The HAITI Story.

Previously posted on my Facebook page.

NEWS. “How a French Bank Captured Haiti.” / “French Bank to Study Its Role in Haiti After Times Report.” We are so into Ukraine/Russia, Johnny vs Amber, and (now) Roe… that other issues, albeit global, seem lacking in gravitas. It’s all about what reigns high and hot per media narrative, of course. A lot of stuff and things of equally significant value are happening beyond the cracks of the American couch. Such as in Haiti.

       New York Times adds that C.IC. or Crédit Industriel et Commercial helped finance the Eiffel Tower’s construction by squeezing Haiti’s treasury to near death when the island was a French colony. The Tower was completed in 1887. After 300 years of colonial rule, Haiti gained independence in 1804—which is a good 83 years to the Eiffel Tower.

       The C.I.C., won’t talk about it, but The Times tracked how much its investors made in the late 19th and early 20th centuries — and what Haiti lost. Founded in 1859, the C.I.C. has been majority owned by Crédit Mutuel, one of France’s top five banking groups, since 1998, and fully owned since 2017.

       Well, we are pretty much aware that after a colonizer left, it didn't really abandon its trade interests in its former territory. The milking of resources etcetera continues. So the allegation, which isn’t really hard to believe, is a no brainer. But why, after all these years? Then let’s do politics.

       Haiti is apparently an election runup pitch in France—as the newly elected Emmanuel Macron battles the Left for dominance in Paris’ Parliament. Which he lost. For the first time in 20 years, a French prez who won a second term failed to win an absolute majority in Parliament thereby “…forcing Macron to deal with a defiant left and a resurgent far-right.” 🇭🇹🇭🇹🇭🇹

NOW that election/s in France are over, let’s wait how President Emmanuel Macron and a majority opposition Parliament deal with Haiti, its former colony. I don’t know about that, LOL! Meantime, here is the News: “Invade Haiti, Wall Street Urged. The U.S. Obliged.” New York Times adds: “The long occupation of Haiti began with a drumbeat from the bank that became Citigroup, decades of diplomatic correspondence and other records show.”

       History: Following the assassination of Haitian President Jean Vilbrun Guillaume Sam in 1915, President Woodrow Wilson sent the United States Marines into Haiti to restore order and maintain political and economic stability in the Caribbean. This occupation continued until 1934.

       And so from France’s C.I.C., came City Bank. Google and it’d bring you to City Bank of New York, founded in 1812—onto the National City Bank of New York and Haiti, 1909 – 1922. City Bank’s history in Haiti shows how racial ideology and economic policy have long coalesced to justify colonization in Latin America and the Caribbean, writes UCLA Peter James Hudson. Not easy to question such an assertion.

       Haiti was one of the earliest targets for City Bank’s internationalization. This was part of a wider push into Latin America and the Caribbean that found support in the State Department. The US was then pursuing a policy of “dollar diplomacy,” attempting to use financial muscle to bring political stability to the region. 🇭🇹🇭🇹🇭🇹

BANKS and Haiti. Let’s continue… Giant global banks’ initial investments in nations that obviously wanted aid, like Haiti, came through their participation in the financing of infrastructure projects. Should we go to Bretton Woods of 1944 and the birth of the I.M.F. and World Bank? We don’t need to.

       In the case of Haiti, City Bank et al financed dock and railway projects in 1910. They used these initial investments as a springboard to take over control of Haiti’s economy and financial system, especially through the Banque Nationale d’Haiti, a privately run bank of issue controlled by French and German interests. As City Bank’s investments in Haiti and the Banque Nationale increased, so too did their involvement in Haiti’s internal affairs. And so on and so forth.

       Meanwhile, Haiti remains the poorest country in the LAC (or Latin America and the Caribbean) region and among the poorest countries in the world. In 2021, Haiti had a GDP per capita of $1,815, the lowest in the LAC region and less than a fifth of the LAC average of $15,092. On the UN's Human Development Index, Haiti ranked 170 out of 189 countries.

       Now the current News: “U.S. Accelerated Expulsions of Haitian Migrants in May.” New York Times adds: “The uptick has rekindled criticism that the Biden administration treats Black migrants differently than others, an allegation it denies.” Of course. 🇭🇹🇭🇹🇭🇹