Appel
de la coordination haïtienne pour le
retrait des troupes de l’ONU d’Haïti. (
2004-2014 : Dix ans c’est trop, la
MINUSTAH doit partir !
Après le coup d’Etat-kidnapping du 29 février
2004 contre le président Jean Bertrand Aristide, démocratiquement élu pour un
mandat de 5 ans ; les grandes puissances impérialiste : les
Etats-Unis, la France, le Canada et autres imposèrent à Haïti une force d’occupation,
disait-on, venue stabiliser le pays. Cette force porte le nom : Mission
des Nations Unies pour la Stabilisation en Haïti (MINUSTAH) est composée des
soldats de certains pays du continent
dont l'Argenine, l'Uruguay, le Chili, la Bolivie,... et conduite par le Brésil.
Dix
(10) ans plus tard le bilan de la MINUSTAH est lourd en termes de violation du droit à l’autodétermination du
peuple haïtien et celle des droits
humains dont l’ONU en tant qu’Organisation qui se charge de les faire respecter.
Les soldats de l’ONU participent dans les différents massacres dans les
quartiers pauvres : Cité Soleil, Bel Air, La Saline, Grand-Ravine. Ils ne
cessent de commettre des crimes de viol, de pendaison, d’homicide, de torture
dans le pays et ceci en tout impunité. Pour eux l’immunité est synonyme à
l’impunité. En 2010, les soldats de l’ONU ont introduit l’épidémie de Choléra
en Haïti qui a déjà tué plus de 8.000 Haïtiens et infectée plus de 800.000
autres. De plus, la force de l’ONU ne fait pas progresser la démocratie en
Haïti, puis que les élections ne sont pas réalisées de plus de 3 ans permettant
le renouvellement du personnel politique et administratif. La mauvaise
gouvernance et la corruption sont devenues la règle sous les yeux de cette
force.
Sur
le plan légal la présence des forces de l’ONU en Haïti viole la charte des
Nations Unies, la charte de l’Organisation des Etats Américains et la constitution haïtienne. Le peuple haïtien n’a
jamais accepté cette force, des manifestations à travers le pays et une
résolution du Senat exigent le départ inconditionnel de la MINUSTAH d’Haïti. Le
vrai objectif de la force de l’ONU est d’assujettir et d’asservir la première
République nègre du monde. « Il y a deux manières d’asservir et de
conquérir une Nation : l’une par les armes, l’autre par la dette, »
disait John Adams.
Pour
Haïti, on a choisi la première, quand le second échoue.
Solidarité
internationale.
Depuis 2008, Haïti a bénéficié de la solidarité
des peuples de différents pays, notamment de l’Amérique latine et de la
Caraïbe.
-
Juin 2008, une conférence
s’est tenue à Port-au-Prince.
-
Le 5 novembre 2010, à Sâo Paulo au Brésil, un meeting Continental a eu lieu pour
exiger le retrait immédiat des troupes de l’ONU d’Haïti.
-
Les 16, 17 et 18 novembre
2011, une conférence caribéenne s’est déroulée autour du thème :
« Agissons ensemble pour une Haïti souveraine : Dehors la
MINUSTAH », au Cap-Haïtien à Vertières.
-
Le 1er Juin
2012, une journée Continentale à Port-au-Prince autour du thème : «
Pour le retrait immédiat de la MINUSTAH d’Haïti et la pleine souveraineté du
peuple haïtien. »
-
La résolution du Sénat du 28 mai dernier demandant le départ de la
MINUSTAH pour le 28 mai 2014.
-
Du 31 Mai au 1er
Juin 2013, une conférence continentale pour le retrait des troupes autour du
thème : « Défendre Haïti, c’est nous défendre nous-mêmes. »
-
Le 10 Octobre 2013, une
délégation s’est rendue au Siège de l’ONU à New-York pour soumettre aux
responsables des Nations Unies les principales revendications du peuple haïtien
qui ne sont autres que le retrait immédiat de leur troupe d’Haïti et le
dédommagement pour les victimes de Choléra. Ce que le gouvernement haïtien
refuse de faire par devant les instances de l’ONU.
Fort
de tout cela, le combat pour le retrait des troupes de l’ONU, le dédommagement
des victimes de Choléra, la restitution des sommes extorquées après
l’Indépendance doit se poursuivre dans relâche.
Dix ans, c’est
trop !
C’est inacceptable ! Nous
disons NON à occupation !
Nous
jeunes, étudiants, travailleurs, paysans, organisations syndicales,
progressistes, du mouvement démocratique, de femmes, des gens des quartiers
populaires, plus que jamais, appelons à une large mobilisation contre les
troupes de l’ONU en Haïti.
Dans cette
perspective, nous proposons l'Organisation d'une journée continentale de
mobilisation le 1er juin 2014, date marquant le 10e anniversaire du
débarquement des forces de l'ONU, avec rassemblements, manifestations,
delegations, interpellations des gouvernements des pays de la CELAC en
particulier, demarches aupres des Parlements pour qu'ils soutiennent la
resolution du Senat Haitien, petitions ...
Premiers signataires :
Haiti-Liberté, Yves Pierre-Louis; Groupe haïtien sympathisant de la IVe Internationale,
Joachim Stanley-wood Duckson; Coordination Dessalines (KOD), Oxygène David;
Mouvement de Liberte d'Egalite pour la Fraternite des Haïtiens (MOLEGHAF),
Thomas Jean-Dieufaite; Groupe d'Initiative des Enseignant en Lutte (GIEL),
Léonel Pierre; Central des Travailleurs des Syndicats du Privé et des
Entreprises Publiques (CTSP), Jean Bonald G. Fatal; Parti Revolutionnaire pour
l'Organisation et le Progrès (PROP), Simeon Wisly; Gouvernail de Liaison des
Organisations de Base et des Syndicats (GLOBS), Raymond Davius ; Senateur
Moise Jean Chales.
**********************************
Senator Moise attends the Fifth Worker's Party Congress, talks to President Dilma and introduces himself in the Senate.
Jean Charles Moise, Haitian Senator, was in Brasilia from December 13 to 14 for the Fifth Worker's Party Congress, along with delegations from another eight countries.
In December 12, the Senator visited the Brazilian Senate. He was welcome by PT Senators Mr. Eduardo Suplicy and Mr. Wellington Dias - leader of the party's group in the Senate. During an actual session of the Senate, they read the Unanimous Haitian Senate Resolution, which demands the gradual withdrawal of the troops from UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (Minustah) until May 28, 2014.
Senator Eduardo Suplicy (Worker's Party - SP) announces the Haitian senator's visit.
(From left to right): Senator Eduardo Suplicy (Worker's Party - SP), Haitian Senator Moise Jean Charles, Senator Wellington Dias (Worker's Party - PI) and Senator Rodrigo Rollemberg (PSB-DF).
(From left to right): Senator Eduardo Suplicy (Worker's Party - SP), Haitian Senator Moise Jean Charles, Senator Wellington Dias (Worker's Party - PI) and Senator Rodrigo Rollemberg (PSB-DF).
In the evening, during the opening session of the Fifth Worker's Party Congress, Senator Moise met President Dilma and handed a copy of the Resolution from his Senate House to her. In the occasion, she said "I am following this subject; I understand the situation and will work to find a solution for this issue".
On the following day, during a conversation with Mr. Ruy Falcão (Worker's Party reelected president) reminded him "President Dilma said that she does not want our government to act as a Praetorian Guard for a president who postpones elections and disrespects democracy".
Still in the Congress House, he met Mônica Valente, Worker's Party new Secretary of Foreign Relations and dozens of activists, members of the Congress and parties' managers, besides Mr. João Paulo Cunha, Federal Deputy, to whom he showed his solidarity as to the persecution he has been facing.
By the end of the Congress, and during the voting session for amendments to the base text, one of which proposing the withdrawal of Brazilian troops from Haiti (from Constituent : Land, Labor and Sovereignty list, introduced this proposal) was read. Then, the members announced that the amendment would be withdrawn because of the Senator's meeting with President Dilma, who opened a "conversation path". The Senator was warmly applauded by all delegates.
In the next day, the Senator went to Argentina, where he would meet government authorities, as well as political, unionists and popular forces for the same purpose.
For further information and pictures, please, go to the campaign's blog:http://retiradatropashaiti.
São Paulo, December 16, 2013.
Barbara Corrales
Committee “Defending Haiti is to protect ourselves” of the Legislative Assembly of São Paulo.
Contacts: barbara.corrales@uol.com.br
Committee “Defending Haiti is to protect ourselves” of the Legislative Assembly of São Paulo.
Contacts: barbara.corrales@uol.com.br
RESOLUTION OF THE CONTINENTAL CONFERENCE IN HAITI FOR THE WITHDRAWAL OF UN-MINUSTAH TROOPS
To the Governments of Latin America and the Caribbean,
To All the Governments Involved in the Occupation of Haiti
We -- the 140 delegates at the conference coming from Haiti, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, El Salvador, the United States, Algeria, and France, mandated by our respective organizations and associations -- have received messages of support from Guadeloupe, St. Lucia, Martinique, Trinidad and Tobago, the United States, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Bolivia (1) and France, among other countries.
On May 31 and June 1, 2013 -- after nine years of UN-MINUSTAH occupation of Haiti, the first Black Republic in the world, established in 1804 after a war of liberation against the French colonial power -- we met in Port-au-Prince in response to the call issued by the Host Committee of the Continental Conference in Haiti for the Withdrawal of UN-MINUSTAH Troops: "To Defend Haiti Is to Defend Ourselves."
1 - We heard the testimonies from Haitian citizens and organizations on the consequences of these nine years of occupation.
The speakers who testified confirmed that the abuses by the MINUSTAH forces continue: rape of the youth in Cayes (Port Salut) by Uruguayan MINUSTAH soldiers, repression of union activities and social protests, proliferation of drug trafficking and distribution of fire-arms.
The testimonies confirmed that the troops are in Haiti to protect the interests of the multinational corporations from the United States and its allies -- interests expressed, in particular, in the various HOPE laws (2), but also through the shameless exploitation of workers in export-processing zones and the looting of the country, especially its mineral resources.
The testimonies also noted that three years after the earthquake of January 2010, there are hundreds of thousands of Haitians still living in tents in deplorable conditions -- and this on top of the massive cholera epidemic brought into Haiti by MINUSTAH troops from Nepal, an epidemic that has already taken the lives of 9,000 Haitians and infected hundreds of thousands of others.
2 - We also learned about and discussed the report dated March 8, 2013, presented to the United Nations Security Council by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon (3).
- The UN Secretary-General's Report states that MINUSTAH is in Haiti to ensure "security" -- but whose security? The Report goes on to state that the "UN Mission is faced with widespread and repeated civil unrest, mainly linked to socioeconomic grievances." The Report also notes that there have been "[f]requent anti-Government demonstrations . . . against the high cost of living, food insecurity and the failure to deliver basic services. From August to October 2012, the number of demonstrations held per month tripled from 22 to 64."
- But then the UN Secretary-General's Report concludes that there is a "need to strengthen the national police and judiciary" and that this "remains a key prerequisite for the Mission's eventual withdrawal from Haiti." In other words, if the forces of repression are not strengthened, the MINUSTAH troops would not get out of Haiti.
As an example of why the UN presence is still needed, the UN Secretary-General points to the "[r]iots in Jérémie (Grand-Anse Department) late in November 2012 and in January 2013 [which] underscored the need for MINUSTAH to continue to be able to airlift a quick reaction force to remote areas in support of the national police."
But these "riots" were in fact mobilizations of the people demanding the completion of the road between Cayes and Jérémie -- a road needed to break the region out of its isolation; construction on this road had begun more than three years earlier but was abandoned by the Brazilian OAS construction company.
- The UN Secretary-General also emphasizes the need for legislative (Senate) and municipal elections and for preparing the 2015 presidential elections. But he openly acknowledges that neither the previous elections nor the next ones will be organized by Haitian institutions.
In fact, the government of the United States, through the edifice of the MINUSTAH occupation, persists in trampling upon the rights of the Haitian people, in violation of the Haitian Constitution and the very Charter of the United Nations.
What's more, the UN Secretary-General's Report has the gall to state that the UN-MINUSTAH forces are "working to eliminate" the cholera epidemic. These words were stated just a few weeks after the UN refused to take responsibility for the epidemic that was transmitted by the Nepalese troops of MINUSTAH. These words were stated shortly after the UN refused to pay reparations to the victims of the epidemic -- under the guise of "diplomatic immunity" of its personnel.
Therefore, it is with horror that we read in the Report, following a series of disclosures that constitute a real indictment against the MINUSTAH occupation of Haiti, the defense by the UN Secretary-General of the decision to maintain the UN-MINUSTAH occupation of Haiti until 2016.
This is unacceptable! This is unbearable!
3 - To the governments of the countries of UNASUR (Union of South American Nations):
We appeal to the governments of the countries of UNASUR, whose founding treaty affirms "full respect for the sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of States and self-determination of peoples."
To the governments of the countries of CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States):
We appeal to the governments of the countries of CELAC, whose Caracas Declaration also reaffirms the defense of national and popular sovereignty, and moreover welcomes the "more than 200 years of independence of Haiti" and recalls the aid given by the Haitian people to Simon Bolivar in his struggle for independence against the Spanish colonial power.
MINUSTAH is the negation of all that. MINUSTAH is an occupying force in the interests of U.S. multinationals. The so-called "peace" mission of MINUSTAH is a "peace" mission to exploit the workers, the youth, and the natural resources of Haiti.
Our conference was also addressed by delegates from the United States and France, whose governments are permanent members of the Security Council. They denounced the heinous roles of their governments in this occupation -- an occupation that is also against the interests of the workers and peoples in the United States and France. The U.S. delegates, in particular, denounced the coup d'etat of February 29, 2004, that overthrew President Bertrand Aristide.
The conference concluded that the military occupation of Haiti is part and parcel of the policies of U.S. imperialism and its allies in response to, and as a consequence of, the crisis of the capitalist system, which is accelerating and in this process furthering its policies of war and looting of peoples worldwide, while trampling upon the freedom and sovereignty of nations.
We also wish to recall the following facts:
- On September 20, 2011, the Haitian Senate unanimously passed a resolution calling upon the Haitian government to "put forward before the Security Council of the United Nations the formal request for a gradual, orderly and definitive withdrawal of all components of MINUSTAH in a period not exceeding one year, or no later than October, 15 2012."
- In a hearing on July 10, 2012, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brazil -- the country in command of the MINUSTAH troops -- stated, "I believe that MINUSTAH has already extended its mission longer than desirable."
- In October 2012, a delegation was received at the United Nations by Mr. William Gardner, then representative of UN Secretary-General Mr. Ban Ki-moon. Mr. Gardner stated that "the UN Security Council would soon take steps to reduce the number of troops in Haiti."
A year later, where do we stand?
- In Argentina, in April 2013, at a hearing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Argentine diplomat Pablo Tettamanti stated, "It is now a problem of internal security in Haiti, and the MINUSTAH forces are not there for that. Before, it was justified, but not now, because the protests are internal affairs of Haiti and we have nothing to do with that."
- Even the interim director of the MINUSTAH forces, Mr. Nigel Fisher, said in an interview in February 2013 that "the presence of MINUSTAH in Haiti is leading to a 'dead end'."
- Once again, on May 28, 2013, the Haitian Senate passed a resolution calling "for the withdrawal of MINUSTAH. "
FOR THE IMMEDIATE WITHDRAWAL OF MINUSTAH!
It follows from these observations that the only measure consistent with the sovereignty of the Haitian people and the Haitian nation is the immediate withdrawal of UN-MINUSTAH troops from Haiti!
It is now, right now, that each and every government can and must decide to withdraw its troops. Not one more day for MINUSTAH in Haiti!
As part of the the effort to expand our campaign for the immediate withdrawal of MINUSTAH from Haiti with the broadest unity and determination, the bearers of this Open Letter have been mandated by our Conference to convey to you our urgent and unanimous demands:
- Withdraw your troops from Haiti immediately!
- Vote at the UN against the renewal of the presence of MINUSTAH in Haiti!
- Show your solidarity with the Haitian people by requiring UN compensation/reparations for the victims of cholera!
To Defend Haiti Is to Defend Ourselves!
4 - We, delegates from Haiti, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, El Salvador, the United States, Algeria, and France, meeting in Port-au-Prince in the framework of the Continental Conference for the Withdrawal of MINUSTAH Troops -- with the support of organizations, associations, and personalities in a dozen countries, including Uruguay (4);
- Welcome all the mobilizations and activities demanding the withdrawal of UN troops from Haiti that are taking place across the continent this June 1, 2013 -- the 9th anniversary of the occupation of Haiti;
- Resolve to constitute a "To Defend Haiti Is to Defend Ourselves! Continental Coordinating Committee" to continue and strengthen the solidarity and unity of the people through an ongoing campaign for the withdrawal of the UN-MINUSTAH troops occupying the Haitian soil.
The Coordinating Committee will aim to strengthen the coordination between the organizations already involved in this fight: the Association of Workers and Peoples of the Caribbean (ATPC); the Sao Paulo Committee "To Defend Haiti Is to Defend Ourselves"; the Guadeloupe-Haiti Campaign Committee, New York; the Host Committee of the Continental Conference in Haiti and the Mexican Committee For the Withdrawal of of UN Troops from Haiti, among the many others, and to allow the emergence of other such committees.
- Propose toward this end a Week of Continental Action on July 29 to August 3, 2013 -- with mobilizations in all countries, including rallies, demonstrations, delegations to governments, petitions, etc.
- We pledge as of now, if these actions prove to be insufficient to attain our demands, to prepare the sending of an even broader delegation to the UN headquarters in New York in October 2013, at the time of the ratification of the renewal of UN-MINUSTAH mandate in Haiti.
* * * * *
Endnotes
(1) An entire radio program in Bolivia was devoted to this conference in Haiti.
(2) HOPE: Haiti Opportunity Partnership Encouragement act
(3) Report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (S/2013/139), March 8, 2013
(4) At the initiative of the PIT-CNT trade union federation, several Uruguayan organizations participated in much of the Haiti conference via Skype
Call Issued by the Haitian Host Committee of the June 1, 2013 Continental Conference for the Withdrawal of MINUSTAH Troops from Haiti
"To Defend Haiti Is to Defend Ourselves!"
Dear comrades, Dear friends,
As you have been informed, a very broad delegation consisting of representatives from organizations and personalities from the Caribbean and the Americas was received October 11, 2012, at the United Nations in New York, where they demanded the immediate withdrawal of UN-MINUSTAH troops from Haiti and reparations for all the cholera victims.
This initiative followed on the heels of other such initiatives in recent years, including:
- The Continental Meeting for the Immediate Withdrawal of UN Troops from Haiti, held November 5, 2011, in São Paulo (Brazil);
- The Caribbean Conference "Let’s Act Together for a Sovereign Haiti – MINUSTAH Troops Out Now!", which took place in Vertières (Cap-Haïtien), on November 16- 18, 2011;
- The Continental Day of Action on June 1, 2012, for the immediate withdrawal of MINUSTAH troops from Haiti and full sovereignty for the Haitian people;
The delegation launched from the headquarters of the United Nations in New York, a Call for a Continental Conference on June 1, 2013, For the Withdrawal of MINUSTAH Troops From Haiti – a call that concludes as follows:
“After eight years, one more year is inadmissible!
To all workers, youth, trade union and democratic organizations, we say: More than ever, the time has come to put an end to this situation. We call for the preparation, as of today, of a broad and representative Continental Conference "To Defend Haiti Is to Defend Ourselves" to take place in Haiti, on June 1, 2013. At the very moments when the new troops are slated to arrive, the delegations from all our countries will be present on Haitian soil to reject the presence of the MINUSTAH troops.
We take up as our own the demands of the Sao Paulo Pledge and the Vertières Conference:
* Cancellation of Haiti's foreign debt!
* Reimbursement of the money that was extorted at Haiti's independence!
* Reparations for the families of the cholera victims and the violations of human rights!
* Immediate withdrawal of the UN troops from Haiti!”
The call for the conference was signed by Julio Turra, Member of the National Executive Committee, Central Unica dos Trabalhadores do Brasil (CUT), Brazil; Senator Moise Jean Charles, Haiti; Pablo Micheli, General Secretary of the Confederación de los Trabajadores de la Argentina (CTA), Argentina; Jocelyn Lapitre, LKP and ATPC, Guadeloupe; Fignolé St Cyr, General Secretary, Confederation Autonome des Travailleurs Haitiens (CATH), Haiti; Geffrard Jude Joseph, Director, Radio Panou, Brooklyn, New York; Colia Clark, Co-Convenor, Guadeloupe-Haiti Campaign Committee USA, New York, New York; Alan Benjamin, US Committee, International Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples (ILC), San Francisco, California; member, Executive Committee, San Francisco Labor Council (AFL-CIO); Kim Ives, Editorial Board, Haiti-Liberté, New York; Robert Garoute, MPDH, Brooklyn, New York.
To ensure the success of the Continental Conference on June 1, 2013, in Haiti, we the undersigned Haitian trade union and political officials and activists have constituted ourselves as a Host Committee, working in coordination with the Association of Workers and Peoples of the Caribbean (ATPC), and the Committee “To Defend Haiti Is to Defend Ourselves” in São Paulo (Brazil), both of which supported the initiatives demanding the withdrawal of MINUSTAH troops from Haiti mentioned above.
Ann pote kole pou Minista ale!
Let’s Unite for the withdrawal of the MINUSTAH troops!
Signatories:
Raymon Dalvius, President, GLOBS (coalition of grassroots organizations and unions); Delva, Coordinator, OPLB: Organization for the Liberation of Peasants of the Bas Gros Morne; Fignole St-Cyr, General Secretary, CATH (Autonomous Confederation of Haitian Workers); Fatal Jean Ronald Kolinsky, General Secretary of CTSP: Confederation of the Public Sector Workers, Archelus Charles Auguste, President, CFOH (Confederation of Haitian Labor Forces; Pierre Léonel, Coordinator, GIEL (Initiative Group of Teachers in High Schools), Yves Pierre-Louis, Haiti-Liberté; Rony Jean-Emile, Student; Natasha Pierre, Coordination for a PTA; Herve Paul, Member, CTSP (in a personal capacity); Rosemond Michel, Coordinator, COCIAs, educator, Cap-Haitien; Andrea St Ange, Trade unionist, Chair of Women’s Commision, CATH; Ismael Denis, Trade unionist, SYNOTHAG (in the “free zone” of Port-au-Prince; Yveline Antoine, Student in science and development (Cap Haïtien); Jean-Robert Julme, President, Service Employees Union and member of CTSP.
Initial memo regarding conference logistics and organization:
Dates of conference: May 31 and June 1, 2013 (with the possibility of holding a public rally on the first day of the conference)
Place: Plaza-Hotel, Champs de Mars (Port au Prince)
Estimated cost per delegate: US$ 310 per person in a double room, or US$415 per person in a single room. The cost per delegate includes: 3 nights at the hotel (May 30, May 31 and June1, 2013); All Meals; Registration fee to help defray the conference costs.
THE PLEDGE OF SAO PAULO
"Aba Okipasyon, Aba Minustah"
UN Troops Out of Haiti!
Gathered at a public rally at the City Hall of Sao Paulo, coming from seven countries whose governments are involved in the occupation of Haiti and from 12 different states in Brazil, we have signed a pledge of militant solidarity with the sovereign black nation of Haiti!
For more than seven years, the troops from the "UN Mission for the Stabilization of Haiti," or MINUSTAH, have been responsible for the violation of Haiti's sovereignty and for attacks on their human rights – the "collateral" effects of a permanent state of war – along with repression of democratic, union, student and popular demonstrations. The MINUSTAH troops introduced the cholera bacteria into the country that has already killed 6,600 Haitians and contaminated more than 475,000. Accusations of sexual violence and rape of young people hang over their heads; these are crimes for which they have impunity given their legal immunity.
This past October 15, the UN Security Council, indifferent to the demands expressed by various sectors in many countries, and by the Haitian people themselves, renewed the MINUSTAH mandate for another year (previously reduced before the earthquake) “until 15 October 2012, with the intention of further renewal"!
We establish this pledge, and call upon all peoples, together with their organizations, not to leave the streets until this military operation is ended, thereby uniting fraternally with the Haitian people who are demanding respect for their sovereignty through continued demonstrations against the occupation – which should not be replaced with mercenary troops.
We have a historic debt to the Haitian people. Haiti was a pioneer in the abolition of slavery: 208 years ago they expelled Napoleon's colonial troops and established the first black republic in the world. But they were obliged to pay "reparations" for losses of French-owned land and slaves, at the cost of a huge drain of resources throughout their history.
Haiti suffered several military occupations, the last in 2004, decided by U.S. imperialism along with France and Canada, which overthrew then elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
Since then, it has been subjected to the occupation by troops and police from 40 countries, controlled by the Brazilian army, and masked by the UN as a "stabilization mission."
The Brazilian government has taken responsibility, not in our name, for the military command of MINUSTAH troops, which encapsulates imperialist interests. Indeed, this occupation renders even easier the vile exploitation of the local work force by multinationals in "free zones" with no rights or social protections, with savage repression of workers that is denounced by their organizations. This happens under the de-facto tutelage of the CIRH, the so-called Interim Commission for the Reconstruction of Haiti, whose head is no less than Bill Clinton.
We establish the pledge, and demand of the governments of our countries – Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Bolivia, USA, France ... – to immediately cease their participation in this shameful operation. The presence of UN troops did not even help those affected by the earthquake, as the powers-that-be preferred to bail out the rich neighborhoods. Almost two years after this catastrophe, more than one million Haitians remain homeless. Neither did it serve to establish democracy, nor could it. The troops were the guarantors, for example, of the last sham election, where only 25% of Haitians voted.
Starting today, we constitute ourselves into a Continental Committee for the Immediate Withdrawal of UN troops from Haiti – supported by similar actions taking place this day in Canada, Mexico, Peru and Ecuador.
We call for the creation of Committees for the Immediate Withdrawal in all countries on the continent. And we propose, in particular to the Caribbean Conference in Cap Haïtien, Haiti (November 16-18), a Continental Day of Action for the Withdrawal of Troops from Haiti on the 8th anniversary of the most recent occupation of Haiti -- that is, June 1, 2012 with actions and demonstrations aimed at their governments.
We therefore affirm and call for:
● Haiti needs doctors, engineers, teachers and technicians -- not occupation troops!
● Cancellation of Haiti's foreign debt! Reparations for the value of the compensation paid to the immoral debt following Haiti's independence!
● Reparation for the families of victims of cholera and human rights violations!
● Immediate withdrawal of UN troops from Haiti!
This is our pledge; because defending Haiti means defending ourselves!
Haiti: Fignolé St Cyr, Autonomous Central of Haitian Workers (CATH); United States: Colia Clark, civil rights movement activist in the 1960s (NAACP militant in Mississippi); Kim Ives, Haiti Liberté newspaper; Dan Coughlin, The Nation magazine; Bolivia: Nelson Guevara Aranda, Miners Union of Huanuni; Uruguay: Hugo Dominguez, Metallurgical Union of PIT-CNT; Andres Uriostes, coordinator of the Uruguayan Committee to Withdraw the Troops; Argentina: Natalia Saralegui, Argentine Committee to Withdraw the Troops; Prof. Henry Boisrolin, Haitian Democratic Committee of Argentina; France: Jean Marquiset, Independent Workers Party (POI); Brazil: Julio Turra, CUT; Joaquin Piñero, MST; Joelson Souza, Juventude Revolução; Milton Barbosa, MNU; Rosi Wansetto, Jubileu Sul; Markus Sokol, Corrente O Trabalho of the PT; Deputy Adriano Diogo (PT/SP), Deputy Jose Candido (PT/SP); Claudinho Silva, SOS Racismo/Secr Estadual Combate Racismo PT; Lucia Skromov, Pro Haiti Committee; Barbara Corrales, Committee to Defend Haiti is Defend Ourselves.
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