This Thursday marks the bicentenary of France’s recognition of Haiti’s independence, an anniversary that reopens the debate on the “double debt”.
In 1825, King Charles X forced Haiti to pay 150 million gold francs in exchange for recognition of its independence, proclaimed in 1804 after a victory over Napoleonic troops.
Without sufficient resources, Haiti went into debt with French banks, incurring exorbitant interest charges.
This compensation, described by historians as a “ransom”, plunged the country into a spiral of poverty and underdevelopment.
The last repayments were made in 1952.
For Emmanuel Macron, who has announced a memorial project, it’s a question of “looking the colonial past in the face”.
But in Haiti, this debt remains synonymous with injustice, having contributed to the country’s current instability. A painful legacy that continues to weigh heavily on Franco-Haitian relations.
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