According to The Haitian Times, the leader of the Haitian gang that abducted ten Catholic congregants, including two French nationals, said in a recent radio interview that the European abductees were important to them because France owed the Caribbean nation a large sum of money.
Wilson Joseph, also known as “Lanm San Jou,” which means Death Without Days, blamed their former colonizers for the current deterioration of Haiti. This is what he stated:
“The French people are important to us. They are the ones who have brought the country to this stage. They owe Haiti a substantial sum of money.”
Haiti Becomes Independent
A 13-year campaign led by General Toussaint Louverture led to Haiti gaining its freedom from France. Nevertheless, the former colonial masters requested that the Caribbean nation pay them 150 million francs (roughly $21 billion today) to compensate former slaveholders for property lost during the Haitian Revolution. It would take the independent Black nation 122 years to compensate the amount.
According to reports from local media, the French nationals were among the eight Catholic members abducted by the 400 Mawazo gang the previous week. One of the abductees, who was the priest’s mother, was freed on Thursday after the gang received a ransom of 50,000 dollars. The kidnappers also threatened to starve the remaining abductees if their demands were not met.
Although Haiti is yet to heal from the impacts of colonial administration, it still has political crises to battle. The city is no longer safe as now, and then civilians are flooding the streets demanding new democratic elections and the resignation of their incumbent president following corruption allegations.
Challenges in Haiti
For about a hundred years, Haiti has been struggling to overcome the endless problems of poverty and inequality. Furthermore, the Caribbean state has experienced worse brutal dictatorship in the hands of the Duvalier family. Also, the country has suffered natural and European ensued tragedies at the hands of the authoritative regimes. Meanwhile, in the past recent months, Haiti has seen a surge in cases of abductions.
Other than Haiti, many countries have suffered under colonial administration. And worse is, such countries have not recovered. They are undergoing endless challenges. To mention, African states happen to be among the impacted countries. The rising levels of poverty have forced many to flee their country in search of better opportunities. There are no signs of the misery ending at any time.
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