------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the July 29, 2004 issue of Workers World newspaper -------------------------
BOSTON: "LAVALAS IS HAITIAN NATION-BUILDING TOOL"
On July 10, over 200 people heard leaders of Fanmi Lavalas, the Haitian mass movement, at a fundraising rally. The audi ence was predominantly Haitian along with supporters. The event was held at the union hall of Steelworkers Local 8751, the Boston School Bus Drivers Union. The program was chaired by Jesue Renaud of Fanmi Lavalas in Boston. Soli darity statements came from Con gress member Maxine Waters, who spoke by phone hookup; Boston City Councilor Chuck Turner; Local 8751 President Steve Gillis; and Stephanie Nichols of Workers World Party. The program featured Farrah Juste, Fanmi Lavalas coordinator for Florida and the Bahamas, who sang the Haitian national anthem and gave a stirring account of the current struggle in Haiti. Juste explained how the U.S.- led occupation is currently one big jail for Fanmi Lavalas supporters, including Yvon Neptune, prime minister in the Aristide government, and famous singer and Lavalas activist Annette Auguste (So Anne). Their lives are now in danger. Haitian poet and lawyer Marguerite Laurent expressed that Black means liberty, stillness, struggle and survival in Haiti. Mario Dupuy, secretary of state of Fanmi Lavalas, spoke of the Lavalas struggle to give priority to the poor, providing food for the children, constructing schools, providing doctors and electricity, and how this is being undone since the Feb. 29 U.S.-backed coup. Jonas Petit, national representative of Fanmi Lavalas, described how Lavalas is the tool the Haitian people have for building their nation. He spoke of Aristide, the coup and the charter of Lavalas that calls for all Haitians to develop in equality and dignity. The meeting was cosponsored by Fanmi Lavalas, Local 8751, the New England Human Rights Organization for Haiti, and the Boston chapter of Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER).
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