On January 1, 2021, the President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, in an official note greeted the Haitian people on the occasion of the 217th anniversary of Haiti’s independence.

Message from President Nicolás Maduro :

"We commemorate 217 years of independence from our sister Haiti. My greetings to these rebellious people who carry in their blood the legacy of the heroes who have succeeded in awakening the sacred flame of freedom in Caribbean America. Long live the anti-colonial spirit of the Haitian people!," wrote President Maduro on the social network Twitter.

"Haiti celebrates this January 1 the anniversary of its independence from France, the revolt began 12 years earlier in 1791 with a slave insurrection in the north of the island, led by Jamaican Boukman, who tried to implement the declaration of the rights of man and of the citizen established by the French Revolution, and proclaiming equal to all men.

The uprising, recognized as the first great revolutionary movement in colonial America, would take place in a deeply uneven territory with around 570,000 inhabitants.

The independence of Haiti was a milestone in the history of the region, being the second free Nation on the continent after the United States, and becoming a symbol for being the only Nation of black slaves.

The event shook the modern world, some worrying about the effect of the Haitian revolution would have on their societies, others saw hope in it."

HL/ HaitiLibre