France, Pay Your Debt To Haiti!

July 28th is the anniversary of the 1915 US Marines invasion of Haiti. The 19 years of US military occupation that followed - with its attendant martial law, conscripted labor, corporate land grabs, Wall Street profiteering, white supremacy - emerged as a blueprint for US/western intervention throughout the Americas and the impoverishment of Haiti that continues to this day. Come join us at the San Francisco site of Citibank and the French Consulate to highlight and protest their role in foreign intervention in Haiti.

Join us to once again demand that France pay its debt to Haiti. France forced the Haitian people to pay what amounted to over $21.7 billion in today’s money as “restitution” to their former French enslavers, robbing Haiti of billions of dollars that could have developed the Haitian economy and infrastructure. In 2003, the democratically elected government of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide announced that it was pursuing this demand; this was a key factor in France’s cooperation and support for the U.S.-orchestrated coup that overthrew Aristide’s government and launched another foreign occupation of Haiti.

Join us to unmask the key role of Citibank, formerly First National City Bank of NY, in authoring and profiting from the 1915 US occupation in its pursuit of imperial expansion into the Caribbean.

Join us to condemn the ways in which the US and France continue to exploit Haiti’s resources, dominate its political life and prop up the tiny, violent and corrupt Haitian elite that now rules the country.

Join us to affirm our solidarity with the powerful Haitian grassroots movement that continues to fight for democracy and true sovereignty.

The Ransom Is Still Being Paid! Reparations Are Long Overdue!