Hti: Latortue sells out to France

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (Reuters) - Haiti's new U.S.-backed leader said on Sunday he had dropped a "ridiculous" demand by ex-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide for France to return $22 billion he said the Caribbean nation was forced to pay its colonial masters after gaining independence in 1804.

Aristide, driven into exile on Feb. 29 in the face of a month-long revolt and U.S. and French pressure, had launched a vigorous campaign to get back 90 million gold francs Haiti paid Paris in reparations after its slaves drove out the French.

At today's values -- and totting up interest to the last cent -- Aristide claimed the money was now worth nearly $22 billion, and would go a long way to helping the poorest country in the Americas get back on its feet.

"This claim was illegal, ridiculous and was made only for political reasons," Prime Minister Gerard Latortue told Reuters, saying Haiti had no interest in maintaining an atmosphere of confrontation with France.

"This matter is closed. What we need now is increased cooperation with France that could help us build roads, hospitals, schools and other infrastructure," he said.
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Some historians say the burden of compensation for plantations and even slaves paid by Haiti to Paris between 1826 and 1893 ensured that what had been France's richest colonial treasure would become one of the world's poorest countries.

Many Aristide supporters believe France supported what they saw as a U.S.-backed "coup" against Aristide because of irritation over the reparations claim.  

Encouraged by former settlers, who spent years pushing for a new invasion after rebellious slaves defeated Napoleon's troops on the battlefield, France imposed the indemnity on the government of Jean-Pierre Boyer in 1825.

Some historians say France made it clear that was what the former colony had to pay to avoid a new invasion. France only agreed to recognize Haiti's independence after it agreed to pay the money.

On this point, I agree entirely with Aristide. He was quite right to press for French repayment of money extorted from Haitians after the revolt against French oppression. The shame of this is that the U.S. supported this vile French demand by blockading Haiti until the 1930s. Haiti was impoverished by the revenge of the French slave-masters. The least Latortue should have done was to support the claim for the $22B. Instead, he says he wants France's help with rebuilding Haiti's infrastructure. Well, duh! $22B goes a long way towards doing just that without having strings attached in the form of loans.