Haitians Hungry: Paid France 20 Billion Dollars

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Thu, 04/24/2008 - 5:00pm

 The International Monetary Fund said on Friday it was working with donors to review Haiti's need for more aid to deal with soaring food prices.  The food crisis recently sparked food riots in the Caribbean country.But while the economists in the International Monetary Fund are trying to figure out what is causing the crisis in Haiti and around the world, those familiar with Haiti's history say the reasons behind the food crisis are very clear.Seth Donnelly with the Haiti Action Committee just returned from a week-long delegation to Haiti.That was Seth Donnelly with the Haiti Action Committee, talking about some of the origins of the current food crisis in Haiti. From the time of its independence in 1804 until the 1940s, Haiti was forced to pay yearly reparations to its colonizer, France. These reparations were compensation for the profits France would have made through the continued enslavement of the Haitian people.  The payments made by Haiti to France  totaled 20 billion dollars.         

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