203rd ANNIVERSARY OF HAITIAN INDEPENDENCE 1804-2007

The first independent Black republic, and the only nation ever to have formed from a successful slave revolt. Haiti became the second non-native country in the Americas (after the United States) when it declared its independence on January 1, 1804.

[ Source: Wikipedia article; The Haitian Revolution ]



Subsequent difficulties in Haiti are directly attributable in large measure to the interference of imperialist Napoleonic France & the proto-imperialist pre-Civil War U.S. in that nation; viewing the inspiring example of the Haitian Revolution, for slaves & working-class alike, as a threat to their own privileged classes & a caveat to Capitalism in general.

Haiti’s legacy of debt began shortly after gaining independence from France in 1804. In 1825, France, with warships at the ready, demanded Haiti “compensate” France for its loss of a slave colony. In exchange for French recognition of Haiti as a sovereign republic, France demanded payment of 150 million francs (modern equivalent of $21 billion).

[ Source: Wikipedia article; Early History of Haiti ]

In more recent times the perfidious neo-liberal neo-colonialist agenda (e.g. privatization of public wealth; draconian demands of the IMF, World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank & other institutionalized financial bloodsuckers ) have only further aggravated an utterly miserable pre-existing situation that serves to give democracy a bad name in Haiti & the Third World in general.

Structural adjustment agreements with the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, and other international financial institutions are aimed at creating necessary conditions for private sector growth, have proved only partly successful.

[ Source: Wikipedia article; Economic Overview ]



Hope for Haiti can only be realized through a popular revolution, the establishment of a genuine social democracy & the equal distribution of all wealth. The Haitian People must seek Peace & Solidarity with their brothers & sisters in other regional politically progressive nations like Venezuela, Bolivia & Cuba & stand fast against all forms of reaction & neo-imperialism.