NO TO FOREIGN MILITARY INTERVENTION IN HAITI! YES, TO HAITIAN SELF-DETERMINATION!

The Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) urges the leaders of the nations of the Americas to oppose the upcoming United Nations’ decision to renew the Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) in Haiti for another 12 months. Additionally, we call on these regional leaders to challenge the United States' proposal to convert this MSS into a full-fledged UN Peacekeeping mission by 2025.

On October 16, 2022, the Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) sent a letter urging the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation to “respect Haitian sovereignty and support the Haitian masses in their stand against the ongoing occupation of their country by foreign powers” by using their veto power and voting against another armed intervention and occupation into Haiti. In this letter, we outlined why the Haitian people perceive the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) as a foreign occupation that has undermined their independence and sovereignty since 2004. On October 3, 2023, we and over 100 social and civic movements and organizations throughout the Americas, including in Haiti and the diaspora, issued a joint statement denouncing the UN Security Council's approval of the U.S.-orchestrated, Kenya-led MSS to Haiti. In these, we laid out demands in line with those of Haitian civic and social organizations. The Haitian people are resolute in their opposition to foreign intervention and remain steadfast in their commitment to self-determination.

As we articulated in our previous letter and statement, Haiti has endured a long history of U.S. intervention and occupation. The Haitian people recognize that their current challenges stem directly from the persistent meddling of the United States, the United Nations, and the Core Group. They are unequivocal in their belief that all U.S.-led foreign interventions over the past decades have been illegal and illegitimate. Notably, the current Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) lacks legitimacy, having been authorized under the auspices of an illegitimate and U.S.-installed Prime Minister, Ariel Henry. Subsequently, the U.S., with the support of CARICOM, established a nine-member “Presidential Council” and Prime Minister, neither of which has any legal status or legitimacy in Haiti, all without the backing of the Haitian populace or the opportunity for a democratic selection process. Importantly, the U.S. demanded that those permitted on the “Presidential Council” consent to foreign intervention (the MSS). Thus, the entire process that led to the imposition of a foreign force in Haiti is fundamentally fraudulent. 

We find it extremely worrisome that the U.S. has enlisted foreign proxies—such as police and military forces from Kenya, Jamaica, and Belize—to implement its foreign policy objectives in the region. It is equally alarming that these foreign forces, as part of the MSS, enjoy effective immunity for their actions in Haiti. Given the traumatic legacy of the last UN peacekeeping mission (MINUSTAH, 2004-2017), which was marred by violence, sexual exploitation, and a cholera epidemic, we view the MSS as a threat not only to Haiti’s sovereignty but also to the health and wellbeing of its people, particularly its children.

The Black Alliance for Peace also challenges the U.S. claim of addressing “gang violence” in Haiti. We assert that the U.S. and the so-called “international community” (including France and Canada) are fully aware that the current “gang violence” is funded and supported by Haiti’s oligarchs and the U.S.-backed political elite. This group imports weapons into the country and pays young men to instigate chaos, which is then used to manufacture consent for further invasion and occupation of Haiti. This is similar to the way the U.S. and France have increased the problem of “terrorism” in West and East Africa as a ruse to create U.S. military forces in that region, which we see in the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM). The awareness of these underlying dynamics is underscored by the sanctions imposed by the U.S. and Canada on several members of Haiti’s economic and political elite, including former Haitian president Michel Martelly, who was installed by the U.S.

In a time of global upheaval, marked by a live-streamed genocide in Gaza and violent clashes between cartels and police in Mexico, it is perplexing that the U.S., France, and Canada are advocating for foreign occupation of Haiti—a country facing internal conflicts that do not threaten regional or global security. We must question the U.S. insistence on maintaining a military presence in Haiti at this juncture. 

As an anti-war and anti-imperialist organization, the Black Alliance for Peace warns that the U.S. aims to use Haiti as a staging ground for a permanent military base in the region to, as articulated in its foreign policy documents, secure “U.S. national security and interests” and manage rival powers, presumably Russia and China.

We once again call on your countries to respect Haitian sovereignty and support the Haitian masses in their ongoing struggle against the relentless occupation by foreign powers. Only the Haitian people can determine their own solutions. Their leaders must not be selected by the U.S. or any other foreign entity. Allowing continuous U.S. and Western control over Haiti’s political apparatus not only threatens to extinguish the nation’s hard-won sovereignty, but also weakens the sovereignty and self-determinative capacities of every other nation in the Caribbean, Central, and South America. 

As we know, Haiti is a laboratory for U.S. and Western imperialist policies and practices of domination and intervention. What is visited upon Haiti will inevitably be visited upon other nations in the hemisphere. We have seen this in Honduras as the U.S. ambassador acts like a government representative in a foreign land, against the sovereignty of that nation and its President, Xiomara Castro. This is a strategy that was fine-tuned in Haiti under the Obama-Clinton foreign policy apparatus and continues to this day. 

We ask that you, leaders throughout the Americas, reject the old colonial divisions that have made the region more susceptible to U.S. intervention, sabotage and neocolonial rule, and use regional mechanisms like CELAC to support Haitian sovereignty. As nations have stood in solidarity with Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua against imperialist assaults, sanctions, and subterfuge aimed at undermining their sovereignty, so should you oppose the interventionist crimes and colonial impositions visited upon Haiti and its people by the U.S., UN and Core Group. As the overwhelming majority of nations and people of the Americas have decried the zionist genocide in Gaza and the ongoing violation of the sovereignty of Palestine and Lebanon, so should you fight against the imperialist actions that have resulted in instability, violence, and mass death in Haiti. There can be no “Zone of Peace” in the Americas if there is no peace and freedom for the people of Haiti.

The Black Alliance for Peace, in alignment with the wishes of the Haitian masses and their supporters, unequivocally opposes continued foreign armed intervention in Haiti. We stand firm in our demand for an end to the relentless meddling by the United States and Western powers in Haitian affairs. We urge your governments and nations to stand in solidarity with the Haitian people in their fight for liberation by opposing the extension of the MSS and any future plans to convert this mission into a UN peacekeeping operation.

Signed,

The Black Alliance for Peace, Haiti/Americas Team

NO A LA INTERVENCIÓN MILITAR EXTRANJERA EN HAITÍ!

SÍ A LA AUTODETERMINACIÓN DEL PUEBLO HAITIANO!

Una Carta Abierta a los Líderes de las Naciones de las Américas

La Alianza Negra por la Paz (BAP) insta a los líderes de las naciones de las Américas a oponerse a la próxima decisión de las Naciones Unidas de renovar la Misión Multinacional de Apoyo a la Seguridad (MSS) en Haití por 12 meses adicionales. Además, hacemos un llamado a todos los líderes regionales a desafiar la propuesta de Estados Unidos de convertir esta MSS en una misión de mantenimiento de la paz de la ONU para el año 2025.

El 16 de octubre de 2022, la Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) envió una carta instando a la República Popular de China y a la Federación Rusa a “respetar la soberanía haitiana y apoyar a las masas haitianas en su lucha contra la ocupación continua de su país por parte de potencias extranjeras”, utilizando su poder de veto y votando en contra de otra intervención armada y ocupación en Haití. En esta carta, explicamos por qué el pueblo haitiano percibe a la Oficina Integrada de las Naciones Unidas en Haití (BINUH) como una ocupación extranjera que ha socavado su independencia y soberanía desde 2004. El 3 de octubre de 2023, junto con más de 100 movimientos sociales y organizaciones cívicas a lo largo de las Américas, incluyendo Haití y su diáspora, emitimos una declaración conjunta denunciando la aprobación por parte del Consejo de Seguridad de la ONU de la MSS liderada por Kenia y orquestada por Estados Unidos. En estos documentos, presentamos demandas en línea con las de las organizaciones cívicas y sociales haitianas. El pueblo haitiano es firme en su oposición a la intervención extranjera y permanece decidido en su compromiso con la autodeterminación.

Como señalamos en nuestra carta y declaración anteriores, Haití ha soportado una larga historia de intervenciones y ocupaciones por parte de Estados Unidos. El pueblo haitiano reconoce que sus desafíos actuales provienen directamente de la injerencia persistente de Estados Unidos, las Naciones Unidas y el Core Group. Son claros en su convicción de que todas las intervenciones extranjeras lideradas por EE.UU. en las últimas décadas han sido ilegales e ilegítimas. Cabe destacar que la actual Misión Multinacional de Apoyo a la Seguridad (MSS) carece de legitimidad, ya que fue autorizada bajo los auspicios de un Primer Ministro ilegítimo impuesto por EE.UU., Ariel Henry. Posteriormente, EE.UU., con el apoyo de CARICOM, estableció un “Consejo Presidencial” de nueve miembros y un Primer Ministro, ninguno de los cuales tiene estatus o legitimidad legal en Haití, y todo esto sin el respaldo del pueblo haitiano ni la oportunidad de un proceso de selección democrático. Es importante señalar que EE.UU. exigió que aquellos permitidos en el “Consejo Presidencial” consintieran la intervención extranjera (la MSS). Por lo tanto, todo el proceso que llevó a la imposición de una fuerza extranjera en Haití es fundamentalmente fraudulento.

Nos preocupa profundamente que EE.UU. haya reclutado proxies extranjeros, como fuerzas policiales y militares de Kenia, Jamaica y Belice, para implementar sus objetivos de política exterior en la región. Igualmente alarmante es que estas fuerzas extranjeras, como parte de la MSS, disfruten de una inmunidad efectiva por sus acciones en Haití. Dado el legado traumático de la última misión de paz de la ONU (MINUSTAH, 2004-2017), marcada por la violencia, la explotación sexual y una epidemia de cólera, consideramos la MSS como una amenaza no solo para la soberanía de Haití, sino también para la salud y el bienestar de su pueblo, en particular sus niños.

La Alianza Negra por la Paz también desafía la afirmación de EE.UU. de que está abordando la “violencia de pandillas” en Haití. Afirmamos que EE.UU. y la llamada “comunidad internacional” (incluyendo Francia y Canadá) son plenamente conscientes de que la actual “violencia de pandillas” está financiada y respaldada por los oligarcas haitianos y la élite política respaldada por EE.UU. Este grupo importa armas al país y paga a jóvenes para que generen caos, lo que luego se utiliza para fabricar consenso a favor de más invasiones y ocupaciones en Haití. Esto es similar a cómo EE.UU. y Francia han aumentado el problema del “terrorismo” en África Occidental y Oriental como un pretexto para crear fuerzas militares estadounidenses en esa región, como vemos en el Comando África de EE.UU. (AFRICOM). La conciencia de estas dinámicas subyacentes se refleja en las sanciones impuestas por EE.UU. y Canadá a varios miembros de la élite económica y política de Haití, incluyendo al expresidente haitiano Michel Martelly, quien fue instalado por EE.UU.

En un momento de agitación global, marcado por un genocidio transmitido en vivo en Gaza y enfrentamientos violentos entre cárteles y policías en México, resulta desconcertante que EE.UU., Francia y Canadá estén abogando por la ocupación extranjera de Haití, un país que enfrenta conflictos internos que no amenazan la seguridad regional o global. Debemos cuestionar la insistencia de EE.UU. en mantener una presencia militar en Haití en este momento.

Como organización antiimperialista y antibélica, la Alianza Negra por la Paz advierte que EE.UU. pretende utilizar Haití como plataforma para una base militar permanente en la región, con el fin de, como se articula en sus documentos de política exterior, asegurar la “seguridad e intereses nacionales de EE.UU.” y gestionar potencias rivales, presumiblemente Rusia y China.

Una vez más, hacemos un llamado a sus países para que respeten la soberanía haitiana y apoyen a las masas haitianas en su lucha continua contra la incesante ocupación de potencias extranjeras. Solo el pueblo haitiano puede determinar sus propias soluciones. Sus líderes no deben ser seleccionados por EE.UU. ni por ninguna otra entidad extranjera. Permitir que continúe el control de EE.UU. y Occidente sobre el aparato político de Haití no solo amenaza con extinguir la soberanía tan duramente ganada de la nación, sino que también debilita la soberanía y la capacidad de autodeterminación de todas las demás naciones del Caribe, Centro y Sudamérica. Sabemos que Haití es un laboratorio para las políticas imperialistas de EE.UU. y Occidente de dominación e intervención. Lo que se impone sobre Haití, inevitablemente se impondrá sobre otras naciones del hemisferio: lo hemos visto en Honduras, donde el embajador estadounidense actúa como un representante del gobierno en una tierra extranjera, en contra de la soberanía de esa nación y de su presidenta, Xiomara Castro. Esta es una estrategia perfeccionada en Haití bajo la política exterior de Obama-Clinton y que continúa hasta el día de hoy.

Pedimos que ustedes, líderes de toda América, rechacen las viejas divisiones coloniales que han hecho a la región más susceptible a la intervención, el sabotaje y el dominio neocolonial de EE.UU., y utilicen los mecanismos regionales como la CELAC para apoyar la soberanía haitiana. Así como las naciones se han solidarizado con Cuba, Venezuela y Nicaragua contra los asaltos imperialistas, las sanciones y la subversión que buscan socavar su soberanía, así deben oponerse a los crímenes intervencionistas e imposiciones coloniales que Estados Unidos, la ONU y el Core Group han impuesto sobre Haití y su pueblo. Así como la mayoría de las naciones y pueblos de las Américas han denunciado el genocidio sionista en Gaza y la violación continua de la soberanía de Palestina y Líbano, deben luchar contra las acciones imperialistas que han resultado en inestabilidad, violencia y muerte masiva en Haití. No puede haber una “Zona de Paz” en las Américas si no hay paz y libertad para el pueblo de Haití.

La Alianza Negra por la Paz, en alineación con los deseos de las masas haitianas y sus seguidores, se opone de manera inequívoca a la continua intervención armada extranjera en Haití. Mantenemos firme nuestra demanda de poner fin a la incesante intromisión de Estados Unidos y las potencias occidentales en los asuntos haitianos. Instamos a sus gobiernos y naciones a solidarizarse con el pueblo haitiano en su lucha por la liberación, oponiéndose a la extensión de la MSS y a cualquier plan futuro de convertir esta misión en una operación de mantenimiento de la paz de la ONU.

Firmado,
La Alianza Negra por la Paz, Equipo Haití/Américas

Organizations Globally Condemn the Fascism of the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM): Launch of A Month of Action

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Media Contact
press@blackallianceforpeace.com
(201) 292-4591

Organizations Globally Condemn the Fascism of the 

U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) 

Launch Annual Month of Action to Shut Down AFRICOM

SEPTEMBER 26, 2024 — October 1, 2024, marks the start of the 4th International Month of Action Against AFRICOM (U.S. Africa Command), organized by the Black Alliance for Peace (BAP). Every year, hundreds of organizations around the world endorse and participate in this Month of Action, standing united against the United States’ ongoing military presence in African nations across the continent.

International Month of Action Against AFRICOM will kick off with an international webinar featuring voices from the African continent and diaspora expressing the need for the complete withdrawal of U.S. troops and a complete end to the combatant command. Following the webinar individuals and organizations will engage in a month of autonomous and semi-autonomous actions and events designed to elevate this issue in the public consciousness around the world and encourage the continuation of the resistance against U.S. imperialism.

AFRICOM is the brainchild of the Heritage Foundation, the think tank also known for the creation of Project 2025. The plan was incubated twenty-one years ago, with an eye towards low-priced natural resources and control over African security affairs under the guise of the “Global War on Terror.” Launched by the George W. Bush administration and brought to full operation by the Barack Obama administration, AFRICOM is most known for the destruction of Libya resulting in tens of thousands dead, and millions displaced. The U.S. continues to refine and expand the tactics employed in Libya across the continent.

This year’s Month of Action Against AFRICOM comes at a pivotal geopolitical moment for Africa. The continent is experiencing widespread anti-neocolonialist movements including: (1) the successful expelling of AFRICOM from Niger, (2) admission and evidence that U.S. ally Ukraine has supported terrorism in Mali, and (3) popular mass mobilizations against governments propped up by the U.S. that are facing state repression, ie. Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda etc.

The Month of Action Against AFRICOM does not represent the full extent of BAP’s work against the neocolonial occupation of Africa. BAP continues to call for the dismantling of NATO, AFRICOM and all imperialist structures. Africa and the rest of the world cannot be free until all Peoples can exercise their sovereignty and the right to live free of domination.

BAP’s Demands include:

• The complete withdrawal of U.S. forces from Africa;

• The demilitarization of the African Continent;

• The closure of U.S. bases throughout the world; and

• The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) oppose the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) and conduct hearings on AFRICOM’s impact on the African continent, with the full participation of members of U.S. and African civil society.

To learn more about BAP’s International Month of Action Against AFRICOM, please visit our web page. You can also see informational materials about the Month of Action in our media kit.

The Black Alliance for Peace Condemns U.S. Convictions of Uhuru 3 As A Fascist Farce

The Black Alliance for Peace Condemns U.S. Convictions of Uhuru 3 As A Fascist Farce

After being forced to acquit Omali Yeshitela, Jesse Nevel, and Penny Hess – the “Uhuru 3” – on being agents of Russia, a U.S. federal court jury resorted to the sham conviction of “conspiracy,” in what amounted to them being guilty of internationalism and the work of liberating African people. The state’s claim is that the defendants are guilty of “planning to sow discord and inflame American political tensions at the behest of Russia,” a charge carrying a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

Although the conspiracy charge is being regarded as the less serious of the two changes, it presents a threat to all anti-imperialists and internationalists working in the bowels of the capitalist, U.S. settler state. “Conspiracy” is a U.S. legal fiction that can mean almost anything. From the definition, it is clear that determining what counts as conspiracy is often left up to the creativity of prosecution. In other words, “conspiracy” should be understood as the state deploying anything vague and circumstantial to use against our movement when it cannot get a conviction on anything else. 

The Black Alliance for Peace sounds the alarm about the danger this particular ruling represents – the severe undermining of the human right to free speech and the free flow of information. It is the creation of Orwellian, totalitarian legal precedence in support of “thoughtcrimes,” the offense of thinking in ways not approved by the U.S. settler state.

The trial of the “Uhuru 3,” members and supporters of the African People’s Socialist Party, is “proving to be one of the most important First Amendment cases thus far in the 21st century,” according to the group’s attorney Jenipher Jones. The case also exposes the fact that the U.S. has no regard for human rights. It violates Articles 19 and 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which protects the right to freedom of expression and opinion and freedom of association, as does Article 19 of International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

It is also significant that a small Pan-Africanist group is the first to face legal charges and other overt repression for speaking out against the racist and imperialist policies of the U.S. regime. 

After the verdict Omali Yeshitela said:

“The most important thing is that they were unable to convict us for working for anybody except Black people, that's the most important thing. They could not convict us for working for anybody except black people. They had to say we were not working for the Russians and I am willing to be charged and found guilty of working for black people.”

But BAP suspects that this is a test case for what is to come from the racist U.S. settler state. All activists and anti-imperialists should be concerned about what has happened to the “Uhuru 3.” 

As we declared in our September 10th statement: “BAP and our movement will not be intimated. We recognize that the complete abandonment of constitutional and human rights by the U.S. and other Western states represents an irreversible crisis of legitimacy. We will continue to stand in support of the right to resist as a core human right.”

No Compromise!
No Retreat!

BAP Coordinating Committee

BAP Condemns U.S. Plans for Yet Another UN Military Occupation of Haiti

We urge people of conscience around the world to stop another United Nations invasion of Haiti.

SEPTEMBER 10,  2024 – Once again, the Haiti/Americas Team of the Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) strongly denounces the latest attempts by the U.S. to push for yet another UN military occupation of Haiti. We condemn this action and the relentless assaults on Haitian self-determination by the US and its criminal allies. We also urge Caribbean and Latin American governments to stand in solidarity with Haiti – just as they have stood with one another against violations of national sovereignty in Venezuela, Cuba, Honduras, etc. – as the Haitian people continue to bear the brunt of U.S. imperial policies and actions in the region. 

On September 5th and 6th, the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Haiti and the Dominican Republic. In Haiti, Blinken met with members of the US- and CARICOM-imposed “presidential council” and the illegitimate Prime Minister of Haiti to discuss support for the Kenyan and U.S. occupation forces currently present in the country. 

On September 5, 2024, a group of Haitian and Dominican organizations released a statement denouncing Blinken’s visit to the island (English translation here). The statement titled, “Repudiation of the Presence of the Representative of Yankee Imperialism in Haiti and the Dominican Republic,” declared:

This interventionist visit will bring no good to the Haitian people, nor to the Dominican people. Rather, it will seek to consolidate the neocolonial domination imposed on Haiti since the first U.S. military occupation (1915-1934) and on the Dominican Republic (1916-1924). In fact, Blinken’s only mission is to protect the interests of imperialism in Haiti and those of Haiti's small, repugnant elite class. He will do the same in the Dominican Republic.

Soon after Blinken’s departure from the island, Western media revealed the true U.S. objective of his visit: transforming the illegal, unpopular, and inept U.S.-led Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission of 400 Kenyan police officers into a full-scale UN occupation (cynically referred to as a “peacekeeping operation.”). This was further confirmed by reports that the UN Security Council is considering a resolution to deploy a military force to Haiti.

BAP’s position has been consistent and unwavering: we support Haitian self-determination. We will continue to struggle against foreign invasion and occupation of the country. Since 2021, we have advocated against U.S. imperial machinations in Haiti, including the continuing renewal of the mandate of the UN office in Haiti (BINUH), which Haitian people see as an occupation force, and the establishment of the MSS. BAP challenged the narrative of “gang violence” as a pretext for occupation and argued that it is the U.S.’s own puppets and Haitian oligarchs that are arming young men in Haiti. We warned that the MSS was a temporary cover for a more permanent military occupation of Haiti through proxies, and with the blessing of the UN. And we continue to remind people of the brutal repercussions of the two decades-long 2004 UN intervention and occupation of Haiti.

In solidarity with Haitian and Dominican organizations opposing U.S. imperialism, and in defense of Haitian self-determination and sovereignty, the Haiti/Americas Team of the Black Alliance for Peace demands an end to the current occupation of Haiti, calling for the closure of the BINUH office in Haiti, and the removal of Kenyan and U.S. militarized police from the country. We also demand that the UNSC cease its interference in Haitian affairs on behalf of the U.S. 

We urge people of conscience around the world to help stop another UN invasion of Haiti and, we also warn leaders of the Caribbean and Latin America – who have either remained silent or are actively participating in the U.S. usurpation of Haitian sovereignty  – that if Haiti is not free from U.S. bullying and imperial control, no other country in the region will be free.

DEFEND HAITIAN SOVEREIGNTY!

U.S. OUT OF HAITI AND THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC!

END THE U.S./EU/NATO AXIS OF DOMINATION!

Responsibility for the Kenya Crisis Lies At the Feet of US Neo-Colonialism

Responsibility for the Kenya Crisis Lies At the Feet of US Neo-Colonialism

The excessive support and public adoration the U.S. government has given to Kenya’s President William Ruto represents the racist contempt this settler state has for all of Africa and for the domestic population of descendants from the continent. Two days before African Liberation Day on May 25th and one month before the Kenyan police’s brutal crackdown on protests against the US-IMF backed Finance Act that increases taxes up to 35% on essential goods, U.S. President Biden rolled out a red carpet for Ruto at a White House state dinner.

The debt that this bill is supposed to address only exists because of the incessant and indiscriminate borrowing by the previous government of Kenya, for which Ruto was vice-president. Ruto is a Grade A lackey for U.S. interests reminiscent of the dictator Mobutu of the Democratic Republic of Congo (then Zaire) who U.S. imperialism supported for 32 years in order to plunder the Congo.

U.S. neo-colonialism praised as an “endearing” and “enduring” democracy, the Ruto presidency, a puppet government that unleashed its notoriously vicious police to reportedly arrest more than 300, kill as many as 23 and injure dozens of Kenyan citizens in the demonstrations over the past week. These police are the same force U.S. imperialism has maneuvered into being dispatched to Haiti to contain the people’s resistance against imperialism in that Caribbean nation.

An elevation in the parlance of U.S. statecraft is the paternalistic promise of granting Kenya the status of a “Major Non-NATO Ally,” a role granted to the African Union’s African Standby Force. This designation is in sharp contrast to the Alliance of Sahel States newly formed confederation which is a declaration of African self-determination.

The Africa Team of the Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) and the organizing arm U.S. Out of Africa Network (USOAN) stands in uncompromising solidarity with the masses of Kenyans fighting against the proposed Finance Bill 2024. We denounce in the strongest terms the complicity of the U.S., especially its Black misleaders in Congress, in passing this legislation. In fact the day the bill was introduced in the Kenyan parliament, members of the  U.S congress were present including Barbara Lee. 

Ruto must go! U.S. Out of Africa! BAP and USOAN salute the courage and determination of the masses of youth throughout Kenya "Gen Z"! The blood spilled will not be in vain. Our martyrs are alive along-side of the living. We stand unwaveringly with the Gen Z Movement, our people of Kenya!

##

Banner photo: A police officer with a walkie-talkie confronting a protest against the Finance Bill 2024. courtesy: Mathare Justice Center

US Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) Factsheet

Today, the United States is leading the world's largest multinational maritime war exercise from occupied Honolulu, Hawai'i. 25,000 personnel from 29 nations, including NATO allies and other strategic partners, are participating in the Rim of the Pacific, or RIMPAC, under the command of the US Pacific Fleet, a major component of the US Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM).

With RIMPAC now underway, the lands and waters surrounding the Hawaiian Islands are being intensively bombed and shelled as participating forces practice amphibious landings and urban combat training, and the Kānaka Maoli (Native Hawaiians) find their sovereignty once again violated after more than 130 years of colonization by the US.

RIMPAC aims to fortify the colonization and militarization of the Pacific, ensuring the security of the West's imperialist agenda against the rise of China and other threats to the US-led capitalist system. 

In the interest of advancing a political education around the history and purpose of INDOPACOM as part of U.S. militarism, the Solidarity Network for the Black Alliance for Peace has published this comprehensive Fact Sheet on INDOPACOM.

View Here

Black Alliance for Peace Condemns US Black (Mis)Leaders for their Support of US Military Intervention and Occupation of Haiti

The Haiti/Americas Team of the Black Alliance for Peace rebukes the US Black “misleadership” class for its support of the latest US invasion and occupation of Haiti. We condemn the participation of this class in discussions with the US security state and its promotion of imperialist foreign policy objectives aimed at undermining Haitian sovereignty and dignity. 

On March 29, 2024, US Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer led a meeting on Haiti policy with a selected group of “leaders of U.S.-based Black civil rights groups.” The White House’s Readout lists the participants as Reverend Al Sharpton of the National Action Network, Ron Daniels of the Institute of the Black World (IBW21), Marc Morial, President of the National Urban League, Derrick Johnson, President of the NAACP, and Jocelyn McCalla, Senior Policy Advisor for the Haitian-American Foundation for Democracy. Why would the U.S. National Security office sponsor a meeting about Haiti with these groups? The readout claims the U.S. is committed to “ensuring a better future for Haiti.” But the most significant aspect of the meeting was the need, according to the White House, to rally support for “the UN-authorized Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission to Haiti and lifting up Haitian-led solutions to the political impasse.”

It seems that these Black misleaders huddling around the latrine of white power were given their marching orders to manufacture Black consent for continued US occupation and oppression of Haiti. Since that meeting, there has been a ramping up of US Black voices supposedly speaking on behalf of Haiti and Haitians. From Jesse Jackson to Al Sharpton, the main goal seems to be to rally the US Black community to support US foreign policy objectives, using Haiti as staging ground. 

Ron Daniels of IBW21 has been the most egregious, using the crisis in Haiti to raise funds for his organization, while propagating vile stereotypes about Haitian society and supporting US imperialism. In his recent “Haiti on Fire” articles, Daniels describes the country as a “virtual failed state” and a “narco-state” controlled by “vicious gangs,” calling for the Core Group to take the lead in Haiti, and claiming that only a US-ordered, Kenya-led mercenary mission can solve Haiti’s problems. 

By intent or ignorance, Daniels does not once mention the role of the US, France, and Canada in fomenting the crisis in Haiti, portraying it instead as a recent, self-inflicted problem caused by gangs and a few elites. Daniels does not acknowledge that this latest racist western media fascination with "gangs" only began in 2022 as the US was trying to keep its puppet Prime Minister, Ariel Henry, in power. What is most disturbing is that Daniels accepts that the Core Group, the foreign occupying force in Haiti, has legitimacy and has the right to take rule over Haiti. Never mind that Haitian people see the Core Group as a criminal, colonial entity. Daniels also celebrates the US-installed “Presidential Council” in Haiti, stating that this will lead to a “people-based democracy.” Someone should remind Daniels that there is no democracy under occupation.

But we know that it was the US and Core Group – under the cover of pliant misleaders of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) – that handpicked the Haitian participants in the Presidential Council. We also know that all participants in this Council had to first agree to this illegal foreign military invasion of Haiti. In effect, Daniels is not only calling on the same white supremacist arsonists to put out the fire that they themselves lit in Haiti, he also supports another US-led military invasion and occupation of Haiti!

BAP calls on those who support Haiti to not fall for the language of "solidarity" with Haiti when these Black hucksters of western hegemony are using their platform and the language of "brotherhood" and "sisterhood, and a cynical co-optation of “Pan-Africanism" to help US imperialism snuff out Haitian sovereignty. We must remember that the crisis in Haiti is a crisis of imperialism.

Ron Daniels and the IBW21, as well as these other Black misleaders, should be condemned for supporting US imperial policy against the First Black Republic in the modern world. These selected “Leaders of Civil Rights Groups” would do well to know that they are just the third group of Black faces that the US is instrumentalizing,  to invade Haiti, following the pattern set by the CARICOM countries and Kenya (which the U.S. is bribing with $300 million to pretend to lead this disastrous mission). Are they wondering why the US, France, or Canada are refusing to lead the mission, or why they are only now involving them in the discussion? As we have said of the Kenyan government and the CARICOM governments providing armed mercenaries to kill Haitian people, this is Blackface imperialism. 

We would also like to point out to these Black “leaders” that this planned invasion of Haiti, though heralded as a “UN” mission, is actually not. It has the sanction of the UN Security Council, but the UN did not want to take responsibility for the mission because it would need to apply too much “robust use of force” on Haitian people. 

The Black Alliance for Peace continues to denounce US imperialism. But we especially condemn the Black faces of imperialism. We call on all those committed to a world without colonies to reject the Black faces of empire and their lies. Disband the Core Group! End the BINUH occupation! Stop all efforts to impose a new invasion on Haiti!

Dump the Imperialists in Blackface! Solidarity with the resistance! Long live a free Haiti!

The Facts about ECOWAS by The Black Alliance for Peace Africa Team

The US and EU states work with intergovernmental regional organizations like the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) as a geo-strategy to give cover for neo-colonialist interests. As developments in Africa have reached a crucial point, it becomes more important to critically understanding the origin of ECOWAS and its current essential function.

The people have protested against ECOWAS sanctions in response to the military transitional governments in the new Alliance of Sahelian States (AES) viewed by many as a step towards African self-determination. In turn, the leaders of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger have decided to leave ECOWAS, declaring that it has deviated from its original purpose and is now an impediment to their sovereignty.

In the interest of advancing a political education around the history and current role of ECOWAS the Africa Team of the Black Alliance for Peace has published this comprehensive FACT SHEET on ECOWAS.

BAP member Margaret Kimberley Speaks to the UN Security Council

Margaret Kimberley, BAP member and Executive Editor of Black Agenda Report, was invited to brief the United Nations Security Council on May 20, 2024, as a civil society representative. The subject of the meeting was weapons supplies to Ukraine as a threat to peace and security.

Reposted from Black Agenda Report

Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you all for this opportunity to address the Security Council and to provide a briefing on the issue of peace as it relates to Ukraine and its connections with people in this country and all over the world.

As a journalist, Executive Editor of Black Agenda Report, and a member of the Black Alliance for Peace and of the United National Antiwar Coalition, and as a citizen of the United States, the nation which has taken a lead role in continuing this crisis, I am very eager to speak to this issue. As of now, the U.S. government has allocated nearly $175 billion for the Ukrainian war effort and to support the workings of Ukraine’s civilian government.

For the last two years we have seen a terrible war which would end if this country and others would stop providing arms and instead seek peace. There were opportunities for that very thing to happen in March and April of 2022, when the government of Turkiye hosted peace talks between Ukraine and the Russian Federation. The possibility of peace was lost when my country and others subverted these talks by promising the government of Ukraine that it would receive an endless supply of weapons with which to achieve a military victory. Not only has that victory been elusive, but thousands of Ukrainians, the people this country claims to care so much about, have lost their lives. And of course, many Russians have also perished in the fighting. The goal should be for the death toll to end for both nations.

We don’t have to guess why this huge sum of money has been spent. We need only recall what the president of the United States and his foreign policy team have said publicly. The Secretary of Defense famously said in a rare moment of candor, that the U.S. wanted to “see Russia weakened.” This is a dangerous goal for the United States to have at all. The world needs cooperation. It is the only way to avoid escalation and disastrous outcomes between the major powers. The U.S. shouldn’t be attempting to weaken any nation but should be continuously engaged in finding ways to prevent and to end conflicts.

Not only is the Secretary’s confession dangerous, but it has surely failed. President Biden himself said that U.S. imposed sanctions against Russia would “turn the ruble to rubble.” No such thing has happened, but other nations have suffered economically from the futile effort to keep Russian oil off of world markets. Global South nations in particular were most impacted by what turned out to be a failed effort against Russia. More developed nations, those in Europe, have been deprived of affordable gas supplies they reliably received from Russia for decades.

There have been other serious consequences and some of them have fallen on people in this country, the one most responsible for continuing the crisis. Project Ukraine as it is called is a bipartisan effort, with both Democrats and Republicans supporting the continued infusion of huge sums of money to the defense industry, the Military Industrial Complex (MIC) and to dubious projects in Ukraine itself. This funding is not just spent on the military but is literally supplying many domestic government functions within that country. Most Americans are unaware that small businesses in Ukraine are being supported with their public funds. At least $25 billion in non-military aid has been spent.

It isn’t as if people in this country aren’t in need of help. Money for weapons continues thanks to consensus among the political class while needy people here are being removed from the Medicaid program which pays for health care for low-income people, as well as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Students take on thousands of dollars in debt to attend universities. The same administration which is committed to spending money on weapons has never presented a plan to help the estimated 500,000 people in the U.S. who are unhoused. There are constantly calls to cut or end these programs altogether but the funding stream for war remains untouched. Democracy itself is in crisis because of these endless conflicts. War is not the only indicator of violence in the world and peace is not just the absence of conflict. War making leads to immiseration, which is antithetical to the concept of peace.

The U.S. public do not have the unanimity of opinion on Ukraine that one would expect considering that billions of dollars have been allocated. Even those who say they support this effort also say that they would like to see negotiations too. A recent poll indicated that 71% of people in this country would like to see a negotiated settlement instead of ongoing conflict.

But the millions of Americans who want an end to the conflict have been deprived of the representation we are supposed to have. Not only does the administration refuse to reconsider its position, but there are reports that President Biden wants to prevent future presidents from playing a different role. According to President Zelensky, he is working with the U.S. and other NATO nations on a ten-year plan to provide weapons. Joe Biden can only serve for a maximum of four and a half more years, meaning that he wants to make a commitment that a future president could not change. In so doing, he invalidates the concerns of voters in this country and of the people who are supposed to represent them.

As a citizen of the United States, I am frankly shocked by the lengths this country will go to in order to pursue a dangerous plan that is doomed to failure. The most recent tranche of U.S. weapons funding is dependent upon Ukraine mobilizing more men, approximately 500,000. Several million Ukrainians fled to nearby states in 2022 but now they are told they cannot renew their passports abroad. They must return to Ukraine where we see videos of men literally being press ganged into service, dragged off the street and forced to join the military. The freedom that is allegedly being fought for seems to require a lack of freedom for Ukrainians who face the risk of death on the battlefield. This corruption requires a steady stream of indoctrination and propaganda to keep the U.S. population from asking questions or actively opposing the war. I suppose that is why Secretary of State Antony Blinken thought it wise to perform with a Ukrainian band on his last visit to Kiev. Not only that, but neither the Secretary nor his handlers were aware that the song he performed, “Rockin’ in the Free World,” is a lament about poverty and hopelessness in a supposedly free world which isn’t truly free for millions of people. The administration is so divorced from reality that they thought it wise for Secretary Blinken to play this song as men are rounded up to be cannon fodder.

I want to add that this conflict didn’t begin in February 2022. It began years earlier with the U.S. plan to have Ukraine join NATO. In 2008 William Burns, then U.S. Ambassador to Russia, revealed in a cable known to us, because of the work of Wikileaks, that doing so would cross a Russian red line and potentially lead to “a major split, involving violence or at worst civil war.” As we all know Wikileaks publisher Julian Assange languishes in a UK prison, facing extradition to the country that has made an example of him because he has revealed secrets such as this cable.

I reiterate that there have been peace proposals in the past two years, with the most recent attempt being made by the People’s Republic of China, which has developed a comprehensive 12-point plan that could mean the end of destruction and suffering if it is given serious consideration.

Lastly, I would like to make a plea to the United Nations to use its power to investigate a catastrophic event that is tied to the Ukraine conflict. On September 26, 2022, the NordStream pipelines were destroyed in an explosion which also sent approximately 15 million tons of CO2 into the atmosphere, thus contributing to global warming.

Investigations have been closed without conclusion and at least one internationally known investigative journalist has provided evidence of U.S. responsibility. Sadly, no one in a position to investigate in this country has demanded an investigation. It is imperative that the United Nations undertake an independent investigation of its own. This is only possible if fantasies about domination are finally and firmly rejected. Doing so would free nations to be honest with one another, to struggle over issues but to resolve them without death or expenditures of money that are better used for human needs.

I end by thanking you profusely for this opportunity and for the work of the Security Council in upholding the United Nations Charter on behalf of the people of the world. Thank you so much.

Margaret Kimberley is the author of Prejudential: Black America and the Presidents . You can support her work on Patreon and also find it on the Twitter , Bluesky , and Telegram platforms. She can be reached via email at margaret.kimberley@blackagendareport.com .

ATL to GAZA: Free Palestine and Stop Cop Cities

ATL to GAZA: Free Palestine and Stop Cop Cities

To simply denounce the brutal mass arrests, narrative lies, misinformation, and violent repression at Emory University, University of Georgia (UGA), the Atlanta University Center (AUC), and elsewhere in response to the students’ movement for Palestine would not be enough. The Black Alliance for Peace Atlanta Citywide Alliance (BAP-ATL) calls on organizations to unite to smash manifestations of Zionism and U.S. imperialism at home and abroad, and to nationalize the struggle to Stop Cop City through political organization. From Atlanta to Palestine, our struggles are inextricably intertwined, and the latest round of police violence against protesters further proves this. As stated by student organizers from Emory University, “the fight against Cop City and for Palestinian liberation are both frontiers in the same struggle against the mechanisms of state-sanctioned violence and repression.” 

The Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange (GILEE), a deadly exchange program founded in 1992 and housed in Georgia State University’s (GSU) Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, is one way that Zionist violence against Palestinians directly impacts African/Black populations in Georgia and across the U.S.. The program uses a combination of Atlantan’s tax dollars, shady donations from private corporations, and GSU student tuition to facilitate the training and exchange of militarized, apartheid oppression and control tactics between U.S.-based police and the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF). 

The rapid and militarized violence we’ve witnessed not just at Emory and UGA, but across over 150  of campuses now, is a direct result of Zionist deadly exchange programs. Emory President Gregory Fenves and local media claim we are “outside agitators”, as they once also claimed about Martin Luther King Jr. in this same city, while welcoming the militarized police force who are trained by a foreign apartheid state and who recruit as far as New York to fill their ranks. The militarized, imperialist IOF forces who are committing genocide and ethnic cleansing in Gaza live on camera continue to deepen their ties within U.S. police forces, who occupy African/Black neighborhoods at home and turn the violence of imperialism on colonized populations daily.  We uplift and echo the urgent demand of students organizers and residents within the City of Atlanta: END GILEE NOW! 

The IOF utilizes their Urban Warfare Training Center, built in 2005, to "train" IOF soldiers in violent occupation and counter-insurgency, brutally suppressing Palestinians and Palestinian resistance daily. This includes environments designed to replicate the ‘on the ground conditions’ in Gaza, known as "Mini Gaza", and is the dangerous inspiration for the Cop Cities being built across the U.S.. Whether in Haiti, Palestine, or Atlanta, the development of militarized and highly-armed occupation forces represent the violence of imperialism, and we’re experiencing a nationalizing of both the pig forces and resistance. 

The Urban Warfare Training Center in the city of Atlanta being developed and funded by the Atlanta Police Foundation and championed by Mayor Andre Dickens, known as Cop City, sits on stolen Muscogee Land, in the Weelaunee Forest, surrounding a predominantly African/Black neighborhood. While the movement to Stop Cop City may have started in Atlanta, and Tortuguita may have become our martyr in the Weelaunee Forest, our oppressors have made it clear that the Stop Cop City struggle must be nationalized in order to combat the consolidated, militarized, and nationalized repression strategies that we are up against. This spring, the repressive tactics that are and will be further cultivated within Cop Cities were on full display on campuses all across the country as students, faculty, and community members were beaten and tear gassed on camera, and a diaspora of military-style crackdowns which many have warned against since day one of this struggle are now on display for all to see. 

There are now more than 69 Cop City projects of varying sizes proposed across the U.S., from occupied Atlanta to colonized Alaska. Under the guise of “training” and “developing security”, private corporations and capitalists are pouring millions of dollars into militarized “police training” centers and programs nationally, while Federal programs like the U.S. 1033 Program continue to deliver surplus military weaponry to local police departments. This allows for a consolidation of power and repression, and is directly from the playbook which the imperialists have used abroad for the last several decades; The U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) for example, arms and “trains'' the local military forces of nearly every African country on the continent, which allows the imperialist forces to perpetuate their neo-colonial domination, exploitation, and crackdown on any anti-colonial uprisings which may occur.  Western imperialists facilitate the arming and occupation of oppressive colonial forces in Haiti, in Palestine, in the Congo, and in Sudan in the same manner that they do in our African/Black neighborhoods within the U.S.. 

We denounce Zionism and the genocide in Gaza not purely on theoretical or political grounds, but rather because of the many material ways we experience this violence every single day. Students everywhere continue to denounce Cop City, and commit to struggling against both Zionism and Cop City as one and the same, as these struggles manifest from the same primary contradiction of U.S. imperialism. We remember our martyrs in Atlanta: Anthony Hill, Kathyn Johnston, Rayshard Brooks, Alexia Christian, Oscar Cain, Nicholas Thomas, Johnny Hollman, and so many more — and know that resistance is justified in their honor.

BAP-ATL extends our unwavering solidarity with all who resist! We echo and uplift students’ demands for universities and all municipalities to:

• Divest from zionism!

• Divest from weapons manufacturers, surveillance, security, and any company arming the Zionist entity and complicit in Palestinian genocide and occupation. This includes boycotting Zionist academic institutions, and divesting from any companies supporting Cop City.

• END GILEE NOW! 

• Drop the charges!

• Release all arrested students, faculty, workers, and community members and DROP ALL CHARGES against everyone, including our comrades.

• Hold Emory + UGA admin accountable!

• Emory President Gregory Fenves + UGA President Jere Morehead deserve to be held accountable for calling the violent, militarized pig forces on protesters. Them and any other administrators involved must be immediately fired from their positions, and the universities must compensate every victim of brutal pig conduct.

As so succinctly put by Dr. Charisse Burden-Stelly, member of Black Alliance for Peace: “now is a great time to join an organization working against capitalism, patriarchy, imperialism, (neo-)colonialism, war and the manifold issues the right wing and neo-fascists have been organizing to uphold for decades.” We invite all people, including those who have been newly politically activated within the last seven months, to engage in long-term, community-based political organization to continue the struggle.

No compromise, no retreat! Smash imperialism from Atlanta to Gaza!

A Zone of Peace Campaign Statement in Solidarity with the Nicaraguan People

Zone of Peace Campaign Congratulates Nicaragua on the National Day of Peace April 19, 2024

April 18, 2024. On the 6th anniversary of the violent coup attempt perpetrated against the people and government of Nicaragua, the organizations of the Zone of Peace Campaign extend their solidarity to the people and government of Nicaragua and in particular, the victims of the terrorism, which was paid for by the US and European governments and implemented by their lackeys within Nicaraguan territory in order to destabilize the country. (See witness testimony here). 

While we mourn the loss of life, severe damage to the Nicaraguan economy and infrastructure, and the violent tactics used to terrorize the Nicaraguan people, we celebrate that our Nicaraguan sisters and brothers defeated this attack on their self- determination and a stable peace has returned to the country.

The United States has been intervening militarily in Nicaragua since the mid-1800s. In more recent years, the empire disguises its attacks in the form of hybrid warfare—a combination of coordinated disinformation, unilateral coercive measures, and attempts to isolate the country internationally–all applied with veiled threats of renewed violence. These tactics are used against any country that asserts its sovereignty, such as Cuba and Venezuela. In fact, the so-called “popular uprising” in Nicaragua in 2018 was based on the guarimbas of Venezuela in 2014 and 2017; and the July 11, 2021 protests in Cuba were orchestrated from social media platforms in the U.S., like the 2018 protests in Nicaragua. 

Unilateral coercive measures, commonly called “sanctions,” have devastated the economies of Cuba and Venezuela, and are threatening to do the same to Nicaragua as they continuously escalate. While human rights agencies at the service of empire criticize Nicaragua for prosecuting those who have committed crimes against the people, they ignore the many Nicaraguans who are enjoying more rights than ever in the history of the nation: the right to food, clean water, health, education, housing, land, food sovereignty, employment, and peace. While agencies at the service of empire turn a blind eye to the public genocide taking place in Gaza, Nicaragua is continuing its tradition of defending our peoples at the International Court of Justice.

We categorically reject all unilateral coercive measures, especially against the anti-imperialist countries of Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, as well as campaigns to encourage mass migration:

The American dream is sold to further destabilize our countries that are fighting and stoically resisting a new strategy to depopulate our countryside and our cities. These measures are an attack on our development models and our capacity to produce our own food.” (Coordinadora Latinoamericana de Organizaciones del Campo–CLOC)

The US government is punishing these peoples for exercising self-determination and delivering the same people-centered human rights that all the peoples of the Americas demand. We celebrate the peace that has returned to Nicaragua and congratulate the Nicaraguan people and government on April 19, the National Day of Peace.

Hands Off Nicaragua!

¡Que Viva Nicaragua Libre y en Paz!

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La Campaña de Zona de Paz Felicita al Pueblo de Nicaragua en El Día Nacional de la Paz, 19 de Abril, 2024

18 de abril de 2024. En este 6to aniversario de la violenta intentona golpista perpetrada contra el pueblo y gobierno de Nicaragua, las organizaciones de la campaña Zona de Paz extienden su solidaridad con el pueblo y gobierno de Nicaragua y en particular con las víctimas del terrorismo, pagado por los gobiernos de Estados Unidos y Europa e implementado por sus lacayos dentro del territorio nicaragüense para desestabilizar el país. (Ver el testimonio de los testigos aquí).

Aunque lamentamos la pérdida de vidas humanas, los graves daños causados a la economía y las infraestructuras nicaragüenses, y las violentas tácticas empleadas para aterrorizar al pueblo nicaragüense, celebramos que nuestros hermanos y hermanas nicaragüenses derrotaran este ataque contra su autodeterminación y que se restableciera una paz estable en el país.

Estados Unidos lleva interviniendo militarmente en Nicaragua desde mediados del siglo XIX. En los últimos años, el imperio disfraza sus ataques en forma de guerra híbrida: una combinación de desinformación coordinada, medidas coercitivas unilaterales e intentos de aislar internacionalmente al país, todo ello aplicado con amenazas veladas de reanudar la violencia. Estas tácticas se utilizan contra cualquier país que afirme su soberanía, como Cuba y Venezuela. De hecho, el llamado “levantamiento popular”; en Nicaragua en 2018 se basó en las guarimbas de Venezuela en 2014 y 2017; y las protestas del 11 de julio de 2021 en Cuba fueron orquestadas desde plataformas de las redes sociales en Estados Unidos, al igual que las protestas de 2018 en Nicaragua.

Las medidas coercitivas unilaterales, comúnmente llamadas “sanciones”;, han devastado las economías de Cuba y Venezuela, y amenazan con hacer lo mismo en Nicaragua a medida que se intensifican constantemente. Mientras las agencias de derechos humanos al servicio del imperio critican a Nicaragua por procesar a quienes han cometido crímenes contra el pueblo, hacen caso omiso a los muchos nicaragüenses que disfrutan de más derechos que nunca en la historia de la nación: el derecho a la alimentación, al agua potable, a la salud, a la educación, a la vivienda, a la tierra, a la soberanía alimentaria, al empleo y a la paz. Mientras las agencias al servicio del imperio se hacen la vista gorda ante el genocidio público que sucede en Gaza, Nicaragua continúa su tradición de defensa de nuestros pueblos ante la Corte Internacional de Justicia.

La Zona de Paz rechaza categóricamente todas las medidas coercitivas unilaterales, especialmente contra los países antiimperialistas de Cuba, Nicaragua y Venezuela, así como las campañas para fomentar la migración masiva:

“El sueño americano se vende para desestabilizar aún más a nuestros países que luchan y resisten estoicamente una nueva estrategia para despoblar nuestros campos y nuestras ciudades. Estas medidas atentan contra nuestros modelos de desarrollo y nuestra capacidad de producir nuestros propios alimentos”. (Coordinadora Latinoamericana de Organizaciones del Campo-CLOC)

El gobierno de EE.UU. castiga a estos pueblos por ejercer la autodeterminación y respetar los derechos humanos centrados en las personas—los mismos que exigen todos los pueblos de Nuestra América. Celebramos la paz que ha regresado a Nicaragua y felicitamos al pueblo y gobierno nicaragüense este 19 de abril, Día Nacional de la Paz.

Hands Off Nicaragua!

¡Que Viva Nicaragua Libre y en Paz!

BAP’s Africa Team and U.S. Out of Africa Network Applauds Niger’s Move to Expel AFRICOM

—La traduction en français se trouve ci-dessous

The Black Alliance for Peace’s Africa Team and U.S. Out of Africa Network Applauds Niger’s Move to Expel AFRICOM

The Black Alliance for Peace’s (BAP) Africa Team and U.S. Out of Africa Network (USOAN) commend Niger for its decision to expel the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM). We urge all African nations to reject U.S. neo-colonialism and remove AFRICOM from their territories. AFRICOM's presence has led to an exponential increase in terrorism, with more civilian casualties resulting from AFRICOM strikes.

Niger's National Council for the Safeguarding of Our Homeland (CNSP) has declared the U.S. presence in their territory illegal, highlighting the erosion of Niger's sovereignty since the establishment of U.S. military bases in 2014. Despite Niger’s declaration, the U.S. refuses to leave, dismissing Niger’s position as Russian influence. Local organizations in Niger have openly denounced U.S. interference in the country's ongoing transition process and the people have demonstrated in front of the U.S. embassy in Niamey to demand the immediate departure of AFRICOM.

BAP and the USOAN emphasize the need for African people to control their continent's destiny and we oppose all foreign military and all forms of imperialist intervention in Africa. BAP also expresses concern over AFRICOM's plans to expand by placing new drone bases in Benin, Ivory Coast, and Ghana. We denounce such expansions and call for an end to all military agreements between African nations and the U.S.

BAP's Africa Team and USOAN will closely monitor the unfolding situation in Niger.
 

U.S. Out of Africa! Shut Down AFRICOM!

Traduction en français

L'équipe Afrique de l'Alliance Noire pour la Paix (BAP) et le réseau U.S.A. dégage!(USAON) saluent la décision du Niger d'expulser l'AFRICOM

L'équipe Afrique de l'Alliance Noire pour la Paix (ou BAP en anglais) et le réseau U.S.A. Dégage! (ou USOAN en anglais) félicitent le Niger pour sa décision d'expulser le Commandement américain pour l'Afrique (AFRICOM). Nous exhortons toutes les nations africaines à rejeter le néocolonialisme américain et à expulser l'AFRICOM de leur territoire. La présence de l'AFRICOM a conduit à une augmentation exponentielle du terrorisme, avec plus de victimes civiles résultant des frappes de l'AFRICOM.

Le Conseil national pour la sauvegarde de la patrie (CNSP) du Niger a déclaré illégale la présence des États-Unis sur son territoire, soulignant l'érosion de la souveraineté du Niger depuis l'établissement de bases militaires américaines en 2014. Malgré la déclaration du Niger, les États-Unis refusent de partir, et traitent la position du Niger comme une simple expression de l'influence Russe. Les organisations locales au Niger ont ouvertement dénoncé l'ingérence des États-Unis dans le processus de transition en cours dans le pays et la population a manifesté devant l'ambassade des États-Unis à Niamey pour exiger le départ immédiat de l'AFRICOM.

La BAP et l'USOAN soulignent la nécessité pour les peuples africains de contrôler le destin de leur continent et s'opposent à toute intervention militaire étrangère et à toute forme d'intervention impérialiste en Afrique. La BAP exprime également son inquiétude quant aux plans d'expansion de l'AFRICOM, qui prévoit d'installer de nouvelles bases de drones au Bénin, en Côte d'Ivoire et au Ghana. Nous dénonçons cette expansion et appelons à la fin de tous les accords militaires entre les nations africaines et les Etats-Unis.

L'équipe Afrique de la BAP et l'USOAN suivront de près l'évolution de la situation au Niger.

Les U.S.A. Dégage! ! A bas l'AFRICOM !

Banner photo: Demonstrators in Niger against France neocolonialism hold sign that reads “A Dieu La France” (courtesy pbs.org/newshour}.

We Call for the Respect of Haitian Popular Sovereignty and an End to Western Imperialist Intervention

We Call for the Respect of Haitian Popular Sovereignty and an End to Western Imperialist Intervention

A Zone of Peace Campaign Statement in Solidarity with the Haitian People

BOGOTA, COLOMBIA. 19 March 2024 – We denounce the ongoing attempts by Western imperialists to force an armed intervention and another illegitimate government on the Haitian people, as well as the collaboration of regional institutions in this intervention.

After months of the U.S., Core Group, and other imperialist collaborators working to execute an armed intervention into Haiti that they are now calling a “Multinational Security Service,” ex-de facto Prime Minister Ariel Henry has resigned from his illegitimately-held position. Those countries calling for military intervention – the U.S., France, Canada – have created the conditions making military intervention appear necessary and inevitable. Now, this same imperialist cabal wants to appoint a favorable “transitional government,” without input from the Haitian people.

As organizations of the Zone of Peace Campaign, we also denounce the role of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) working in collaboration with Western imperialists to deny the Haitian people their national sovereignty and collective self-determination. CARICOM has continued to betray the people of Haiti – in their support of western intervention, through select states’ choice to send troops to Haiti, and by including western imperialists in “negotiations” to which popular Haitian movements and organizations were not invited. CARICOM must reverse its position to one that opposes armed intervention into Haiti, and supports the efforts of the Haitian people to assert their sovereignty and reclaim their country.

We also remind all peoples and organizations of our hemisphere about the Community of Latin America and Caribbean States’ (CELAC) 2014 declaration of Latin America and the Caribbean as a ‘Zone of Peace.’ We recognize the recent CELAC statement by President Pro-Tempore Xiomara Castro, who declared that any “military action that violates the Principle of Non-Intervention and the Respect of Popular Self-Determination” in Haiti must be rejected, and we urge the CELAC “Troika” of Honduras, St. Vincent & The Grenadines, and Colombia to stand firm against imperialist aggression and intervention. It is clear that guaranteeing a true Zone of Peace in Our Americas requires a rejection of imperialist intervention in Haiti and all of our nations. This also requires a recognition of the human dignity of the people of Haiti and refusal to succumb to sensationalist western media and politicians that dehumanize Haitians and disregard the longstanding, organized popular mobilizations against imperialist aggression. 

In addition to rejecting imperialist interventions and militarism, the call for a Zone of Peace in Our Americas means prioritizing People(s)-Centered Human Rights (PCHRs) in the Americas by observing the principles of national sovereignty, equal rights and self-determination of peoples. These are principles that must be defended through popular struggle. We, thus, support the statement of our comrades in MOLEGHAF, calling for organization and unity of revolutionary forces in Haiti against imperialist machinations.

Finally, we recognize and appreciate the forceful words of solidarity by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro during and after the most recent CELAC meeting, which recognized that the current crisis is the result of western intervention and imperialist violence. President Maduro also called for “comprehensive economic and social support” and solidarity, instead of an intervention that will only cause more bloodshed.

As organizations of the Zone of Peace Campaign, we recently gathered in Bogota, Colombia, and agreed on the urgent need to support the people of Haiti and their popular mobilizations against ongoing imperialist violence. We call on all progressive, radical, and revolutionary movements and organizations across the Americas to support the Haitian people’s popular sovereignty and self-determination, to reject the “Multinational Security Support” mission, and to struggle for a peoples-centered Zone of Peace in Haiti and in all of Our Americas. 

Hands Off Haiti!

Signed,

Organizations of the Zone of Peace Campaign:

• Black Alliance for Peace

• Caribbean Movement for Peace and Integration

• Caribbean Organisation for People’s Empowerment 

• Consejo por la Emancipación Plurinacional de Perú

• Diaspora Pa’lante Collective

• Friends of the ATC (Asociación de Trabajadores del Campo)

• Movimiento Evita

• Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition

• Observatorio de los Derechos Humanos de los Pueblos

• Proceso de Comunidades Negras – PCN

• Red de Organizaciones AfroVenezolanas

• Soli Puerto Rico

• World Beyond War

Llamamos por el Respeto de la Soberanía Popular Haitiana y al Fin de la Intervención Imperialista Occidental

Declaración de la Campaña Zona de Paz en Solidaridad con el Pueblo Haitiano

BOGOTÁ, COLOMBIA. 15 de marzo de 2024 – Denunciamos los continuos intentos de los imperialistas occidentales de imponer una intervención armada y otro gobierno ilegítimo al pueblo haitiano, tal como la colaboración de instituciones regionales en esta intervención.

Después de meses de los Estados Unidos, el ‘Core Group’ y otros colaboradores imperialistas trabajando para llevar a cabo una intervención armada en Haití que ahora llaman "Servicio de Seguridad Multinacional" (MSS), el ex primer ministro de facto Ariel Henry ha renunciado a su cargo ilegítimamente sostenido. Esos países que piden la intervención militar – los Estados Unidos, Francia, Canadá – han creado las condiciones que hacen que la intervención militar parezca necesaria e inevitable. Ahora, esta misma camarilla imperialista quiere nombrar un "gobierno de transición" favorable, sin el consentimiento del pueblo haitiano.

Como organizaciones de la Campaña Zona de Paz, también denunciamos el papel de la Comunidad del Caribe (CARICOM) trabajando en colaboración con los imperialistas occidentales para negar al pueblo haitiano su soberanía nacional y su autodeterminación colectiva. CARICOM ha continuado traicionando al pueblo haitiano – en su apoyo a la intervención occidental, a través de la elección de estados selectos para enviar tropas a Haití, y al incluir a los imperialistas occidentales en "negociaciones" a las que no fueron invitados los movimientos y organizaciones populares haitianas. CARICOM debe revertir su posición a una que se oponga a la intervención armada en Haití, y apoye los esfuerzos del pueblo haitiano para afirmar su soberanía y recuperar su país.

También recordamos a todos los pueblos y organizaciones de nuestro hemisferio la declaración de 2014 de la Comunidad de Estados Latinoamericanos y Caribeños (CELAC) de América Latina y el Caribe como una ‘Zona de Paz’. Reconocemos la reciente declaración de la CELAC por parte de la Presidenta Pro Tempore Xiomara Castro, quien declaró que cualquier "acción militar que viole el principio de No Intervención y el Respeto a la Autodeterminación de los Pueblos" en Haití debe ser rechazada, y urgimos a la "Troika" de la CELAC de Honduras, San Vicente y las Granadinas, y Colombia a mantenerse firmes contra la agresión e intervención imperialista. Garantizar una verdadera Zona de Paz en Nuestra América requiere el rechazo de la intervención imperialista en Haití y en todas nuestras naciones. Esto también requiere el reconocimiento de la dignidad humana del pueblo de Haití y la negativa a sucumbir a los medios de comunicación occidentales sensacionalistas y a los políticos que deshumanizan a los haitianos y desprecian las movilizaciones populares organizadas de larga data contra la agresión imperialista.

Además de rechazar las intervenciones imperialistas y el militarismo, el llamado por una Zona de Paz en Nuestra América significa priorizar los Derechos Humanos Centrados en las Personas (PCHR por sus letras en inglés) en las Américas observando los principios de soberanía nacional, igualdad de derechos y autodeterminación de los pueblos. Estos son principios que deben ser defendidos a través de la lucha popular. Por lo tanto, apoyamos la declaración de nuestros compañeros en MOLEGHAF, quienes llaman por la organización y unidad de las fuerzas revolucionarias en Haití, contra las maquinaciones imperialistas.

Finalmente, reconocemos y apreciamos las palabras poderosas de solidaridad del Presidente venezolano Nicolás Maduro durante y después de la reunión más reciente de la CELAC, lo que reconoció que la crisis actual es el resultado de la intervención occidental y la violencia imperialista. El Presidente Maduro también llamó por un "apoyo económico y social integral" y por la solidaridad, en lugar de una intervención que sólo causará más derramamiento de sangre.

Como organizaciones de la Campaña Zona de Paz, nos reunimos recientemente en Bogotá, Colombia, y acordamos la urgente necesidad de apoyar al pueblo haitiano y sus movilizaciones populares contra la violencia imperialista en curso. Instamos a todos los movimientos y organizaciones progresistas, radicales y revolucionarios de las Américas a apoyar la soberanía popular y la autodeterminación del pueblo haitiano, rechazar la misión del MSS y luchar por una Zona de Paz centrada en los pueblos de Haití y de toda Nuestra América.

¡Fuera de Haití! ¡Hands Off Haiti!

Firmado,

Organizaciones de la Campaña Zona de Paz:

• Black Alliance for Peace

• Caribbean Movement for Peace and Integration

• Caribbean Organisation for People’s Empowerment 

• Consejo por la Emancipación Plurinacional de Perú

• Diaspora Pa’lante Collective

• Friends of the ATC (Asociación de Trabajadores del Campo)

• Movimiento Evita

• Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition

• Observatorio de los Derechos Humanos de los Pueblos

• Proceso de Comunidades Negras – PCN

• Red de Organizaciones AfroVenezolanas

• Soli Puerto Rico

• World Beyond War

BAP- Baltimore and Ujima People's Progress Party Denounce Maryland’s Unjust Juvenile Justice Bill

The Black Alliance For Peace Baltimore Citywide Alliance and The Ujima People's Progress Party of Maryland strongly condemns Maryland House of Delegates for advancing House Bill 814. This legislation  revises consequences for children charged with crimes. Both House and Senate bills will broaden juvenile system oversight and expand the crimes for which young offenders aged 10 to 12 can be charged.

The final amendments to the legislation retreated from its initial proposal announced in January, which would have led to more children being drawn into the juvenile system. However, despite adjustments, the measures in the bill remain punitive and harmful. By introducing more and younger children into the criminal legal system, the legislation continues the hyper-criminalization of African (Black)  youth which does not effectively improve public safety. 

“The bill unfairly targets 10- to 12-year-olds without evidence of their significant contribution to crime. This will ultimately hurt African (Black) children, subjecting them to harsh consequences without addressing any of the underlying issues,” says Sheena Oliver, of Ujima People’s Progress Party, “It would also allow the same minors to be questioned without a parent or legal counsel being present.”

Nationally, the overrepresentation of African (Black) youth in the juvenile justice system is a glaring issue, with higher rates of arrest, detention, and incarceration compared to their white counterparts. Statistics reveal that despite comprising only 15% of all youth in the United States, African (Black) youth make up 42% of those in placement, highlighting the stark racial imbalance within the system.

This disparity is heightened by crime bills like this one, which will expand the spectrum of offenses for which young offenders can be charged. Furthermore it will increase prosecutorial power, and mandate harsher penalties, further contributing to the disproportionate involvement of African (Black) youth in the criminal justice system.

Maryland & Youth Criminalization

As the Baltimore Banner notes, despite substantial expenditures on juvenile incarceration, averaging $414,929 per child annually in Maryland, research suggests that incarceration has not effectively reduced youth crime. Instead, the state has increasingly adopted a rehabilitative approach, leading to decreased youth incarceration rates and a corresponding drop in criminal complaints against youth by 61% over the past two decades. Moreover, community-based support services have emerged as significantly cheaper and more effective alternatives to juvenile incarceration.

In Baltimore City, State Prosecutor Ivan Bates' advocacy for punitive measures aligns with his commitment to cracking down on nonviolent, low-level offenses, reflecting a punitive approach to addressing crime. Bates alleged that the Baltimore City state’s attorney’s office has seen a 99% increase in juvenile charges. Accounts from the head prosecutor cannot be accepted as fact, but serve as more than enough to justify his attempts to reverse many of the reforms made by Maryland State Senator Jill Carter. Bates repeatedly used the word “accountability" in reference to his plans to fast track criminal punishment processes for African youth. These measures include extending probation limits, electronic monitoring devices, and handing down harsher sentences.

While poverty rates are significant in Baltimore City (above the state average), the $330 million proposal for a police and fire department training facility, known as Cop City, should raise questions about the allocation of resources. Rather than addressing the root causes of poverty and crime through sustainable programs, the disproportionate targeting of youth , especially those from colonized communities like African (Black) youth, will only perpetuate cycles of incarceration.

“This proposed legislation to hyper criminalize youth following a proposal to build Cop City will only exacerbate these issues by prioritizing punitive measures over preventive and rehabilitative approaches,” says Black Alliance For Peace Baltimore Citywide Alliance member, Jameela Alexander 

Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy, echoes the sentiments of Bates. The two have worked together implicating youth as participants in organized crime. While they claim they are targeting juveniles, whom they suspect are acting under the instruction of adults, focus on youth crime has long been a part of county officials' “crack down on crime”. According to 2023 data, property and violent crime were up 41% for the first half of the year. Property crimes producing rapid carceral response from the state is not surprising. The Prince George’s County Police Department Chief, Malik Aziz, was quoted saying, “We cannot arrest our way out of a crime problem,” as recently as summer 2023. Yet around the clock media coverage surrounding carjackings and what is often characterized as an epidemic of violent crime is being met with a continued push for tougher laws. Prince George’s County, being predominantly African (Black), guarantees this will result in youth being funneled into the justice system as what has long been proven an ineffective solution to the reported rise in crime.

In neighboring Montgomery County, this phenomenon of juvenile criminalization has been targeted towards black youth. In the 2022-2023 school year, Black Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) students were nearly five times more likely to receive an out-of-school suspension or expulsion than white MCPS students.  This number is more than alarming, as African (Black) students only comprised 14 percent of the total student population in the 2022-2023 school year. The latest publication from the Office of Legislative Oversight in 2023 by Elaine Bonner-Tompkins, Ph.D., Senior Legislative Analyst, titled "Addressing 'Racial' Inequity in the School-to-Prison Pipeline," was released by Montgomery County. In the report  Bonner-Tompkins states , “Racial disparities persist, with Black students facing double the likelihood of suspension or referral to juvenile services compared to their enrollment share. These inequities are rooted in differential treatment within schooling and policing systems. The report advocates for structural solutions…”. Montgomery county’s former Superintendent Monifa B. McKnight in 2022 brought Montgomery county police officers back into public school. This was after local organizations struggled and won to get police out of schools for the first time in 19 years. 

The Schools and the police in Maryland are bedfellows in the criminalization of the youth. Montgomery county has taken the opportunity during an economic downturn to intensify their recruitment of police officers by offering a $20,000 sign on bonus, and making claims that there is a national shortage of police officers. Montgomery county does not apply these same strategies in recruitment with teachers saying they are overworked in 2021. In 2023 Teachers expressed their frustration about being overworked and the county not being able to hire enough substitute teachers and fill MCPS staffing shortages.

Conclusion 

In light of Washington, D.C.'s progression towards passing a crime bill and Maryland's consideration of placing an FBI headquarters in a predominantly African (Black) county, it becomes evident that the current leadership, predominantly comprised of the Black Misleadership Class, is spearheading the enforcement of oppressive measures of occupation. Despite the presence of 'First Black' governors, 'Black' mayors, and 'Black' state attorneys, this has amassed to nothing more than the overt criminalization of African (Black) youth and working-class communities. This trend of existing inequalities that perpetuate systemic injustices can be found in major cities across the country from New York City, to Atlanta to San Francisco, where misleaders in Blackface enact harsher sentences on African (Black) communities.

Those of us who understand what this means bear the most responsibility to speak out against yet another assault on the African (Black) masses. Despite what proponents of this legislation argue, this is absolutely being done with an intentional target on the backs of our vulnerable youth.  We have seen where such measures like HB 814 lead: more incarceration and less community based support which is the real answer to crime. This legislation ignores the data which showed crime trending downward, in favor of policy reminiscent of the Reagan presidency. Therefore, the Black Alliance for Peace and Ujima People’s Progress Party urge a rejection of this bill. Anything less would amount to challenging the definition of insanity which is to do the same thing and expect different results. We need different results and such will require different ideas not offered by either the Democratic or Republican parties. Join us to form and implement those ideas for a better future for our youth and community!

Banner photo: Image of juvenile justice bill on Maryland State House monitor, courtesy foxbaltimore.com

Black Alliance for Peace Says International Women’s Day Must be a Radical Call to Action Against Colonial Domination from Haiti to Palestine

Black Alliance for Peace Says International Women’s Day Must be a Radical Call to Action Against Colonial Domination from Haiti to Palestine

Historically, African (Black) women in the U.S. have contributed to social progress movements, including the fight against  racial oppression,  patriarchy, capitalist exploitation, western imperialism, and colonialism. Women’s struggle for peace and freedom has challenged the U.S.’ push for war and global dominance. During today’s commemorations for International Women’s Day, women celebrated for their achievements highlight a stark reality of how far our communities have departed from the Black Radical Peace tradition.

Since October 7, 2023, Israeli Occupation forces have murdered over 30,000 Palestinians and displaced millions more. Despite the International Court of Justice's ruling, the U.S. has continued to justify and support Israel in its ongoing genocide, employing individuals like Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield to consistently vote no on proposed U.N. Security Council ceasefire resolutions for a toothless “humanitarian pause”. Thomas-Greenfield's willingness to serve as a loyal Blackface of Empire disregards Palestinians as a whole but also the enduring suffering of Palestinian women under settler colonial occupation, who give birth to still-born babies at checkpoints, and face widespread instances of sexualized torture, rape, and castration, irrespective of gender identity.

Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre is celebrated as a “First Black” for Empire, but her Haitian family background obscures the fact that the Biden administration is pushing the latest call for occupation of Haiti. With the impending Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti, we must remember the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti ( MINSUH ) which occupied Haiti after the removal of democratically elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Haitian women experienced various forms of violence, exploitation, and marginalization. Haitian workers, predominantly women, have demanded wage increases and protested against the dehumanizing and demeaning sweatshops where they work. However, they have been met with paramilitary forces, used as a pretext for occupation, which will have detrimental effects on women.

Advocating regime change, supporting genocide, and signing draconian bills into law from Washington D.C to San Francisco, African (Black) women are being used as the faces of disparity and military proliferation, exacerbating the challenges faced by working-class African (Black) women. This is a blatant disregard of people-centered human rights and perpetuates full-spectrum domination, inevitably hindering the advancement of liberation struggles of colonized people worldwide. 

The contradictions of celebrating women's achievements while turning a blind eye to the suffering of colonized women, both domestically and globally, highlight the need to broaden the scope and meaning of International Women’s Day to make it a day of remembrance and resistance focused on the objective of overturning the structures and relationships imposed on the world by the Western colonial/capitalist system that degraded and dehumanized women across the planet. For BAP, International Women’s Day is a call to action. A clarion call to sharpen our weapons of opposition in order to strike at the heart of patriarchy, gender-based violence and capitalism.

Banner photo: black and white photo of 4 Black Panther women holding their fists up high ( courtesy aaihs.org).

Statement Against U.S. AFRICOM Airstrikes Feared to Have Killed 2 Cuban Doctors

Traducción al español

Statement Against U.S. AFRICOM Airstrikes Feared to Have Killed 2 Cuban Doctors

The National Network on Cuba, The Black Alliance for Peace, and Lowcountry Action Committee strongly condemn the US Africa Command (AFRICOM) airstrikes in Somalia reported to have killed 2 Cuban doctors. We demand the U.S. release all information about the bombing to Cuba and the victims’ families.

Cuba has deployed more than 600,000 health workers to 165 nations over the last six decades on medical missions. Two Cubans serving in Kenya, Dr. Assel Herrera Correa, a specialist in general medicine, and Dr. Landy Rodriguez Hernandez, a surgeon, were kidnapped there in 2019 and held in Jilib, southern Somalia. Unofficial sources reported that a U.S. drone strike in Jilib on February 15 killed the Cuban doctors; an AFRICOM spokesperson confirmed the bombing but would not confirm any civilian casualties. Cuba’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs approached the U.S. government through diplomatic channels on February 18, seeking information, and has yet to receive a response. The President of Cuba’s National Assembly is now traveling to Kenya to carry out urgent negotiations and confirm the status of the doctors’ lives. We will continue sharing in Cuba’s hope of finding the doctors alive until there is official confirmation to the contrary.

We call on the U.S. to cooperate with an investigation and to share all information about the attack with Cuba. This attack shows once again that Cuba’s foreign policy is to save lives, while U.S. foreign policy is to occupy, bomb, blockade, and destroy lives. As Cuban leader Fidel Castro famously said, “Our country does not drop bombs on other peoples, nor does it send thousands of planes to bomb cities…Tens of thousands of Cuban doctors have provided internationalist services in the most remote and inhospitable places…Doctors, not bombs.”

U.S. troops should not be occupying Africa in the first place, nor should they be in Cuba at Guantánamo Bay. Despite the disingenuous altruistic spin the U.S. puts on their stated purpose for AFRICOM, its real and only purpose is to use military power to impose U.S. control over African land, resources, and labor in service to Western finance capital. AFRICOM’s drone operations in Africa have only caused violence, vicious anonymity, and "collateral damage." Primarily in Libya and Somalia, the numbers of confirmed civilian deaths from drones are as high as 3,200 in these two countries, and studies have shown these conditions “have inadvertently aided the growth of terrorist groups in the region.”

We join the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States and the Black Alliance for Peace in calling for an international “Zone of Peace” in the Americas. We stand in solidarity with all people facing imperialist violence, from Gaza to Guantánamo.

Unblock Cuba!

Let Cuba live! 

U.S. out of Africa and shut down AFRICOM!

Declaración Contra los Ataques Aéreos del AFRICOM Estadounidense Temidos por Haber Matado a 2 Médicos Cubanos

PARA PUBLICACIÓN INMEDIATA

28 DE FEBRERO DE 2024 – La Red Nacional sobre Cuba, La Alianza Negra por la Paz y el Comité de Acción de Lowcountry emitieron recientemente una declaración conjunta respecto a los ataques aéreos del Comando de África de EE.UU. (AFRICOM) en Somalia, que se informó han matado a 2 médicos cubanos. Por favor, vea la declaración a continuación:

La Red Nacional sobre Cuba, La Alianza Negra por la Paz y el Comité de Acción de Lowcountry condenan enérgicamente los ataques aéreos del Comando de África de EE.UU. (AFRICOM) en Somalia, que se informó han matado a 2 médicos cubanos. Exigimos que EE.UU. libere toda la información sobre el bombardeo a Cuba y a las familias de las víctimas.

Cuba ha desplegado más de 600,000 trabajadores de la salud a 165 naciones durante las últimas seis décadas en misiones médicas. Dos cubanos que servían en Kenia, el Dr. Assel Herrera Correa, especialista en medicina general, y el Dr. Landy Rodríguez Hernández, cirujano, fueron secuestrados allí en 2019 y retenidos en Jilib, sur de Somalia. Fuentes no oficiales informaron que un ataque de dron de EE.UU. en Jilib el 15 de febrero mató a los médicos cubanos; un portavoz de AFRICOM confirmó el bombardeo pero no confirmaría ninguna baja civil. El Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Cuba se acercó al gobierno de EE.UU. a través de canales diplomáticos el 18 de febrero, buscando información, y aún no ha recibido una respuesta. El Presidente de la Asamblea Nacional de Cuba está ahora viajando a Kenia para llevar a cabo negociaciones urgentes y confirmar el estado de las vidas de los médicos. Continuaremos compartiendo en la esperanza de Cuba de encontrar a los médicos vivos hasta que haya una confirmación oficial de lo contrario.

Hacemos un llamado a EE.UU. para que coopere con una investigación y comparta toda la información sobre el ataque con Cuba. Este ataque muestra una vez más que la política exterior de Cuba es salvar vidas, mientras que la política exterior de EE.UU. es ocupar, bombardear, bloquear y destruir vidas. Como dijo famosamente el líder cubano Fidel Castro, “Nuestro país no lanza bombas sobre otros pueblos, ni envía miles de aviones para bombardear ciudades... Decenas de miles de médicos cubanos han brindado servicios internacionalistas en los lugares más remotos e inhóspitos... Doctores, no bombas.”

Las tropas estadounidenses no deberían estar ocupando África en primer lugar, ni deberían estar en Cuba en la Bahía de Guantánamo. A pesar del giro altruista deshonesto que EE.UU. pone en su propósito declarado para AFRICOM, su verdadero y único propósito es usar el poder militar para imponer el control de EE.UU. sobre la tierra, los recursos y el trabajo africanos en servicio al capital financiero occidental. Las operaciones de drones de AFRICOM en África solo han causado violencia, anonimato vicioso y "daños colaterales". Principalmente en Libia y Somalia, los números de muertes civiles confirmadas por drones son tan altos como 3,200 en estos dos países, y estudios han demostrado que estas condiciones “han ayudado inadvertidamente al crecimiento de grupos terroristas en la región.”

Nos unimos a la Comunidad de Estados Latinoamericanos y Caribeños y la Alianza Negra por la Paz en el llamado a una “Zona de Paz” internacional en las Américas. Nos solidarizamos con todas las personas que enfrentan la violencia imperialista, desde Gaza hasta Guantánamo.

¡Desbloquear a Cuba!

¡Que Cuba viva!

¡EE.UU. fuera de África y cierre AFRICOM!

Banner photo: Side by side headshots of Dr. Landy Rodriguez and Dr. Assel Herrera, who were kidnapped in April 2019 by a terrorist group on the Kenya-Somalia border (courtesy plenglish.com).

Haiti Doesn’t Have a ‘Gang’ Problem, It Has a US Imperialism Problem w/ Dr. Jemima Pierre

Haiti doesn’t have a ‘gang’ problem, it has a US imperialism problem, says Dr. Jemima Pierre, Professor of Global Race in the Institute of Race, Gender, Sexuality and Social Justice (GRSJ) at the University of British Columbia and a member of Black Alliance for Peace.

Pierre joins hosts of Break Through News, Eugene and Rania to discuss the nationwide uprisings in Haiti where thousands of demonstrators have flooded the streets calling for the ouster of the unelected Prime Minister Ariel Henry. The unrest follows Henry's call for foreign intervention in October 2022, which sparked repeated waves of protests. Heightened by a deepening humanitarian crisis under his leadership and Kenyan President Ruto’s pledge to send Kenyan police to Haiti, demands for Henry's resignation have intensified.

MOLEGHAF: Public Statement on the Current Situation in Haiti

MOLEGHAF: Public Statement on the Current Situation in Haiti

For Immediate Release     

Media Contact

communications@blackallianceforpeace.com
(202) 643-1136

FEBRUARY 12, 2024 – On February 6th, MOLEGHAF, the National Movement for Liberty and Equality of Haitians for Fraternity (Mouvement National pour la Liberté et L’égalité des Haïtiens pour la Fraternité), a member organization of the Black Alliance for Peace, released a statement that calls for support of the Haitian masses mobilizing for popular sovereignty, and vehemently rejects the continued attempts by the United States and the West to force a military intervention and occupation of Haiti. After the Kenyan High Court clearly and firmly declared this intervention unconstitutional, the U.S. and Kenyan President, William Ruto, have pushed ahead, determined to realize this plan over almost three years in the making.

The pretext for the consolidation of the occupation of Haiti is the escalating “gang” violence. However, MOLEGHAF argues that the real reason is for the U.S. and Core Group imperialists to maintain their criminal political agenda and keep Haiti under control: 

In the political context of recent times, there has been an alliance of armed groups, politicians, and the bourgeoisie, all collaborating to crush any form of popular resistance in the country….At a time when the popular masses are seeking ways to organize themselves, the criminal political agenda is simultaneously seeking ways to renew its power, with de facto President Ariel Henry receiving various types of support for holding fraudulent elections in the country.

As such, the U.S. and the UN/Core Group collude with the likes of Guy Phillipe, the political elite, and the PHTK to support quasi-paramilitary forces to churn fear and instability among the Haitian masses. Now that Haitian people are mobilizing once again to demand the unelected Ariel Henry step down from office, the crackdown has intensified. MOLEGHAF describes how this assault is creating a rapidly declining situation:

Trade is paralyzed, and bandits seize or violate people, killing the poor and vulnerable. Almost the entire population lacks access to basic necessities. This situation helps us understand, at a higher level, how the imperialist system uses gang warfare to systematically attack collective well-being projects.

In support of Haitian sovereignty and MOLEGHAF’s efforts, the Black Alliance for Peace joins the call for the masses in the heart of the empire to stand with Haiti against any foreign armed intervention. We also demand that the Kenyan government abide by its constitution and stay away from Haiti. We say No to Blackface Imperialism and Yes to Haitian Sovereignty!

The ICSGP Calls for Full Funding of UNRWA, Lifting of Blockade of Aid to Gaza and an End to Military Support for Israel

**** For Immediate Release ****

International Coalition to Stop Genocide in Palestine Calls for Full Funding of UNRWA, Immediate Lifting of Blockade of Aid to Gaza and an End to Military Support for Israel

All individuals and states that are complicit in genocidal acts in Palestine must be held accountable.

CONTACT:

• Fuad Abu Saif, UAWC - Union of Agricultural Work Committees (Palestine), fuad@uawc-pal.org, +972599375445 (English, Arabic)

• Rosa Elva Zúñiga López, CEAAL - Latin American and Caribbean Council for Popular Education (Mexico), rosyz_secretariageneral@ceaal.org, +523339043788, (Spanish, Portuguese)

On January 26, 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) released its ruling in the case of South Africa v. Israel in which the court found there was sufficient evidence to support South Africa’s allegations of genocide against the Palestinian people (see our previous press release for more details) and rejected Israel’s claim to be acting in “self-defense.” The World Court ordered the state of Israel to “take all measures within its power to prevent the commission of” acts of genocide, including deaths, harm to mental and physical health and conditions that threaten the well-being of the Palestinian people, in effect, an order for a ceasefire. The ICJ also ordered the state of Israel to immediately provide humanitarian aid to people in Gaza.

The response by the state of Israel and its Western allies to the ICJ decision has not only been to deny that genocide is occurring but to double down on their genocidal acts. Israel has ramped up its attacks with an ongoing brutal military assault on civilians in the previously-designated “safe zones” of Khan Younis and Rafah, in the South of Gaza. It also falsely accused the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) of support for terrorism, following which the United States and Germany, along with Australia, Austria, Canada, Estonia, Finland, France, Iceland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Romania, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom withdrew their financial support from the agency, which is struggling to serve as a lifeline for Gazans, the majority of whom are without homes, food, clean water, health care and other basic necessities. Meanwhile, the Biden administration is continuing its efforts to push through a USD $14.3 billion dollar military package to aid the Israel Occupation Forces in its genocidal operation, which has already killed over 27,000 civilians including approximately 12,000 children.

In light of the ICJ order and finding of a plausible risk of genocide, major international human rights organizations, practitioners of international law and experts on genocide have pointed out that the defunding of the UNRWA itself constitutes a genocidal act. The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention calls the defunding of UNRWA a “serious escalation” of the crisis in Gaza representing “a shift by several countries from potential complicity in genocide to direct involvement in engineered famine.” In its January 31 Statement on Recent Threats to UNRWA and the Shift between Potential Complicity and Direct Involvement in the Crime of Genocide against Palestinians by Several Nations, the Lemkin Institute asserts: “this action is tantamount to increased participation in the on-going genocide of Palestinians in Gaza and constitutes both a violation of the ICJ’s recent ruling and of the participating nations’ responsibilities under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (‘the Genocide Convention’).” It further states: “During a period of famine, to implement either permanent cancellation or a pause of funding potentially puts states that have previously committed funds in violation of the Genocide Convention.” This argument has been echoed by over 800 U.S. and European government officials in their recent “Transatlantic Civil Servants’ Statement on Gaza.”

States that are complicit in genocide can be sued through the Genocide Convention at the ICJ. Several state funders of UNRWA have opted to maintain their funding, despite U.S. and Israeli pressure to stop, including Belgium, Ireland, Denmark, Spain, and Norway. On Wednesday, Israel apparently retaliated against Belgium for its stance, by bombing and destroying Belgium’s federal government development agency (Enabel) building in Gaza.

Also on Wednesday, the United Nations Security Council debated the ICJ decision, but no steps were taken to sanction or otherwise pressure the state of Israel to stop its genocidal activities. Both at the Security Council meeting and at a separate press conference held in Pretoria by South African Foreign Minister Dr. GNM Pandor the same day, the South African government called on the nations of the world to submit declarations of intervention to the ICJ. Said Dr. Pandor: “South Africa welcomes the support expressed by several countries and we encourage States that are so inclined to approach the Court to intervene in the proceedings so as to send a strong message to the international community that the situation in the Gaza Strip is indefensible.”

The ICSGP urges social movements around the world to back South Africa’s request by applying maximum pressure to friendly governments to formally intervene on behalf of South Africa in their case against Israel, and to adamantly condemn governments that are actively participating in the genocide in Gaza by witholding funds from UNRWA, and demand the funds be reinstated immediately. The ICSGP commends Nicaragua for being the first nation to take formal steps to intervene on behalf of the South African ICJ case; and furthermore, for taking the bold step of putting countries that are complicit under the Genocide Convention on notice that they will be subject to legal action if they fail to desist. The ICSGP also urges social movements to continue to use the tactics of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions by pressuring governments and corporations that are sending money and/or weapons to Israel to immediately cease those genocidal activities.

“The recent offensive against UNRWA is a calculated continuation of a long-term strategy to dismantle this crucial agency. Initiated in 2014 by the Trump administration under Israeli government influence, this campaign not only sought to defame but also strategically cripple UNRWA through financial strangulation,” said Fuad Abu Saif, director of the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (Palestine). He added, “These efforts are blatantly aimed at eradicating the Palestinian refugee issue and stripping Palestinians of their right to return. The hasty decisions by several Western nations to halt UNRWA funding on the grounds of mere suspicion is deeply disturbing and underscores the extent of Israeli coercion on these governments.”

Rosa Elva Zúñiga López, General Secretary of the Latin American and Caribbean Council for Popular Education (CEAAL) and representative of the World Social Assembly of Struggles and Resistances of the World Social Forum, states: 

The Palestinian people are living through the most heinous violence, which no human being should ever have to endure. Their occupiers have destroyed their lands, their history, and their common goods. We are extremely concerned about the decision by the United States and its allies to halt their funding of UNRWA, which makes them complicit in the genocide of a people fighting for their dignity. It is necessary and urgent to create as much pressure as possible for all humanitarian aid to be able to enter these lands. By cutting off UNRWA funds they affirm that they are orchestrating the annihilation of an entire group of people, and humanity cannot permit this. We need to be in the streets to demand a ceasefire, the opening of the borders and the Palestinian right to self-determination.

As we receive news of the Israeli Occupying Forces attacking aid trucks that enter the Gaza Strip, the ICGSP stresses the urgency of action to end the starvation and annihilation of Palestinians.

The ICGSP reiterates its demands that in compliance with international law:

●      The state of Israel must cease ALL genocidal acts, including inflicting starvation as a weapon of war, against Palestinians.

●      The UNRWA must be fully funded.

●      Humanitarian aid must be provided safely to all Gazans without delay.

●      All states, institutions and individuals that are complicit with genocide must cease their economic, political and military support for the state of Israel and be held accountable in courts of law.

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Banner photo: Residents of Syria’s besieged Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp collecting aid, courtesy Sayed / AFP