After independence, Haiti was required to pay France a huge amount money, specifically in retribution for eliminating the colonial power.
It's generally accepted that the demand was illegal but nobody did anything about it so the country was plunged into debt.
This is in fact what ruined the country economically.
In 2003 the president of haiti made the mistake of "requesting reparations" from the colonial entity France
...it wasn't long before this fellow found himself on a one way trip to Africa courtesy of the US Army

Half the wealth of France came out of this island and these days people there can be found literally eating dirt to survive.