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29101: Rob (reply) RE: 29093: Stephen (reply) RE: 29077: kathleen (reply) 29070 (fwd)




From: Rob 6969 <liberalproject@hotmail.com>


Well said. It is a unique case in the History of reparation claims. And wile certain on this list think that Aristide did make that official claim to France for demagogic reasons, others may see this act as historically very couragous. I do disagree with the claim that Haiti had no choice in 1825. Boyer could have said no to France and threatens to use his strong army (already victorious two times before against the French and the English army). He did not even try to intimidate the French. This would not have happend with Christophe or Dessalines.
Having said that, there was no reason for Haiti to pay this money.
Preval needs to bring Haiti back on tracks and maybe in two years from now should face the French government again. The issue is unlikely to fade away. Aristide got a lot of support for this demand inside and outside of Haiti. Because his governemnt was to weak, he was unlikely to receive a penny from the French. A successor could however ask more diplomatically that some gesture be made by the French to compensate for what Haiti has endured economically. We live in an age when reparations of all kinds are being asked for (the jews from german and swiss banks, the american natives for agreements not respected and more). The Haitian demand is a documented amount of money paid to a colonial power to compensate for loss of property. This ranson plunged Haiti into decades of misery. If fench are reluctant to pay cash then they should come with other types of aid. One avenue to help Haiti could be through development of the country's crippled infrastructure. We need not on eroute de l'Amitie but 10. There are many other venues than the "Salon de la Francophonie or the "Alliance Franciaise" in Jacmel. For that Preval will need the support of the "francofous/intellos" who have been very scared if not terrorized to bring that issue on the table. The French have a moral duty to help Haiti today.














From: Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>
To: "Bob Corbett's Haiti list" <haiti@lists.webster.edu>
Subject: 29093:  Stephen (reply) RE: 29077: kathleen (reply) 29070 (fwd)
Date: Tue, 5 Sep 2006 12:31:43 -0500 (CDT)




Stephen Jacob
jacob_86@hotmail.com

To compare Haiti's demand for repayment to Native Americans in the United States is inaccurate. There were many independent Indian nations that negotiated treaties with the US government, not one soveign country. More importantly, the flow of funds usually went from the US government buying land from Native Americans. Finally, there was never a check written to the US government that created one debt of the magnitude of Haiti's. None of these facts bear any semblance to what happened in Saint Domingue/Haiti.

First, in 1825 the French Government demanded that Haiti pay it 150 million francs in compensation for the assets lost by landowners in their former colony (some argue this number was reduced to 90 million). In exchange, France would also recognize Haiti as a trading partner. At this time, Haiti was essentially isolated and trade was necessary for the country to survive. (To put this number in context, the US paid 60 million francs in 1803 for the Louisana Purchase).

Second, the money Haiti paid to France was several times its annual revenues at the time. Some estimates put the figure at 4 or 5 times Haiti's GDP, while others are as high as 10 times. It doesn't matter how fast your economy is growing, making a one-time payment of that size is going to stunt the growth of domestic industries unless there is a corresponding foreign investment.

Third, Haiti resisted making this payment to France. It's not as if the government wrote a check for 150 MM francs and then said "whoops, let's get that back". Haiti negotiated for 20 years before finally agreeing to pay France. Even then, it took until 1947 for payments to be completed. Who on this listserve was born before 1947? I'm sure there are quite a few of you. We are not talking about some distant ancient history...this practically happened yesterday.

What the debate around Haitian debt forgiveness illustrates is the truth behind the famous quote "Justice delayed is justice denied." The further away it moves back in time, the less real it seems. Whether in practice having a sudden cash infusion to Haiti from France would be a "good" thing is irrelevant. The point is whether it is the "fair" and "just" thing to be done. Given the amount of rampant corruption, one can argue that $21 billiion (150 MM francs in today's dollars) suddenly sent to Haiti could cause more problems than it solves. However, we have to first agree, that in principle, the Republic of Haiti is owed this money and if not, at least all of its debts be immediately and unconditionally forgiven.




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