 | |
 France |  Haiti |
|---|---|
| Diplomatic mission | |
| Embassy of France in Haiti | Embassy of the Republic of Haiti in France |
| Envoy | |
| Ambassador Antoine Michon | Ambassador Louino Volcy |
France–Haiti relations (French:Relations Entre la République Française et la République d'Haïti;Haitian Creole:Relasyon Repiblik Fransèz-Repiblik d Ayiti) are foreign relations betweenFrance andHaiti. Both nations are members of theOrganisation internationale de la Francophonie,United Nations, and theWorld Trade Organization.
The first French to arrive to Haiti were pirates who began to use the island ofTortuga (northern Haiti) in 1625 as a base and settlement for raids against Spanish ships.[1] In 1663, French settlers founded a colony inLéogâne, on the western portion ofHispaniola. After theNine Years' War in 1697, theSpanish Empire ceded the western portion ofHispaniola with the signing of theTreaty of Ryswick that same year. France named the colonySaint-Domingue.[2] The colony was France's most productive and richest colony, and was made to grow primarily tobacco, indigo, sugar, cotton, and cacao. France used the labor of slaves fromAfrica, as a result of the near extinction of theTaíno people.[3]
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From 1789 to 1799, France underwent arevolution. The revolution in France had great implications in Haiti. In August 1791, slaves in the northern region of Haiti staged a revolt which would be known as theHaitian Revolution.[2] In 1793, France sent as an envoyLéger-Félicité Sonthonax to maintain control and stabilize the colony from the revolution. In February 1793, Haitian leaderToussaint Louverture joined Spanish forces in fighting the French.[4] In October 1793, Sonthonax emancipated the slaves in all of Haiti.[4] In May 1794, Louverture left the Spanish army after they refused to free their slaves in the eastern part of Hispaniola.
In 1801, Louverture defeated the Spanish inSanto Domingo and emancipated the slaves of the territory.[4] In 1802, GeneralNapoleon Bonaparte sent 40,000 French andPolish troops to Hispaniola. Soon afterwards, Napoleon's brother-in-law GeneralCharles Leclerc asked to meet Louverture to discuss terms. It was a deception and Louverture was seized and deported to France where he died in April 1803.[5] After the death of Louverture,Jean-Jacques Dessalines stood as leader of the independence struggle and continued battling French forces. After theBattle of Vertières in November 1803, France abandoned all hope of retaining control over the colony. On 1 January 1804, Dessalines declared independence for Saint-Domingue and renamed the new nation 'Haiti'.[6]
France officially acknowledged Haitian independence in 1824.[7][8][9]
In 1825, French KingCharles X demanded Haiti reimburse and compensate France for the loss of money and trade from Haiti's independence. France threatened to invade Haiti and sent 12 war ships to the island nation.[10] On 17 April 1825 an agreement was made between the two nations. France renounced all attempts to re-conquer Haiti and recognized Haiti as an independent nation after Haiti agreed to pay France 150 million gold francs inindemnity to the former colonists within five years. In November 1825, the first French consul presented his credentials to PresidentJean-Pierre Boyer.[11] On 12 February 1838, a 'Treaty of Peace and Friendship' was signed between both nations.[12]
Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between, both nations have signed several agreements and treaties, such as an agreement on commerce (1958); treaty on trade (1959); agreement on air transportation between both nations (1965); agreement on cultural, scientific and technical cooperation (1972); convention on the protection of investments (1973); cooperation on tourism (2007) and an agreement on joint research and of professional training (2015).[13]
Since independence, France continued to play an important role in Haitian affairs. Several Haitian Presidents ousted from power sought refuge in France, such as PresidentsJean-Pierre Boyer,Lysius Salomon,Franck Lavaud andJean-Claude Duvalier. In December 1993, France asked the United Nations to tighten sanctions on Haiti after the removal of PresidentJean-Bertrand Aristide from power by the military in September 1991.[14]
In February 2010, French PresidentNicolas Sarkozy paid a visit to Haiti, the first by a French President.[15] During his visit, President Sarkozy promised Haiti €230 million EUR in aid after the island nation suffered its worstearthquake in its history. President Sarkozy also announced the cancellation of €56 million EUR debt owed by Haiti to France.[15] In May 2015, French PresidentFrançois Hollande paid an official visit to Haiti and promised $145 million USD in development projects within the island nation.[16]
In 2017, trade between both France and Haiti totaled €69 million EUR.[17] France's main exports to Haiti include: manufactured products, clothing, mechanical equipment, dairy products, and medicines. Haiti's main exports to France include: fruits and vegetables, beverage plants (cocoa and coffee), distilled alcoholic beverages (rum), ready meals, and spice plants.[17]
France actively supports theHaitian National Police with training, technical assistance, and equipment. Through the French Embassy, the HPN has received drones, laptops, light and armored vehicles, weapons, night vision equipment, personal protection equipment, among other things. France's elite police unitRAID trained what is now known as the Tactical Anti-Gang Unit (Unité Tactique Anti-Gang),[18] and other units like GIPNH (Groupe d'Intervention de la Police National d'Haiti), BLTS (Brigade de Lutte contre le Trafique de Stupéfiants), BLVV (Brigade de Lutte contre le Vol de Vehicules) etc.[19] The most recent session saw 4 RAID members deployed to Haiti to train 55 agents across multiple Haitian police units, as well as 9 instructors. Training covered tactical shooting drills and realistic simulations. 4 tons of equipment and materials were delivered as part of this session.[20]
In April 2024, on in interview on Haitian news outlet Metropole, The ambassador ofFrance to Haiti, Fabrice Mauriès, stated that France was open to military cooperation with Haiti[21] and that discussions were had with the Haitian government to form servicemembers in their bases in theAntilles. On 25 August, outgoing French ambassador Fabrice Mauriès stated that France has always supported the Haitian Armed Forces and confirmed that starting September 2024, members of the armed forces would start travelling toMartinique for training with the French Forces to the Antilles.[22] On 18 September 2024, Defense Minister Berthier Antoine, newly appointed French Ambassador Antoine Michon, andLieutenant colonel Pierre Laoufi of the French Forces in the Antilles would announce that 50 members of theFAD'H would be traveling toMartinique for continuing formation with theFrench Armed Forces to theAntilles (FAA), part of the operational military partnership named "SABRE Haiti".[23][24][25]
The first contingent of 25 soldier traveled to Martinique, from 3rd to the 17th of November 2024, where they trained with the 33rd Marine Infantry Regiment (33e RIMa) of theFrench Army, that covered familiarization with theFAMAS and mastering individual weaponry, open-area combat, shooting, obstacle course, urban combat techniques, vehicle search and combat first aid.[26][27][28][29][30][31][32] Ambassador Michon, declared the military cooperation between the two nations going into 2025.[33] An official note from the Haitian ministry a meeting between Haitian defense minister Jean-Michel Moïse and the French Ambassador stated that a new technical arrangement would be signed by the Ministries of Defense of both countries to train a new enlisted class starting February 2025.[34]
The second cohort of 25 servicemen would travel to Martinique in February 2025. They returned to the country accompanied by the commander of the FAA,French NavyAdmiral Nicolas Lambropoulos, who met with Defense Minister Moise, Lieutenant General Guerrier, and the Ambassador Michon to discuss the fight againstTransnational organized crime,Narco-trafficking, and France's continued support to the Haitian Armed Forces and the Defense Ministry.[35] The Haitian Ambassador to France, M. Louino Volcy, held a work meeting with the Directorate-General for international relations and strategy (Direction générale des relations internationales et de la stratégie, DGRIS) to strengthen bilateral defense cooperation.[36]
On April 10, 2025, theFrench Senate adopted a resolution in favor of restoring security in Haiti. French Minister of Foreign AffairsJean-Noël Barrot would announce that France will reinforce its support to the Armed Forces of Haiti.[37] A third group of 30 Haitian Army soldiers travelled to Martinique on July 21 2025 for training.[38]
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