------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the July 29, 2004 issue of Workers World newspaper -------------------------
OCCUPIED HAITI: MASSES CONTINUE TO RESIST U.S. COUP By Pat Chin Leaders of CARICOM, the association of Caribbean nations, at a July 6 meeting, refused to recognize the Washington-installed government of Haitian Prime Minister Gerard Latortue. Under tremendous pressure from the Bush administration, however, a CARICOM delegation is meeting in Port-au-Prince for talks aimed at restoring future diplomatic ties with Haiti. President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's government was overthrown on Feb. 29 by U.S.- and French-backed mercenaries working in collusion with sectors of the Haitian bourgeoisie and non-governmental organizations funded by the Ronald Reagan-created International Republican Institute. The U.S. spent millions to topple Aristide, a popular leader who had been overwhelmingly re-elected in 2000. As of now, the Organization of Amer ican States still plans to execute CARICOM's request for an investigation into Aristide's forced departure from Haiti, following the United Nations' failure to do so. Meanwhile, the neocolonial takeover of Haiti has been given a Latin Americanized makeover. While U.S., French and Canad ian troops remain in Haiti in reduced numbers, on June 25 the new UN mission MINUSTAH took over, formally headed by a Brazilian. Argentina and Chile are also playing leading roles. This has sparked criticism of these "progressive" Latin American governments for collaborating with the occupation. Other countries, including Sri Lanka and Pakistan, also plan to send troops and police. Not many Haitians have been fooled by the new façade and resistance continues, led by the National Popular Party (PPN) and other grassroots groups. THREATENING TO REBEL On June 29, residents of Cayes-Jacmel protested the lack of court services. In Grand-Goave on June 28, according to Haiti Progres newspaper, "Traffic was paralyzed for several hours ... where burning barricades were placed across the road." In Cap-Haitien on June 25, people threatened a rebellion if the government didn't respond to their needs. In Labory, they also demanded "the authorities take action to deal with the lack of drinking water ... electricity ... proper sanitation and drainage." (Vision 2000) Weeks earlier, despite the repression, thousands had rallied in Port-au- Prince for Aristide's return and an end to the occupation. Haiti Progres newspaper, the only openly critical news medium, continues to publish. The anti-war movement should stand ready to defend this courageous act of resistance should the U.S.-installed regime attempt to close it down. Under the new imperialist-installed puppet regime, Haiti has become a cauldron of repression against the popular movement. An estimated 3,000 Haitians have been killed in Washington's bid to make the country more sweatshop- and privatization-compliant for capitalist super- exploitation. Deposed Prime Minister Yvon Neptune went underground in March to avoid assassination. After coming out of hiding he was arrested on June 27 and will face trial on spurious charges. Neptune is the highest-ranking Lavalas official to be taken in. Many Aristide supporters and members of his Lavalas Family Party have also been arrested since the coup. Others have fled into hiding or exile. "This," said former Aristide spokes person Mario Dupuy, "confirms, for those who still had doubts, the hideous and revolting character of this tropical fascism." ("Haiti in Chains," www.blackcommentator.com, July 8) U.S. ENGINEERED BLOODY RAMPAGE Haiti's merchant class allied itself with the big landowners and others to topple Aristide. The U.S.-engineered campaign included a bloody rampage of terror by heavily armed former members of the brutal disbanded military and paramilitary death squads, masquerading as "freedom fighters." They violently seized a broad swath of Haitian territory and threatened Port-au-Prince just prior to Aristide's being forced on a plane into exile by U.S. Marines. Aristide had implemented sections of the International Monetary Fund's privatizing "death plan" for Haiti, which cost him some popular support. This was particularly true among rice farmers who couldn't compete with rice imported from the U.S. But Aristide had also initiated social programs aimed at helping Haiti's poor majority, who have grown even more impoverished since the coup and devastating floods that have caused widespread death and destruction in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Despite making concessions to the IMF, Aristide was not viewed by the imperialists as being sufficiently corporate friendly. Moreover, he remained popular among the poor masses who resist, through popular organizations and other means, domination by foreign capital. After Aristide's re-election, the Bush administration had immediately blocked more than $500 million in international loans and aid to Haiti. Randall Robinson, founder of TransAfrica, retorted: "There may not be the bullet-ridden bodies ... but there are the nameless, faceless poor, who buckle under the weight of an embargo that--incredibly--denies their elected government already-approved loans for safe drinking water, literacy programs, and health care." (Quoted in "The U.S. War Against Haiti Hidden from the Headlines," Haiti Action Committee) Since Aristide's kidnapping and exile, thousands of people have been killed or jailed. In "In Defense of the Disinherited," Jamaican columnist John Maxwell calls on progressives to come to Haiti's aid: "The Haitians have managed to survive in the face of the most long- lasting and purposeful genocidal campaign in history," he said. "They suffered because they helped Bolivar ... because they understood the indivisibility of freedom and liberty. They suffer because they defeated and repudiated slavery. Had they been Euro peans, their valor and nobility would be celebrated in song and story, in legend and myth." (www.jamaicaobserver.com, July 3) Huge numbers of Haitians in the U.S. will participate in protests around the July Democratic National Convention in Boston. The ANSWER Coalition has joined with Haitian groups in this mass effort that will demand an end to colonial occupation of Iraq, Palestine and Haiti, among other important issues. For further information, e-mail the Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network at [EMAIL PROTECTED], or call (917) 337-6702. Boston ANSWER can be reached at (617) 522-6626, or [EMAIL PROTECTED] - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe wwnews- [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe [EMAIL PROTECTED] Support the voice of resistance http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php) ------------------ This message is sent to you by Workers World News Service. To subscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Send administrative queries to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>