Haiti slams Macron's 'unfriendly and inappropriate' remarks

Haiti's foreign minister on Thursday summoned the French ambassador to protest "unacceptable" comments made by French President Emmanuel Macron.

Macron was filmed calling Haiti's leadership "completely stupid" while speaking to a bystander about the current political and humanitarian situation in the Caribbean nation.

In an official statement obtained by the French news agency AFP, Haiti's transitional presidential council expressed its "indignation at what it considers unfriendly and inappropriate remarks which ought to be rectified."

It added that it was lodging an official protest with France's Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs.

What did Emmanuel Macron say?

At the center of the diplomatic spat is a video taken outside the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday in which President Macron described Haiti's transitional council as "completely stupid" for dismissing the former prime minister earlier this month.

Speaking to a passer-by, who French officials say was a Haitian who had heckled Macron "insistently" and accused him and France of "being responsible for the situation in Haiti," the president offered his candid view of the situation.

"Frankly, it's the Haitians who have destroyed Haiti by allowing drug trafficking. And then what they did: the prime minister was superb, I defended him, [but] they sacked him!" Macron said.

Macron was referring to former Haitian Prime Minister Garry Conille, who was relieved of his duties on November 10 after just five months in the job, amid an escalation in gang warfare in the country.

"It's terrible, it's terrible," Macron said. "I can't replace him. They're completely stupid. They should never have dismissed him. The prime minister was great."

Has anything else been said?

According to the Haitian Foreign Ministry, the French ambassador acknowledged that the remarks were "unfortunate."

Meanwhile, Antoine Leaument, a French lawmaker with the left-wing party La France Insoumise (France Unbowed), condemned the comments on social media.

"Shame on Macron. And what sort of language is that?" he said.

Macron is yet to quantify his comments or apologize but, after traveling onwards from Brazil to Chile, appeared to strike a more conciliatory tone.

"France will continue to lend its support to the Haitian people and to support all initiatives aimed at reestablishing security and a path towards a stable political situation," he told the Chilean National Congress in Valparaiso.

France has pledged €4 million ($4.2m) to a United Nations fund financing an under-resourced security mission in Haiti, as well as funding for French and Creole classes for UN troops.

"The Haitians deserve it," he said.

Haiti: a former French colony

President Macron's unguarded comments didn't go down well in Haiti, a former French colony whose population suffered enslavement and exploitation under imperial rule.

Haiti declared independence in 1804 but was obliged in 1825 to pay France "compensation" for lost property — including enslaved people.

The Haitian independence debt, amounting to 150 million francs to be paid in five annual payments of 30 million each, is estimated to have cost Haiti around $560m in modern currency.

Taking into account lack of investment into the Haitian economy, some activists have calculated figures in excess of $100 billion.

There have been calls for France to pay reparations for imposing the debt, which many blame for Haiti's economic and political turmoil.

mf/zc (AFP, Reuters)