[News] Haiti: Restitution of 22 billion from France

Wed Jun 9 15:49:14 EDT 2004

From: Haitian Lawyer's Leadership Network
Action: Please circulate widely
Date: June 6, 2004
Subject: Campaign 7, Restitution of 22 billion from France
<http://www.margueritelaurent.com/campaigns/campaigns.html>http://www.margueritelaurent.com/campaigns/campaigns.html
********

FRANCE Must Return the Charles X Ransom to Haiti:
Open Letter to the People of France

(Please Answer Call to Action Petition at End of Letter)

June 6, 2004

Citizen of France, you are probably unaware that your government is
currently committing a number of crimes against Haitians (1), an impoverished
people whose history has some very unfortunate and unpleasant connections to
that of your own. We take this opportunity to alert you to this fact and to
call upon your sense of honor to disavow and help redress the wicked and
despicable actions that the government of Jacques Chirac and Jean-Pierre 
Raffarin
have thus far committed, in your name, against Haiti.

On April 7, 2003, A Constitutional Haitian Head of State issued a
public demand (2) that, as a matter of honor and justice, France finally
settles an outstanding debt towards Haiti by returning the outrageous 1825 
ransom.
The latter was collected at gunpoint from the Africans who had broken the 
chains
of racial slavery on the former French colony of Saint-Domingue and had
created the free Republic of Haiti. Indeed, in 1825, under the threat of
re-enslavement, and with 12 warships armed with 500 canons, France 
blackmailed Haiti into
agreeing to pay a bounty of 150 million Gold Francs for the lost of
men, women and children they had deemed to be "French property" (slaves). 
That ransom
(lowered to 90 million francs), estimated at over $22 billion (US) today,
extorted from Haiti by France and which tiny Haiti had to pay while France 
sold off
Louisiana to the U.S. for only 15 million francs (Louisiana then
virtually doubled Haiti's size), that vengeful weight put upon the 
shoulders of Africans
digging themselves out of 300-years of white imposed slavery, forced 
illiteracy
and other inhumane physical and psychological trauma, virtually began the
colonial model of debt dependency that was then used throughout the African
continent after their "independence". Therefore, to say that the Charles X 
Ransom
had a devastating and lasting impact on the impoverished people of Haiti
would be a gross understatement. Decades after decades, Haiti had no money for
social spending and development and had to close its rural schools, adopt the
Rural Code which further systematized the class divisions (between rural 
and city
folks) and bound the majority to work the land to pay off a hideous, racist
and unfair debt.

On February 29, 2004, the Constitutional Head of State who issued
Haiti's restitution demand, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, was forced out of office
amidst great controversy. Solid evidence (3) now points to French and American
complicity in the illegal and violent activities surrounding this blatant coup
d'etat. As a matter of fact, just hours following the abduction of its
constitutional Head of State, French and American troops were occupying 
Haiti and
helping local mercenaries quell public dissent against a U.S.& 
French-imposed puppet
regime.

To add insult to injury, on April 15, 2004, MichÃ le Alliot-Marie,
newly appointed French Minister of Defense lands in Port-au-Prince as the
first French dignitary of high rank to come to Haiti since the triumph of the
anti-slavery revolution in 1803. On the heel of that oddly-timed visit, Mrs.
Alliot-Marie obtains a public declaration by Haiti's now illegal regime that
restitution of the Charles X Ransom is no longer at issue. A month later, 
on Saturday
May 15, 2004, Michel Barnier, your current Minister of Foreign Affairs, would
also land in Port-au-Prince. Meanwhile, repeated attempts by the U.S to 
bully the
Caribbean Community, the African Union and the U.S. Congressional Black
Caucus to follow their lead and recognize the puppet regime they installed in
Haiti remain fruitless (4). Simply put, the racist stains of this illegal
regime change are simply too blatant to be overlooked.

This latest criminal Franco-American partnership painfully reminds
Africans worldwide that in 1805, one year following Haiti's declaration of
freedom and independence, French foreign minister Prince Charles Talleyrand 
wrote
to U.S. Secretary of State James Madison "The existence of a Negro people in
arms is a horrible spectacle for all white nations" ? Back then, the United
States answered this open call to white supremacist solidarity by banning
trade with Haiti in 1806 and renewing its embargo in 1807 and 1809. Since 
then, this
form of solidarity in wickedness would be renewed several times over as 
France,
the U.S., Germany and Spain would take turns ransoming Haiti at gunpoint
throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Now here we are in 2004, when the 
U.S. and
France have joined hands to abduct Haiti's democratically elected president
and established in its stead an illegal puppet regime to once again keep
the Haitian people in check (5), (6). A regime that is so willing to 
trample the
rights of Haiti's black majority in exchange for the continued approval of its
U.S.-Euro master puppeteers, that it has now vowed to erase France's huge and
infamous debt known as "the Charles X Ransom" .

As we submit this letter to your attention, we are mindful of a recent
declaration of elder Nelson Mandela who observed that "we now live in a
world where powerful countries - all of them so-called democracies - 
manipulate
multilateral bodies to the great disadvantage and suffering of the
poorer developing nations". Consequently, we do realize that this matter of 
restitution
to Haiti of the Charles X Ransom holds little chance of being satisfactorily
resolved at the United Nations any time soon. And so, we, world citizens of 
good
will, have taken the initiative to affirm and bring to your reflection the
following facts:

1) Restitution of the Charles X ransom is and will remain an issue that
shames the people of France until it is justly resolved to the economic
advantage of the People of Haiti.

2) The people of France must not be and shall no longer be kept in the
dark about this historical debt and its terrible lasting consequences on
generations upon generations of Haitians.

3) The current leaders of France are guilty of shameful and criminal
attempts to cover-up their legal and moral obligations with respect to the
Charles X Ransom. They do so, chiefly, by propping up, with U.S. 
complicity, an
illegal puppet regime in Haiti that has proven to be their willing partner in
crime.

All these illegal actions were taken in your name, people of France,
albeit without your direct approval.

So, having now been apprised of the facts, we invite you to join a
noble quest for long overdue justice by endorsing the following petition
which summons the legal representatives of the State of France to return to 
the State
of Haiti, the Charles X Ransom.

N.B.: The fact that the current holders of political power in Haiti are
illegal and un-elected does not constitute valid ground to delay this
restitution. The ransomed funds can be immediately deposited in a safe 
account to
collect interest until it can be accessed by its rightful owner, the People of
Haiti, through constitutional authorities that are duly appointed to manage
its affairs.

"In this generation, we will have to repent not only for the hateful
words and actions of the bad people, but also for the appalling silence of
the good people"

Mindful of these inspirational words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and,
in the name of justice and human decency, the Haitian Lawyers Leadership
invites you to please sign this important petition :

<http://www.ipetitions.com/campaigns/restitution4haiti/>http://www.ipetitions.com/campaigns/restitution4haiti/ 

(ENGLISH)

<http://www.ipetitions.com/campaigns/restitutionpourhaiti/>http://www.ipetitions.com/campaigns/restitutionpourhaiti/ 
(FRANÃ‡AIS)

<http://www.ipetitions.com/campaigns/Restitisyonpouayiti/>http://www.ipetitions.com/campaigns/Restitisyonpouayiti/ 
(KREYOL)

or at: 
<http://www.margueritelaurent.com/campaigns/campaignseven.html>http://www.margueritelaurent.com/campaigns/campaignseven.html 

Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network

June 6, 2004
For more information:
Contact Our Campaign 7 Leadership Network Coordinator
Mr. Jean Saint- Vil (Jafrikayiti)
E-mail: Jafrikayiti at hotmail.com
cc: Erzilidanto at aol.com

References:

1) While Trying to Send Aristide Back to Africa, U.S. and France Thwart
UN
Investigation of Haiti Coup

<http://www.haitiprogres.com/2004/sm040421/eng04-21.html>http://www.haitiprogres.com/2004/sm040421/eng04-21.html 

2) 1803 -2003 "Restitution â€“ Reparation" par Haiti ProgrÃ s

<http://www.haitiprogres.com/2003/sm030409/index.html>http://www.haitiprogres.com/2003/sm030409/index.html 

3) THE DESTABILIZATION OF HAITI BY MICHEL CHOSSUDOVSKY

<http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO402D.html>http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO402D.html 

4) Caribbean Community (CARICOM) resisting the bullies!

<http://www.haiti-progres.com/top05-26.html>http://www.haiti-progres.com/top05-26.html 

5) Washington and Paris overthrow Aristide

<http://www.voltairenetwork.net/article7.html>http://www.voltairenetwork.net/article7.html 

6) International Politics and Haiti in 2004

<http://www.disinfopedia.org/wiki.ph...d_Haiti_in_2004>http://www.disinfopedia.org/wiki.ph...d_Haiti_in_2004

*********
Forwarded by the Haitian Lawyers Leadership
******
"Men anpil chaj pa lou" ÂÂ is Kreyol for - "Many hands make light a
heavy load."

See, The Haitian Leadership Networks' ÂÂ 7 "men anpil chaj pa

lou" campaigns to help restore Haiti's independence, the will of the
mass
electorate and the rule of law. See,
<http://www.margueritelaurent.com/pressclips/haitianlawyers.html>http://www.margueritelaurent.com/pressclips/haitianlawyers.html 
;
http://www.margueritelaurent.com/campaigns/campaigns.html

and Haitiaction.net

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