Cap-Haitien
Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide demanded this week that France return $21.7 billion, the equivalent of the sum that his country paid nearly two centuries ago for formal recognition of its independence. Haiti won its freedom in 1804 after a slave revolt, but France threatened to reclaim its former colony by force. Haiti paid the massive indemnity to end the dispute. “The main reason we’re so poor today is that we had to pay France that money,” said Leslie Voltaire, a member of Aristide’s cabinet. The government has launched TV and radio ads touting the public works it could do with the money. Laennec Hurbon, a Haitian sociologist, said that Aristide was making France “a scapegoat for his own ineptitude and corruption.”
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Leonard and Hungry Paul: ‘beautiful, heartfelt’ televisionThe Week Recommends Julia Roberts narrates this ‘charming’ and ‘unexpectedly profound’ adaptation of Rónán Hession’s novel
-
Inside The Peninsula, London’s first billion-pound hotelThe Week Recommends As the capital’s super-luxury hotel scene continues to expand, the respected brand is still setting the standard
-
AI is making houses more expensiveUnder the radar Homebuying is also made trickier by AI-generated internet listings
