When Christopher Columbus
landed on the island of Hispaniola
in 1492 there was an indigenous
population of Arawaks who called
their land ʻAyitiʼ meaning mountainous
land.

The estimated population was
over six million. Within 250 years
the Arawaks had been wiped out
by the European settlers, leaving
nothing but a name.

By the late 1700s Haiti was
the largest sugar producer in the
world: 75% of the worldʼs crop
was harvested in San Domingo,
as the French had named the third
of the island of Hispaniola they
occupied. The Spanish had the remaining
two-thirds of the island,
the territory that is The Dominican
Republic today.

At the height of its sugar production,
Haiti was the jewel in
Franceʼs colonial empire. It was
home to 800 sugar cane plantations
and 3,000 coffee estates.

But the wealth was built on slave
labour; up to 50,000 African slaves
were brought in each year to keep
production and profits up and to replace
those who had died from the
brutally hard work and conditions.
Between 1783 and 1791 it accounted
for one third of the vast
Atlantic slave trade. Its export earnings
were greater than the then-13
American colonies combined.

In 1791, inspired by the principles
of the French Revolution,
(Liberty, Equality and Fraternity),
the slaves rebelled, led by Toussaint
LʼOuverture, a self-educated
slave. For 13 years the French tried
to retake their ʻpossessionsʼ; land,
equipment and slaves. The US Federalist
Government, led by George
Washington, came to the aid of the
French slavers and advanced them
$726,000 and sold them arms and
ammunition.

In 1793, Britain under Prime
Minister William Pitt the younger
sent a force of 100,000 soldiers to
try and retake the colony. This opportunist
attack was launched from
the British territory of Jamaica.
This force, too, was beaten back
by the rebels. The costs of freedom
were high for Haitians. It is estimated
that a third of the population
lost their lives in the struggle.

Defeating all comers, a victorious
Haiti declared independence
in 1804. The French were enraged
and blockaded the country from
its birth. In 1825, it demanded 150
million gold francs in retribution,
crippling the fledging democracy
with an extortionate debt. France
continued to collect on this debt
until 1947– 122 years and two
World Wars later.

To service this debt Haiti borrowed
from German, US and
French banks at outrageous rates.
To get an idea of how badly the
Haitians were penalised by the
French, France sold the Louisiana
Territory to the US for 60 million
francs, even though the area
involved was 74 times the size of
Haiti. By the early 1900s Haiti was
spending 80% of its national budget
on repayments.

Finally, in 1947 Haiti paid off
the debt, but economically it was
a basket case and politically unstable.
It seems Haiti was never going
to be forgiven for rebelling against
the powers that be.

By 1980 Haiti was self sufficient
in production of its staple foodstuff,
rice. But in 1995, the World
Bank forced Haiti to reduce its tariffs
on imports.

The tariffs on imported rice fell
to 3% and the country was promptly
swamped with US rice, which is
grown with big government subsidies.
Tens of thousands of farmers
were forced off the land and into
the slums of the cities, mostly Port
Au Prince.

Let us compare a nearby island
that has suffered a 50-year blockade
by the US but was not forced
to take its free-market medicine.
Adult illiteracy in Cuba runs at 3%
of population; in Haiti it is 50%.
Infant mortality in Cuba runs at 5.8
people per 1,000, while in Haiti it
is a staggering 80 per 1,000.

Seven years ago, during Haitiʼs
bicentenary, the then-democratically
elected president Jean Bertrand
Artistide requested that France repay
the €21.7 billion reparation for
the debt. France, which recognises
slavery as a crime against humanity,
refused.

In the wake of the recent earthquake,
Nicolas Sarkozy became
the first French head of state to
visit Haiti since independence.

Sarkozy admitted what he called
“the wounds of colonisation” and
cancelled all of Haitiʼs €56m debt
and promised €230m further in
aid. A move in the right direction,
but France still has a long way to
go to repair this injustice.
Left: The ruined cathedral at
Port au Prince after the recent
earthquake.

Above: Toussaint LʼOuverture,
the rebel leader and former slave.