法国总统奥朗德访问前殖民地海地

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.

这是法国总统首次对海地进行正式访问。在1804年之前，海地一直是法国殖民地中的佼佼者。海地发生奴隶暴动后，1804年成为世界上第一个独立的黑人国家。

但海地目前是西半球最贫穷的国家，部分原因是按照1825年签订的协议，海地被迫向法国赔偿暴动造成的土地及奴隶损失，赔款数额相当于现在的190亿美元。

在海地太子港战神广场外有一小批人聚集，抗议奥朗德的到访，要求法国归还迫使海地支付的这笔钱。

本周早些时候，在法国加勒比瓜德罗普岛短暂停留期间，奥朗德曾承认法国对海地“欠债”，但法国官员随后坚持说，奥朗德指的是“道义”债务，而不是金钱债务。