Solidarity with the Haitian people

The Malcolm X Grassroots Movement (MXGM) takes a yearly journey in August outside the United States empire as part of our Black August experience to engage with other organisers and activists of Afrikan descent. This year, the delegation went to Haiti. It was one of the most important and urgent journeys we have taken.

This impoverished Afrikan nation in the Caribbean is rebuilding. Little more than seven months after a devastating earthquake killed over 200,000 Haitians, the resiliency of the people is a marvel. Through graffiti, the people express themselves in various ways about their post-earthquake circumstances and their distrust of their government, their elite, the United Nations occupation and non-governmental organisations, most of which have become parasites on the Haitian body.

On the walls of the crumbling National Palace statements like ‘Aba Ministra’ (Down with the UN occupation), ‘Aba Preval’ (Down with Preval, the current president), to calls for the return of former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide, speak volumes about the daily struggle to survive and a continued heightened political consciousness and concern about fighting for a true peoples’ democracy.

Over the last 20 years, this generation of Haitians has had to deal not only with the devastating effects of this earthquake, but with the continued battles to establish a popular democracy that represents the interests of the vast majority of the Haitian people. After the fall of the brutal USA-backed father-son regime of Francois and Jean-Claude Duvalier, through the efforts of a mobilised populace, the Haitian masses have continued to fight their own Kreyòl, elite.

For a time the USA propped up the military and right-wing militias responsible for killing thousands of pro-democracy activists and the poor who created the popular organisations that battled to elect Aristide twice. After those victories the people have had their hopes dashed in two coups d’état orchestrated by the Haitian élite and the USA, Canadian, French and Dominican governments to depose Aristide, remove him from the country, and ban Aristide’s Fanmi Lavalas party from participating in Haiti’s elections. Lavalas is the political party of the majority of the Haitian people and as Haitian human rights lawyer Mario Joseph put it, ‘Lavalas could put up a ham sandwich in an election and win against all other parties and candidates in Haiti and everyone knows it.’,

In addition, the last20 years have seen the USA lead the way in making the Haitian economy bleed for supporting the wrong candidate. Imposing a Cuban- style embargo on important aid and battering through structural adjustment programs via the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. These destroyed state-controlled elements of the economy which supplied jobs and revenue for the Haitian government to build schools and provide some resources. Sold-off state properties were then closed down, or protected agricultural industries were forced to open their markets, and both were replaced by cheap American imports. For example, in 1982 the USA government demanded the eradication of Haitian pigs and their replacement with American pigs, which are smaller and die sooner because they are not conditioned to Haiti’s terrain.

Tax-free cheap labour zones were set up to provide ‘jobs’ for needy Haitians leaving them even more in need after they received pay cheques that were too low to feed themselves on. What was left of the Haitian economy was replaced by foreign NGOs that had no accountability to the government or the people, but only to their sponsors, running fundraising drives off the backs of the poor.

Haitians also have to deal with an occupation by UN forces, which shoot up places like Cité Soleil for aligning with Aristide and Fanmi Lavalas. At the same time, neither the so-called peacekeeping force of the UN nor the Haitian national police can seem to find, arrest or take weapons away from former coup leaders who have been allowed to return to Haiti. People such as Guy Philippe, a top coup conspirator and murderer of Haitian people with strong USA Central Intelligence Agency connections. Philippe freely roams around without any interference from UN peacekeepers giving interviews about his intention to run for president (Compared to musician Wyclef Jean, Philippe at least lives in Haiti.)

This is enough to wear a people out. However, Haitians are in a literal life and death struggle for control of resources, aid, and keeping the idea of a popular working democracy going. The popular organisations and the masses are recovering and helping themselves by creating and re-creating indigenous community groups.

As part of the trip our delegation visited camps where Haitians live in the thousands – sometimes hundreds of thousands. Many of these places have only been visited once or twice by the UN or other so-called aid groups seven months after the earthquake. Literally billions of dollars have been collected or pledged, but the vast majority of the monies have not reached the Haitian people. Instead Haitians have self-organised to provide some protection against violence and rape, sought out resources for the hungry, and created makeshift schools for the young.

Popular organisations have worked to rebuild schools and colleges, form women’s groups, micro-lending organisations, groups dedicated to freeing Haitian political prisoners and set up aid sites that provide mental health care and other material services. These popular organisations, with the solidarity of international groups, have continued to support accountability for aid groups, a just electoral process, justice and human rights for the Haitian people, even through this catastrophic process.

The people of Haiti cry out that the government has not been accountable and the Haitian élite of course never was so into this breech steps in indigenous groups such as the Institute for Justice and Democracy, the Aristide Foundation, the September 30th and others.

Among popular organisations there is a call to allow the people to delay the upcoming elections to allow for full participation by the people and Haitian political parties, instead of going ahead with the cynical USA and Haitian elite-backed process that moves forward, requiring identification to vote, knowing full well many people lost almost everything in the earthquake including, of course, identification documents.

The Black August delegation, representing the MXGM, expresses full support for the demands of the Haitian people. Our delegation was named for a fallen comrade, Javad Jahi, who, as a member of MXGM, dedicated himself to solidarity with the Haitian people. Our trip was built on the basis of some of those relationships.

As we support financial aid efforts sponsored by the Haiti Action Committee and Haiti Emergency Relief Fund, which have direct ties to indigenous Haitian organisations, we call for a new solidarity movement that will support the demands of Haitian popular movements.

Towards that end, we have helped create the Haiti Will Rise Again Coalition to fight against continued USA foreign policy that seeks to protect the interests of the Haitian élite, at the expense of the wishes of the people for a true popular democracy.

Coalition points of unity:
1) Be in alliance with the Haiti Action Committee and the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund (www.haitisolidarity.net)
2) Be a multi-national, multi-racial and multi-tendency alliance composed of various political, social, spiritual, and cultural organisations in the metropolitan Atlanta region, committed to pressuring the USA government, multi-lateral institutions (IMF, World Bank, WTO, Inter-American Bank, etc.), and transnational corporations to comply with the principal demands of the progressive people’s movement in Haiti
3) Engage in organising, mobilising, resource generation, and educational activities that realise the demands of the Haitian people’s movement. This would include, but not be limited to, petitioning, lobbying, demonstrating, marching, direct action, and providing material aid.

Demands of the Haitian people’s movement:

1) An immediate end to the U.S. and UN occupation of Haiti
2) The elimination of all IMF, World Bank, Inter-American Bank, USA, and G20 debt, structural adjustment and privatisation programs required by these loans
3) The nationalisation of all Haiti’s natural resources
4) Reparations and restitution from France and the USA for the forced indemnities, illegal blockades and occupations
5) Freedom for all political prisoners arrested following the 2004 coup and during its aftermath
6) Residency and amnesty for Haitian refugees
7) End the ban on the Fanmi Lavalas party to ensure that there are legitimate, free and fair elections
8) The immediate return to Haiti of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

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