the Representative Council of Black Associations in France (CRAN), said in a statement. CRAN has called for Haitian restitution for many years.
“Do not let France steal from you a second time; it is up to you to say this loudly and clearly,” he added.
Haiti’s main newspaper, “Le Nouvelliste”, also expressed its disappointment.
“The moral debt that is owed is for having enslaved the blacks who were uprooted from Africa to transform every drop of their sweat and blood, and each parcel of land on Saint Dominique (colonised Haiti), into wealth for the city,” wrote Editor Frantz Duval in an editorial published on Monday. “For this moral debt, Haiti does not seek compensation. We agree that it is irreparable. We leave it to be a stain on the civilised world.”
Duval went on to blame the compensation Haiti paid to France throughout the 19th century for “strangling development” and hindering the “evolution of our country”.
In addition to France’s historical obligations, there is also the question of a “debt for the future”, Duval wrote.
He went on to note that, following the terrible earthquake that struck Haiti in 2010, then president Nicolas Sarkozy committed almost €300 million in aid on a visit to the devastated country. But the funds never arrived in the chaotic aftermath of the quake; according to AFP, France has so far mobilised just $25 million (€22 million) for help with Haiti’s reconstruction.
France also agreed at the time to cancel Haiti’s €56 million in debt, but rejected demands in an open letter from activists, authors and several MPs to pay €17 billion in reparations.
Hollande’s visit on Tuesday will be particularly scrutinised by the Haitians.
Even if no financial debt is paid, “President Hollande can make his speech in Port-au-Prince a starting point for strengthening cooperation between Haiti and France in the most strategic areas,” said four Haitian writers in an article published last week in France’s daily “Libération”.
The writers said this could include agreements in the fields of education, the environment, scientific cooperation, agribusiness, reconstruction and tourism.
“Hopefully this short trip, after two centuries of fraught relations between the two countries, marks a turning point that goes beyond the symbolic.”
IMAGE: © Alain Jocard, AFP
For more on this story and video go to: http://www.france24.com/en/20150512-hollande-vow-haiti-debt-france-settle-slavery-confusion