Former French colony demands reparations

Haitian interim leader Edgard Leblanc Fils has demanded that France pay “just and appropriate reparations” to compensate for the colonial-era debt forced on his nation. However, his call for “respect” went viral for other reasons, after he soaked himself with a jug of water during the speech.

Speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday, Leblanc, the head of the Haitian Transitional Presidential Council, described his country as “the great victim of a historical injustice that has delayed its development and burdened its people.” 

“This debt has been an unjust penalty that has stifled the potential of the Haitian people for generations,” Leblanc told the UN gathering. Haiti, he said, is “not looking for charity, but justice, respect for its dignity and its right to a dignified and prosperous existence.” 

As Leblanc said the word “dignity,” he raised a large pitcher of water and attempted to drink from it, spilling water all over his suit in the process. Video footage of the incident quickly went viral, with Leblanc apparently the only speaker at the assembly to drink straight from the jug instead of filling a glass first.

He swiftly recovered, however, and went on to demand money from France. Haiti, he said, seeks “the implementation of just and appropriate reparations, which will make it possible for our people to free themselves from the invisible chains of this unjust past.”

Leblanc was referring to a debt imposed on Haiti by France in 1825, two decades after a slave revolt ended Paris’ rule over the Caribbean nation. Under the arrangement, Haiti was ordered to pay France 150 million francs in five annual payments in exchange for diplomatic recognition and to compensate Paris for the loss of its most productive colony. 

Haiti had to borrow money from France and the US to pay even a single installation, effectively creating a double debt. When Haiti made its final payment in 1947, it was estimated that the impoverished nation had handed over a total of 12 million francs, or more than $560 million today.

Leblanc did not say how much money he is seeking, but activists have previously demanded up to $200 billion, using opaque methods to calculate interest on the $560 million paid by Haiti, plus potential economic growth stymied by a century of repayments. France has already ruled out any payment of reparations.

Haiti has lurched from crisis to crisis in the decades since its last debt payment. Father-and-son dictators Francois ‘Papa Doc’ Duvalier and Jean-Claude ‘Baby Doc’ Duvalier ruled the country from 1957 until 1986, during which time the national debt soared and the Haitian population remained the most impoverished in the Western hemisphere. More recently, Haiti was devastated by a 2010 earthquake that killed more than 220,000 people, and the country was plunged into anarchy after the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in 2021.

A confederation of criminal gangs served as Haiti’s de-facto rulers until the Transitional Presidential Council was established earlier this year to run the country until a president is elected.