Haitians react to comments by President Emmanuel Macron caught on camera

Haitians reacted Friday with indignation to comments made by French President Emmanuel Macron recorded at the G20 summit in Brazil earlier this week.

The video, recorded from a distance, shows Macron being approached by a Haitian man blaming France for the dire situation in Haiti.

Macron responded by calling the transitional council "total morons" for firing former Prime Minister Gary and blamed Haitians for turning the country into a narco-state.

The video recorded on Wednesday did not go viral on social media until Thursday, causing indignation in Haiti, with the government summoning the French ambassador to demand explanations.

The members of the Transitional Presidential Council, which now governs Haiti, did not make any public statements regarding the French President’s comments, but for the people in the streets of the capital, Port-au-Prince, the relationship with the former colonizer was never good.

“This is complete rubbish,” said truck driver Nicolas Jean Bernett. “The French still think of us as animals like in the past times of slavery,” added Bernett.

Camille Chalmers, an economist and Executive Secretary of PAPDA, the Haitian Advocacy Platform for an Alternative Development. said the feeling was of “indignation and the crude words (by Macron) show contempt and ignorance of Haitian history.”

Chalmers went on to say that France owes Haiti a debt.

France demanded payment for the loss of property taken over by the free slaves- debilitating costs of the successful slave revolt that made Haiti the world’s first black republic in 1804.

“Not only do they have a historical responsibility for reparations and restitution in relation to the ransom for independence. They also have some responsibility for the chaotic situation that Haiti is experiencing today,” said Chalmers.

On the 5th of November, the transitional council replaced interim Prime Minister Garry Conille, marking further turmoil in an already rocky democratic transition process for Haiti.

Following the inauguration of the new Prime Minister, Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, armed gangs that already control 85% of the capital launched another attack targeting an upscale community where gunmen clashed with residents who fought side by side with the police.

The surge of gang violence this year has killed thousands and displaced 700,000 people, according to the International Organization for Migration in an Oct. 2 statement.