New York Times Trilingual Article - English French Creole

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zenmonkey
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New York Times Trilingual Article - English French Creole

Postby zenmonkey » Tue May 24, 2022 6:22 pm

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iguanamon
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Re: New York Times Trilingual Article - English French Creole

Postby iguanamon » Tue May 24, 2022 7:37 pm

I read the article when it came out and will address it in my log. It was so nice to be able to read the articles in Kreyòl. The only thing I find (along with others) to be disingenuous is that this was an investigation bringing to light a startling new discovery, i.e: that France (and the US) purposely and maliciously exploited and impoverished Haiti. This has been known for quite a long time by anyone with the slightest interest in Caribbean and Haitian history. Being the first independent Black Republic in the Americas, at a time when slavery was at it's largest extent was a threat to the United Sates and European Empires (Spanish; Portuguese; French; British; Dutch; and Danish) and had to be punished and repressed for fear of destroying the status quo.

Still, the article, being in the NYT, will bring this shameful and reprehensible act perpetrated upon the people of Haiti (whose leaders also shared in making happen) to a wider audience and more light.

The article is also available in Spanish. Aquí puedes leer un resumen de la investigación en español
NYT Español wrote:¿Cuánto cuesta la libertad de una persona? ¿Y la de un país entero?
En el caso de Haití, la revolución de 1804 que acabó por expulsar a las autoridades francesas y abolir la escalvitud, le costó a los haitianos 560 millones de dólares. La cifra corresponde, en dólares actuales, a las reparaciones que el gobierno de Francia obligó al joven país a pagar a punta de cañón.
Durante 64 años, Haití pagó una “deuda doble”: a Francia y también al banco francés que financió las reparaciones.

My loose translation: "How much is the price of freedom of one person? And that of a whole country? In the case of Haiti, the 1804 revolution that ended in expelling the French authorities and abolishing slavery, cost the Haitians 560 million dollars. The figure corresponds, in current (US) dollars, to the reparations that the French government forced the young country to pay at cannon-point. For 64 years, Haiti paid a "double debt": to France and also to the French bank that financed the reparations."

The history of Haiti is tragic. The country is still paying the price, in desperate, abject and hopeless poverty and a lack of a functioning government, for the fact of being the first Black nation to throw off the yoke of colonial slavery in the Americas.

The NY Times publishes translated and original articles in Spanish every day without a paywall.
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