Colonial Devil Pacts

As the world rushed to the aid of impoverished Haiti, where a tremendous earthquake has created massive devastation, American evangelical Christian leader Pat Robertson told viewers of his television program that Haiti had a "pact with the devil." Speaking on the Christian Broadcasting Network, the televangelist talking to his co-host, Christy, bizarrely linked the misery in Haiti to Haitian independence in 1804. To bring you up to speed, after slaves rebelled, Haiti became the first independent nation in Latin America and first black-led nation in the world.

The relevant excerpt from Robinson:

"And you know, Christy, something happened a long time ago in Haiti and the people might not want to talk about it. They were under the heel of the French, uh, you know, Napoleon the third and whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, 'We will serve you, if you get us free from the Prince.' True story. And so the devil said, 'Okay, it's a deal.' And they kicked the French out, you know, the Haitians revolted and got themselves free. But ever since they have been cursed by one thing after the other, desperately poor. That Island of Hispaniola is one island. It's cut down the middle. On the one side is Haiti, on the other side is the Dominican Republic. Dominican Republic is, is, prosperous, healthy, full of resorts, etc. Haiti is in desperate poverty. Same island, uh, they need to have, and we need to pray for them, a great turning to God. Out of this tragedy, I'm optimistic something good may come, but right now we're helping the suffering people and the suffering is unimaginable."

The video:

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