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France - Haiti Observer Blog

France, Haiti Observer Blog. Read the following articles about France


 

The Ruins of Fort Picolet near Cap-Haitian

In 1736, Mr. Larnage began the construction on Fort Picolet as a means of maintaining France's stronghold on the Haitian colony. With the Spanish realm so close at hand in neighboring Dominican Republic, the fort to the west of Cap-Haitien was an important means of keeping the French realm intact against the threat of invaders. When construction finished in 1741, the fort was a grey profusion, sticking out from the side of a rocky promontory, with walls seemingly un-scalable for their height and the danger they presented hanging over the cliff's edge and being out into sea. Atop their walls was a phalanx of cannons, trained and ready for any impending attack, and the steep steps, descending dangerously in most points were a further deterrent to those who would seek invasion.

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France's new Ambassador to Haiti, Patrick Nicoloso, Patrick Nicoloso

Patrick Nicoloso, who was declared the new ambassador to Haiti for France, arrived Haiti on Sunday June 23, 2013. A decree was published on May 24. The decree appointed Patrick Nicoloso as the new Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the French Republic to the Republic of Haiti. Patrick Nicoloso was preceded by Didier Le Bret. Didier Le Bret has been serving as French Ambassador to Haiti since 2009. The former Ambassador has now been appointed as Crisis Centre of French's Ministry of Foreign Affairs' director.

Patrick Nicoloso who is aged 61 has a very successful diplomatic career. He has worked as French diplomat in countries like Italy, Jordan, Brazil and Libya. Nicoloso has also held several other important diplomatic posts throughout his career. Among the most recent of his diplomatic associations was his service as French Ambassador to Sudan. Nicoloso who has been appointed as the French Ambassador to Haiti by a Presidential decree, was born on April 3, 1952 and had been working as French diplomat since 1976.

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Fort des Oliviers, Saint-Louis du Sud

With the Ministry of Tourism and its minister, Stephanie B. Villedrouin, along with the Martelly administration pushing to rebrand Haiti as a tourist destination, speculation is rife as to why certain untapped spots remain out of the running for the spate of planned rejuvenations set to revive many a local, historic and beatific locale. One such place is Fort des Oliviers.

The 18th century fort, built by the French in their struggle against the English, lies upstream of Saint-Louis du Sud's bay and has recently been said to be 'history hiding in plain sight.' Apart from the natural beauty of the area, Fort des Oliviers has over 128 km2 of sights of historical importance. Yet, despite its manifold attractions and its small number of inhabitants, 76,000 last told, the site remains overlooked, undeveloped and wholly neglected by the powers that be.

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Haiti's Fraudulent Independence Debt

Although Haiti gained its independence from France and became the first black-led republic globally in 1804, foreign interests have continued to meddle in the island's affairs. France never forgave Haiti for defeating them and demanded 150 million francs as compensation for France's forfeiture of real estate and slaves. If Haiti didn't comply, France threatened to re-instate slavery.

Repayment of the debt ruined Haiti's economy, a major factor in its poorest-nation-in-the Western-Hemisphere status. Well over a century passed before Haiti cleared its debt to France in 1947. Millions upon millions of interest dollars protracted repayment to French banks, who lent Haiti money to pay off interest on the principal. In 1922, the U.S. assumed part of Haiti's debt that France had reduced to 90 million francs. In demanding compensatory damages, France violated its Declaration of the Rights of Man which states: "Men are born free and remain free and equal in rights."

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Fort-Liberte In The Nord Department Of Haiti

Fort-Liberté is located in Haiti's Nord-Est-Department. In Haiti, it is the oldest country and Haiti got its independence here on November 29,1803. The Dominican Republic is located close to its border. Around 11,465 people inhabit the place. The language spoken in the region is Creole. Hurricanes, storms and sunshine are all experienced bringing changes in temperature.

How It Got Its Name
Indians inhabited the region originally after which the Spanish colonists came. In 1578 they found the city of Bayaja and in 1605 abandoned it. In 1732 the French reoccupied it as Fort-Dauphin. In 1764, Spanish forces captured it and in 1801 shortly, after independence was declared in 1803, it was restored to the French.

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The History of Haitian Migration in the US and elsewhere

History of Haitian migration is pretty old. While millions cross the borders to become permanent residents of other countries, there are millions others who ride the same ferry but only to return after some time. Millions of Haitian people migrate and settle in Bahamas, Montreal in Canada, Cancun and Mexico City in Mexico, Cuba, United States and Dominican Republic. Other countries like French Guiana, French Antilles, France, Senegal, Cote d'Ivoire, Chile, Puerto Rico, Turks and Caicos and Jamaica also have vast numbers of Haitian diaspora.

As of date, it is estimated that around 1.2 million Haitian people live in U.S. with proper documents while there are many others that have entered U.S. borders illegally. Canada is reported to have 200,000 Haitians while Dominican Republic is estimated to have 2 million Haitians. Bahamas accounts for 80,000 Haitians while the reported figure for France is 90,000.

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Populist President Dumarsais Estime

Dumarsais Estime, Haiti's 33rd president, held office for four years. His presidency is notable because he was the first black leader elected after the U.S. occupation ended in 1934.

Although Estimé married a mulatto elite, his determined educated blacks were to make up the majority of his administration's political appointees. Reversing mulatto elite influence, he championed an education initiative, building schools in poverty-ridden villages and offering advanced teacher-training. This effort created a 45% rise in elementary school attendance.

Dumarsais Estime's agenda included road-construction projects, literacy programs, and improving community services. He also amended the Constitution to provide workers the right to form unions and raised the minimum wage.

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Rene Preval and his Second presidency

He was first elected to the post of Haiti's President with a staggering 88% of the popular vote. René Préval again ran for president as the Lespwa candidate but, unlike his first election, this proved not to be a clear-cut victory. When early voting results were released on February 9, they indicated a 60% favorable voting for Préval. This number slipped to 48.7% as more ballots came in and a run-off became necessary.

There were celebrations soon after for the former president, but his comment on February 14, that fraud was at play in the vote counting and that he should be declared the winner of the first round, caused a series of protests to erupt. Port-au-Prince was crippled by torched barricades and protestors stormed the Hotel Montana, demanding the results of the election. Finally, on the 16th, after excluding blank ballots from the count, President Préval officially won his second term as the Haitian head of state with 51.15% of the votes.

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The Wedding of Jean Claude Duvalier and Michele Bennett

It was revealed that the two met in High school. However, the romantic relationship between Michele Bennett and Jean Claude Duvalier did not begin until ten years later. the wedding that was considered the biggest event of the time took place on May 27, 1980. The wedding was estimated to cost over US$3 million. The marriage also brought an underlining issue to the surface in the Haitian society. Many saw it as renewed symbol of alliance with the mulatto elite by the Duvalier regime. This was in direct contrast to the policy of Francois Duvalier who in 1957 was fighting against presidential candidate Louis Dejoie, a mulatto land-owner and industrialist from the north of Haiti. Francois Duvalier used used a Noiriste strategy to challenge the mulatto elite and appealed to the Afro-Haitian majority.
Following the wedding and the increased power gained by Michele Bennett as the new First Lady, new friction started to flair-up between her and her mother in law, Simone Duvalier.

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The Argument for Professional Haitian Creole Translators

Haitian Creole Translation

Like any other languages, Haitian Creole is not something that you can teach or translate easily. It would take a professional to translate such language efficiently. Just because it is derived from the French language does not necessarily mean that a French person can successfully translate it. Keep in mind that Haitian Creole and French have a lot of differences. Though Haitian Creole draws a huge influence from the French language, it also has touches of Native American, West African, Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic languages. With this, the only one who can accurately translate it is a professional Haitian Creole translator.

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