In 1804, Haiti shocked the world by becoming the first Black republic after enslaved Africans overthrew their French colonial oppressors. Yet this revolutionary victory was met not with solidarity but with economic warfare. In 1825, under threat of reinvasion, Haiti was forced to pay 150 million francs (later reduced to 90 million francs) as “compensation” to former slaveholders, effectively charging Haitians for their freedom.

　　French President Emmanuel Macron recently admitted that the debt is unjust, but he dismissed the notion of reparations during the UN talks about Haiti’s crisis. This debt, amounting to $21 billion today, was structured to hinder Haiti’s development and maintain its oppression for generations. It was not merely a financial arrangement; instead, it functioned as an instrument of neocolonial control, first enforced through gunboat diplomacy and later backed by U.S. imperialism. The fight for reparations is not just about money; it is about dismantling the imperialist system that continues to exploit Haiti.

　　France’s financial counter-revolution

　　The people of Haiti brought about the first successful slave revolt, and their revolution and was the early precursor to later anti-colonial revolts across the Global South. The newly created United States, built on the foundations of slavery, feared that the Haitian Revolution might spread to its soil. In 1792, U.S. President George Washington instructed his Secretary of State, Thomas Jefferson, to send three-quarters of a million dollars in aid to help the Haitian plantation owners suppress the revolts.

　　Because Haiti’s freedom challenged U.S. slavery, in 1806 Jefferson banned trade with certain parts of the island. In 1824, South Carolina Senator Robert Hayne said: “Our policy concerning Hayti is plain. We never can acknowledge her independence. The peace and safety of a large part of our Union forbids us even to discuss it.” Under President Jefferson, the United States pursued a policy to isolate Haiti, fearing that the Haitian revolution would spread.

　　France, humiliated by its defeat, refused to acknowledge Haiti’s independence unless it compensated for its freedom. In 1825, France dispatched warships to Port-au-Prince, threatening another invasion if Haiti did not pay 150 million francs. Still recovering from war, Haiti had no alternative but to comply. This debt was not intended for infrastructure or loans; it was sheer extortion, meant to reimburse slaveholders for their “lost property.” To settle this debt, Haiti resorted to predatory loans from French banks, commencing 122 years of financial enslavement. Although France recognized Haitian independence in 1825, Haitians would have to wait until 1862 for the United States to recognize its status as a sovereign nation.

　　By the 1840s, 80% of Haiti’s national budget was directed towards servicing this unjust debt. France intentionally increased the amount owed, compelling Haiti to borrow at exorbitant interest rates from banks such as the Rothschilds. From 1825 until 1947, when Haiti finally cleared the debt, an estimated $21 billion was paid, leaving the country in turmoil. Estimates suggest that Haitians paid more than twice the initially demanded value.This systematic looting prevented Haiti from investing in schools, hospitals or infrastructure, locking it into permanent underdevelopment.

　　The struggle for reparations 

　　In 2003, Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide launched a historic campaign demanding $21 billion in reparations from France, the modern equivalent of the 19th-century independence debt extorted from Haiti. This bold move was not merely a financial claim but a revolutionary act of decolonization, challenging the imperialist theft that had crippled Haiti for over a century. However, France, with U.S. backing, responded with regime change rather than acknowledge its debt, orchestrating a coup in 2004 to remove Aristide. The coup regime, installed by Western powers, immediately dropped the reparations claim and instead enforced neoliberal policies that further impoverished Haiti.

　　The unfinished revolution

　　The revolution in Haiti is ongoing; it has been undermined by imperialism. The crisis facing Haiti is not France’s sole responsibility. The United States and other nations have upheld a neocolonial system that has burdened the country with debt and ongoing interventions. This situation stems from the imperialists’ persistent refusal to let Haiti breathe. They could never forgive that Haitians were the first in the world to achieve a successful revolution against imperialism.The battle for Haiti’s reparations is not confined to history books or diaturplomatic chambers, but lives in today’s streets, where Haitian workers and peasants resist foreign-backed repression, and in the global movements that challenge U.S. imperialist domination.

　　Editor: Zhong Yao  Wei Xiaoxue

　　From:https://liberationnews.org/haitis-stolen-revolution-and-the-imperialist-debt-trap-the-punishment-for-independence（2025-5-7）