Haiti: France's Shame

I just learned this bit of history over at First Things in an article called Haiti's Devils by David B. Hart. It is a remarkable thing to know:

It is, of course, an extraordinarily difficult thing for any small nation—or for most large nations, for that matter—to rise out of an indurated culture of poverty. Haiti, I think, was never given a fighting chance. As soon as the small republic had won its independence, in 1804, France began to blockade its ports and embargo its goods, and continued doing so for more than twenty years. It relented at last only in 1825, when Haiti had no choice but to consent to indemnify the French government for France’s lost possessions—plantations, slaves, and so forth—on Hispaniola. The sum agreed upon was 150 gold francs, which in modern terms would be more than 21 billion dollars. This was so far in excess of Haiti’s actual wealth, however, that the small republic had to borrow the money; and the only creditor willing to advance the money was France itself, at an obscene rate of interest. The last payment on the debt was not made until 1947, by which time Haiti had been confirmed in its position in the world as a perpetual debtor state, never able to produce in any year more than a pitiable fraction of what it owes.

One hundred and forty three years of debt. The very idea. It's the most abhorrent thing I think I have ever heard about France and something I am unlikely to forget. It's almost enough to give Fanon a second reading. If France's Catholics bear any responsibility in silent complicity for this, which they must after all, is it any wonder Haitians would prefer to deal with the Devil?