21876: (Hermantin)Sun-Sentinel-Haitian premier urges `fresh start' with France (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Haitian premier urges `fresh start' with France



By Alva James-Johnson
Staff Writer

May 14, 2004

Interim Haitian Prime Minister Gerard Latortue said during a visit to France
on Thursday that there's no legal basis for the former colonial power to pay
reparations to Haiti.

He said he wants Paris and Port-au-Prince establish "new bases" of
cooperation and invited French President Jacques Chirac to visit Haiti
during the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the Caribbean nation's
independence.

"We spoke of a fresh start for Haiti and France after relations were
negatively affected by the efforts of the [former President Jean-Bertrand]
Aristide regime to seek reparations from France," Latortue said after
meeting with Chirac in Paris.

The issue of reparations has long been contentious between Haiti and France,
which required the Caribbean country to pay 150 million francs for its
freedom after the Haitian Revolution.

The fledgling nation was forced to borrow from private French banks,
accumulating a debt that became a noose around its neck. Aristide asked
France for $21 billion in reparations.

Latortue, a Boca Raton retiree, was appointed interim prime minister by a
U.S.-backed council two months ago. He recently insisted that Paris, as a
former colonial power, had a "moral debt" to ensure the modernization of
Haiti.

Some Haitian-Americans said the prime minister was overstepping his
authority.

"This issue is not an issue for an interim government," said Eric Boucicaut,
of the ACTION Foundation, an organization that promotes Haitian culture. "So
I do hope the French government understands that these comments are his own,
not from the people of Haiti."

Jean-Robert LaFortune, of the Haitian American Grassroots Coalition in
Miami, said the issue of reparations should be debated by an elected
government, with legal advisers.

"I don't think he's the appropriate policymaker to make such a big
decision," he said.

But others described Latortue's comments as diplomatic.

"Aristide was taking too much of a hard line, asking for money that probably
wouldn't have gone to help the people," said Kathy Holley of Pembroke Pines.
"Latortue is saying, `Don't give us money, but support us in areas that will
help us in the long run.'"

Aristide claims he was virtually kidnapped by the U.S. government and has
described his removal as "a coup." South Africa said Thursday that it would
provide residence for Aristide while implicitly rebuking the United States
and France for having forced him to abandon his homeland.

In a communiqué, the South African government said it supported an
investigation into the circumstances surrounding Aristide's removal from
office.

Information from the EFE News was used to supplement this report.



Alva James-Johnson can be reached at ajjohnson@sun-sentinel.com or
954-356-4523.


Copyright © 2004, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

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