The Minnesota Anti-War Committee Says HANDS OFF HAITI!
The Minnesota Anti-War Committee Says HANDS OFF HAITI!
No More US Invasions of Haiti!
October 24, 2022
The Anti-War Committee, joins with people of conscience globally in condemning US plans to invade Haiti. No more killing and no more neo-colonialism in our name! Shame on America for wanting to invade Haiti…for the third time in our nation’s history!
US forces are preparing to once again deploy to Haiti to crush the Haitian popular movements, which have led the Americas in the struggle against colonialism, imperialism, and slavery for 200 years. Ever since the enslaved Haitian people rose up in the Haitian Revolution of 1791 to 1804, Haiti has faced US financial and military bullying. France and the US forced Haiti to pay $30 billion to buy their own freedom from their former slave masters – disgusting! Then, a US occupation from 1915 to 1934 killed thousands in forced labor on the island, followed by US-backed Duvalier family dictatorships from 1957 to 1986. A second US invasion happened as recently as 1994, imposing harsh economic reforms.
Following the devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti – and US-backed coups in 1991 and 2004 – US disaster capitalists swooped in, reorganizing the Haitian government to suit their purposes. President Obama sent the Clinton and Bush families to open up the market for cruise lines and sweatshops in order to, as Clinton said, ‘create more jobs by lowering the cost of doing business’. For the last decade, under false promises of shared prosperity, land has been emptied of the people and sold to international companies like Coca-Cola and JCPenny, as well as local oligarchs. In order to facilitate this and counter massive popular protests, the US has armed the Haitian police.
The Haitian popular movement is fighting the ongoing erosion of the democratic norms established following the 1986 revolutionary movement that ousted “President-for-Life” Jean-Claude Duvalier and drafted a new democratic constitution. Tens of thousands have taken to the streets for the last 4 years demanding real solutions to the political and economic crises in Haiti. They call for the resignation of the US-backed Acting-President Ariel Henry (a politico straight out of DC), a $15-a-day minimum wage, and an end to US financial domination, among other demands . Previously, in 2009, the Haitian parliament tried to increase minimum wages on the island to $5 per day, but the US government intervened on behalf of GAP, Hanes, Fruit of the Loom, and other multinational apparel brands to block the bill.
Current President Henry has recently requested a military intervention in Haiti at the UN to oppose the popular movement advocating for those norms. The US, as well as allied OAS and Canada, have signaled a willingness to do so, although China and other UN countries have voiced serious concerns about another imperialist intervention on the island.The invasions and other economic coercion suffered by the Haitian people have kept them from self-determination, and another invasion will only make things that much worse. Haitian people clearly understand and oppose further US imperial intervention. They have a right to dignity and self-determination, not more US control and starvation! Hands Off Haiti!