To follow up on my co-blogger’s post from earlier today, Haiti’s ambassador to the United States, Raymond Joseph, was obliged to explain the history of the Haitian Revolution to televangelist Pat Roberston. 

In an interview with Rachel Maddow, Ambassador Joseph said that the revolution enabled the U.S. and Latin America to prosper. Joseph argued that the Haitian slave revolt allowed the U.S. to make the Louisiana Purchase for just $15 million. “That’s 3 cents an acre,” he stressed, “that’s 13 states west of the Mississippi” that owe their autonomy to the revolt of the slaves to gain freedom, which Roberston described as a result of a “pact with the devil.”

“What pact the Haitians made with the devil has helped the United States become what it is,” Joseph said. He added that, after the Haitian slaves defeated the powerful French army, they also paved the way for Simón Bolívar and the independence of [many of the countries of] Latin America.

For full article, see http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/14/pat-robertson-haiti-react_n_423038.html

To listen to ambassador’s explanation, see