Haiti’s independence ransom: Macron offers ‘truth’, Haitians want reparations

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday said a joint commission of French and Haitian historians would investigate the legacy of the “heavy price” Haiti was made to pay for its independence, two centuries after France extracted a crippling indemnity from its former colony. His statement made no mention of Haitian demands for reparations for the ransom imposed on the first people in the modern world to free themselves from slavery.