Haitian essayist and speaker Monique Clesca urges President Emmanuel Macron to acknowledge the ‘injustice’ committed two centuries ago when the nation achieved independence and France imposed a heavy debt burden on the young republic.
In 1825, France demanded a hefty indemnity from its former colony to compensate former colonists in exchange for recognizing its independence. Haitian essayist and speaker Monique Clesca, a former United Nations official and a feminist activist, co-founded a collective of Haitian intellectuals advocating for the restitution of this imposed debt. She is one of the architects of the monitoring office of the “Montana Accord,” a document drafted by several civil society organizations in 2021 advocating a democratic solution to the political crisis engulfing the country.
What is your perspective on King Charles X’s ordinance and the French-Haitian treaty of 1825, stipulating that Haiti pay 150 million gold francs to the French state in exchange for it recognizing Haiti’s independence?
It makes me angry and gives me a sense of immense injustice. It is important to remember that, 21 years after defeating Napoleon’s troops, Haiti was completely isolated. England, which had colonies in the neighboring islands, and the United States, which had slave plantations, had ostracized us. We needed our independence to be recognized by the rest of the world, so we had to negotiate with France.
After several unsuccessful attempts, Paris sent a new envoy in 1825, Baron [Ange René Armand] de Mackau. He arrived with this ordinance from the king of France, but more importantly, with 14 warships in Port-au-Prince harbor. It was under the threat of the total destruction of our capital city that President Jean-Pierre Boyer (1818-1843) agreed to sign. The document was particularly humiliating: the text didn’t even mention Haiti but referred to the “French part of Saint-Domingue.” Our country was rendered invisible.
Emmanuel Macron, who received his Haitian counterpart, Leslie Voltaire, at the Elysée in January, is expected to announce “initiatives” on the occasion of the independence bicentennial. What do you expect from the French president?
France is losing influence in the world, particularly in Africa. Its former colonies are turning their backs on it. President Macron can, in a way, change the situation on the geopolitical front by acknowledging that Charles X’s ordinance was an injustice. France claims to be committed to human rights. This will be the moment to align actions with principles.