15284: Simidor: Lavalas' Reparations debacle (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Daniel Simidor <karioka9@mail.arczip.com>


Our valiant Titid told the French this week that they should pay
what they owe us: $21.7 billions in reparations for the 90 million
gold francs, plus interest, paid as "dédommagement" to France for
Haiti's independence.  The French's response was a quick and
double slap in the face: we gave already, came the word from the
Quai d'Orsay, and besides, given Lavalas' ineptitude and
mismanagement, you wouldn't know what to do with that money.

The nerve of those French!  That money is ours, why should they
concern themselves with how we spend it?  And why do we put up
with their arrogance, especially at a time when Haiti is so
hungry?  Now is the time for Titid to put together a "Coalition of
the Willing" of his own, or at the very least to deploy a column
or two of Chimères, rigwaz in hand, to teach those French some
manners.

I take pleasure in posting here, for the first time I think, a few
excerpts from a talk I gave last year at a conference on
reparations.  I actually predicted that Titid would get nowhere
tackling the French without first building public opinion in
Haiti's favor.  My question after reading the news this week is
whether Titid is too clumsy or too greedy? Also, do the French
have a moral or legal obligation to pay up, and how much?

HAITI AND THE STRUGGLE FOR REPARATIONS (excerpts)

After Haiti gained its independence in 1804, the white world
imposed an international embargo that was meant to cripple the new
nation.  For a few short years, Haiti was able to exploit the
rivalries between France, England and the United States, in order
to trade its products on the international market.  But after the
Europeans made their peace in 1815, the embargo was near
universal.  The white world would not purchase any sugar or
product manufactured in Haiti.  The new nation was effectively
isolated.

France had never resigned itself to the loss of its former colony.
 In 1825, The French king decreed that the Haitian government was
obliged to pay an indemnity of 150 million francs, to make up for
the losses suffered when the French settlers were forced to
abandon their property on the island.  The property in question
included the former slaves …  The French king to get his point
across sent a naval fleet and the arrogant Baron Mackau to deliver
his ultimatum.  Haiti's president, Jean-Pierre Boyer, disgraced
himself and signed on the dot.

A first installment of 30 millions Francs had to be paid, and the
Haitian state had to borrow the money from France, at exorbitant
rates. This is known in Haiti as "the double debt," which further
crippled the new country's economy.  As a result of that debt,
Haiti was not able to accumulate the initial social capital needed
to jumpstart its economy. It took Haiti more than six decades to
pay that extravagant debt, which was reduced eventually from 150
to 90 million francs. Haitian economists have estimated that
adding the principal to the interest accumulated over the years
would yield several billion dollars in today's economy.

The French government a few years ago recognized slavery as a
crime against humanity.  They even issued an apology to their
former victims.  But for Haiti, an apology from France, even one
spoken from the heart, doesn't add to much.  I imagine the same is
also true for the African continent.  The Haiti of today is so
impoverished that the state cannot put together a budget without
handouts from the United States and the so-called international
community. Now is the time for France to repay a debt that should
have never been paid in the first place.  Haiti desperately needs
that money to rebuild itself.

The French, the British and the US have vehemently said no to the
idea of reparations. But the injured parties, understandably,
insist on reparations as a moral obligation on the part of their
despoilers. Reparation and restitution of all the wealth stolen
from our countries and diverse communities. Still, before the West
concedes any such obligation to us, first comes the hard task of
educating and mobilizing our own people.  To give one example,
Haitians are eager to celebrate the bicentennial of their
independence next year, but there is no such eagerness to reclaim
the wealth stolen from our country.  The Haitian government is
desperate for funds, but does it have the will and the diplomatic
know-how to confront the French on that issue?

Our work begins at the grassroots; it is a work of education and
political agitation. But as we mobilize for reparations, we must
work even harder to transform the political culture in the
societies we live in, so that when some reparation money is
finally paid, it is not stolen by the "Big Eaters" and the corrupt
elements who have preyed on our people for too long.

Daniel Simidor