Imagine spending 80% of your country's budget for over a century just to pay for your own freedom.

Added: 2026-05-25

[00:00:00]But Haiti didn't have 90 million francs.

[00:00:03]So, they borrowed it from French banks to pay France.

[00:00:08]Haiti borrowed money from the people they owed money to.

[00:00:12]The gold went to France, and the debt stayed in Haiti.

[00:00:17]For the next several decades, over 80% of Haiti's national budget went to debt repayment instead of education or infrastructure.

[00:00:27]Haiti didn't finish paying off this debt until 1947, 122 years later.