法國總統奧朗德訪問前殖民地海地
French President Francois Hollande visited Haiti Tuesday and pledged to help the impoverished Caribbean nation recover from the 2010 earthquake that left much of the island in ruins.
The trip is the first official state visit by a French president to Haiti, the former crown jewel of French colonialism until 1804, when it became the world's first independent black republic after a slave revolt.
But Haiti is now the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, due in part to an 1825 agreement that forced Haiti to pay France compensation for land and slaves lost in the rebellion - a sum now estimated to be as much as $19 billion.
A small crowd gathered outside the Champ de Mars to protest Mr. Hollande's trip, demanding France return the money it forced Haiti to pay.
During a stopover on the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe earlier this week, Mr. Hollande admitted that France owed Haiti a "debt," but officials later insisted he was referring to a "moral" debt, instead of a financial one.法國總統奧朗德星期二抵達海地訪問，承諾幫助這個貧窮的加勒比國家從2010年地震中恢復，那次地震使海地大部分地區變成廢墟。
這是法國總統首次對海地進行正式訪問。在1804年之前，海地一直是法國殖民地中的佼佼者。海地發生奴隸暴動後，1804年成爲世界上第一個獨立的黑人國家。
但海地目前是西半球最貧窮的國家，部分原因是按照1825年簽訂的協議，海地被迫向法國賠償暴動造成的土地及奴隸損失，賠款數額相當於現在的190億美元。
在海地太子港戰神廣場外有一小批人聚集，抗議奧朗德的到訪，要求法國歸還迫使海地支付的這筆錢。
本週早些時候，在法國加勒比瓜德羅普島短暫停留期間，奧朗德曾承認法國對海地“欠債”，但法國官員隨後堅持說，奧朗德指的是“道義”債務，而不是金錢債務。
