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!

We Denounce UN Security Council's Approval to Send a Kenya-led Mission to Haiti

WE DENOUNCE UN SECURITY COUNCIL'S

APPROVAL TO SEND A KENYA-LED MISSION TO HAITI

We, the undersigned, strongly condemn the decision by the United States and its allies to deploy a foreign military force to Haiti. We are adamant that a U.S./UN-led armed foreign intervention in Haiti is not only illegitimate, but illegal. And we support Haitian people and civil society organizations who have been consistent in their opposition to foreign armed military intervention – and who have argued that the problems of Haiti are a direct result of the persistent and long-term meddling of the United States, the United Nations, and the Core Group.

On Monday, October 2nd, 2023, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) voted on a resolution for a Multinational Security Support Mission authorizing the deployment of a foreign  military and police intervention into the Republic of Haiti. Although the vote did not receive unanimous approval as it saw abstentions from two permanent UNSC members, 13 other permanent and non-permanent members voted in support, including 3 African countries (Gabon, Ghana and Mozambique). This is a particularly egregious betrayal of Haiti, which has been for Africans and Black people around the world, a beacon in the fight against slavery, colonialism and imperialism. Yet the U.S. administration, the corporate media, alongside figures such as Linda Thomas-Greenfield, have hailed the vote as a victory. We note, also, that the U.S. has tapped Kenya, another African country, to lead a multinational force of “volunteer” nations to occupy Haiti, leaving their own troops at home while offering at leas t$100 million in support.

There is a long history here. For more than two years now, the U.S. has been pushing for a build-up of the military presence in Haiti to protect the puppet government of the unelected and unpopular Ariel Henry. Yet the U.S. is not willing to put its own boots on the ground, turning instead, first to Canada, then Brazil, then the CELAC and CARICOM countries–all of whom were reluctant to lead the mission, even if they supported the call for military intervention. The Kenyan government leapt at the opportunity to lead the intervention, bought off by a bag of silver and an approving pat on their neoliberal heads. Haiti will now be invaded by the U.S., but with the Black face of Kenya as cover. Kenya erroneously claims this is “Pan-Africanism;” it is, in fact, neocolonialism.

We are told that the interest of the U.S. in Haiti is humanitarian, that the U.S wants to protect the Haitian people from “criminal gangs.” Yet U.S. weapons have flooded Haiti, and the U.S. has consistently rejected calls to effectively enforce the UNSC resolution for an arms embargo against the Haitian and U.S. elite who import guns into the country. Moreover, when we speak of “gangs,” we must recognize that the most powerful gangs in the country are subsidiaries of the U.S. itself: the United Nations Integrated Office (BINUH) and the Core Group, the two colonial entities who have effectively ruled the country since the U.S./France/Canada-backed coup d’etat of 2004. Haiti has no sovereignty and has long been under foreign occupation. The current de facto “Prime Minister” was installed by the Core Group and whatever calls for military intervention are being made by those already occupying Haiti.

We hold in contempt the neocolonial governments that are taking part in this mission to further oppress Haitian people and deny them sovereignty. We denounce the governments of Kenya and the CARICOM nations, such as Bahamas, Jamaica, and Antigua and Barbuda, which have  failed Haiti and have violated the notion of the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace.

Furthermore, we demand that:

1. The U.S. and the UN must end their interference in Haiti and the Core Group must be disbanded.

2. The U.S. must stop its criminal gangster actions against Haiti and stop propping up the illegitimate government they installed.

3. Kenya must end its support for a racist and imperialist intervention in Haiti

4. The governments of the U.S. and the Dominican Republic stop dumping arms and ammunition into the country and for the de facto Prime Minister to stop arming paramilitaries in the country. 

5. The United Nations pay restitution for the devastating 2010 cholera outbreak by rebuilding Haiti’s water, sanitation, health, and educational infrastructure.

6. That fuel subsidies for Haiti are reinstated and the minimum wage increased.

7. The CARICOM countries, alongside other regional nations, normalize pathways for work visas and citizenship for Haitian nationals.

We vow to stand on the side of the Haitian people against imperialism! 

SIGNED,

718 Coalition

Acción Afro-Dominicana, RD

ADDI Caribbean

Al-Awda, the Palestinian Right to Return Coalition 

All African People’s Revolutionary Party

Alliance for Global Justice

Anti Displacement NYC

Aquelarre RD

Ban Killer Drones

Black Alliance for Peace, Haiti/Americas Team

Canadian Peace Congress

Caribbean Movement for Peace and Integration

Caribbean Organisation for Peoples Empowerment

Caribbean Solidarity Network

Chicago Antiwar Coalition (CAWC)

CODEPINK

Comité Dominicano de Derechos Humanos -CDDH-, RD

Committee of Anti-Imperialists in Solidarity with Iran

Communist Party of Kenya

Community Movement Builders

Consejo de Organizaciones Sociales y Populares del Paraguay

Consejo por la Emancipación Plurinacional Peruana

Cooperation Jackson

COPLAC-Confederación Palestina Latinoamericana y del Caribe

Dar al Janub - Verein für antirassistische und Friedenspolitische Initiative

Decolonial Feminist Collective

Diaspora Pa’lante Collective

Dr. Alejandro Rusconi – Movimiento Evita

Durham Beyond Policing

Frente Patriótico Manuel Rodríguez

G-REBLS

Haiti Action

Haiti Action Committee

Haiti Liberté

Harriet Tubman Center for Social Justice

International Action Center

International Manifesto Group/New Cold War

La Articulación Regional Afrodescendiente de las Américas y el Caribe (ARAAC)

League of Young Communists USA

Left Alliance for National Democracy and Socialism - Jamaica LANDS

Malcolm X Center for Self Determination

Massachusetts Peace Action

Memphis 4 Revolutionary Socialism

Michigan General Defense Committee

Midwestern Marx Institute

MOLEGHAF (Mouvman Libèté, Egalite sou chimen Fratènite tout Ayisyen)

Montreal pour un Monde sans Guerre (World BEYOND War)

Movement for People's Democracy

Movimiento Argentino de Solidaridad con Cuba (Mascuba)

Movimiento Caamañista -MC-, RD

Movimiento Popular Dominicano -MPD-, RD

Movimiento por la Paz, la Soberanía y la Solidaridad entre los Pueblos (MOPASSOL)

Movimiento Rebelde -MR-, RD

Movimiento Reconocido

NJ State Industrial Union Council

Observatorio de Derechos Humanos de los Pueblos

Orinoco Tribune

Palestinian Youth Movement - Detroit Chapter

Pan-African Community Action (PACA)

Partido Comunista del Trabajo -PCT-, RD

Partido Movimiento del Socialismo Allendista de Chile

Partido Nuevo Encuentro – Argentina

Partido Socialista de Peru

Peace Action, Network of Lancaster, Pennsylvania

People's Power Assembly

Pro Derechos Humanos Bolivia (PRODEHBOL)

Rasanbleman Pou Ayiti

Reparations United

Rethink New Orleans

Rochester (NY) Committee on Latin America

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network

Socialist Unity Party

Socialist Workers League-Nigeria

Socialist Workers' Movement of the Dominican Republic (MST)

SOLI Puerto Rico

Solidaridad Dominicana Con Haití, Rep. Dominicana

Solidarity Committee of the Americas, Minnesota 

The African Diaspora Foundation (Barbados)

The Barbados Sovereignty Party

The Global Pan African Movement (GPAM) North American Chapter

The Global Sovereign Peoples Movement

The International Black Chamber of Commerce and Industry

The Party of Communists USA

The People’s Forum

The Red Nation

The Regional Coordination Committee of the Pan Afrikan and Indigenous Movement of the Caribbean

The Ubuntu Reading Group

Troika Collective

Ubuntu Freedom

Ujima People’s Progress Party

UNAC (United Antiwar Coalition)

US Palestinian Community Network

Women Against Military Madness

Workers World Party

World BEYOND War

Zimbabwe Movement of Pan African Socialists

——-ESPAÑOL——-

DENUNCIAMOS LA APROBACIÓN POR EL CONSEJO DE SEGURIDAD DE LA ONU DEL ENVÍO DE UNA MISIÓN DIRIGIDA POR KENIA A HAITÍ

Nosotros, los firmantes, condenamos enérgicamente la decisión de Estados Unidos y sus aliados de desplegar una fuerza militar extranjera en Haití. Sostenemos firmemente que una intervención armada extranjera liderada por Estados Unidos y la ONU en Haití no sólo es ilegítima, sino también ilegal. Apoyamos al pueblo haitiano y a las organizaciones de la sociedad civil que han sido coherentes en su oposición a la intervención militar extranjera armada y que han argumentado que los problemas de Haití son resultado directo de la persistente e intervención a largo plazo de Estados Unidos, la ONU y el ‘Core Group’ (Grupo Principal).

El lunes 2 de octubre de 2023, el Consejo de Seguridad de la ONU votó sobre una resolución para una Misión de Apoyo de Seguridad Multinacional que autoriza el despliegue de una intervención militar y policial extranjera en la República de Haití. Aunque la votación no recibió la aprobación unánime, ya que se registraron abstenciones de dos miembros permanentes del Consejo de Seguridad de la ONU, otros 13 miembros permanentes y no permanentes votaron a favor, incluyendo a 3 países africanos (Gabón, Ghana y Mozambique). Esto representa una traición especialmente grave hacia Haití, que ha sido un faro en la lucha contra la esclavitud, el colonialismo y el imperialismo para los africanos y las personas negras de todo el mundo. Sin embargo, la administración de Estados Unidos, los medios corporativos, junto con figuras como Linda Thomas-Greenfield, han celebrado la votación como una victoria. También observamos que Estados Unidos ha designado a Kenia, otro país africano, para liderar una fuerza multinacional de naciones "voluntarias" para ocupar Haití, dejando a sus propias tropas en casa y ofreciendo al menos $100 millones en apoyo.

Hay una larga historia aquí. Durante más de dos años, Estados Unidos ha estado presionando para aumentar la presencia militar en Haití para proteger al gobierno títere del impopular e ilegítimo Ariel Henry. Sin embargo, Estados Unidos no está dispuesto a poner sus propias botas en el terreno, recurriendo en su lugar primero a Canadá, luego a Brasil, y luego a los países de CELAC y CARICOM, todos los cuales se mostraron renuentes a liderar la misión, incluso si apoyaban la llamada a la intervención militar. El gobierno de Kenia se lanzó a la oportunidad de liderar la intervención, comprado con una bolsa de plata y una aprobación en sus cabezas neoliberales. Haití será invadido por Estados Unidos, pero con la cara negra de Kenia como fachada. Kenia afirma erróneamente que esto es "panafricanismo"; de hecho, es neocolonialismo.

Se nos dice que el interés de Estados Unidos en Haití es humanitario, que Estados Unidos quiere proteger al pueblo haitiano de las "bandas criminales". Sin embargo, las armas estadounidenses han inundado Haití, y Estados Unidos ha rechazado constantemente las llamadas para hacer cumplir efectivamente la resolución del CSNU para un embargo de armas contra la élite haitiana y estadounidense que importa armas al país. Además, cuando hablamos de "bandas", debemos reconocer que las bandas más poderosas en el país son subsidiarias de Estados Unidos mismo: la Oficina Integrada de las Naciones Unidas (BINUH) y el Core Group, las dos entidades coloniales que han gobernado efectivamente el país desde el golpe de Estado respaldado por Estados Unidos/Francia/Canadá de 2004. Haití no tiene soberanía y ha estado bajo ocupación extranjera durante mucho tiempo. El actual "Primer Ministro de facto" fue instalado por el Core Group, y cualquier llamado a la intervención militar proviene de aquellos que ya están ocupando Haití.

Despreciamos a los gobiernos neocoloniales que participan en esta misión para oprimir aún más al pueblo haitiano y negarles su soberanía. Denunciamos a los gobiernos de Kenia y las naciones del CARICOM, como Bahamas, Jamaica y Antigua y Barbuda, que han fallado a Haití y han violado el concepto del Caribe como una zona de paz.

Además, exigimos que:

1. Estados Unidos y la ONU pongan fin a su interferencia en Haití y que se disuelva el ‘Core Group’.

2. Estados Unidos debe poner fin a sus acciones criminales de gánster contra Haití y dejar de sostener al gobierno ilegítimo que instaló.

3. Kenia debe poner fin a su apoyo a una intervención racista e imperialista en Haití.

4. Los gobiernos de Estados Unidos y la República Dominicana dejen de arrojar armas y municiones al país, y el Primer Ministro de facto deje de armar a los paramilitares en el país.

5. La ONU indemniza por el devastador brote de cólera de 2010 reconstruyendo la infraestructura de agua, saneamiento, salud y educación de Haití.

6. Se restablezcan los subsidios a los combustibles en Haití y se aumente el salario mínimo.

7. Los países del CARICOM, junto con otras naciones de la región, normalizan los caminos para visas de trabajo y ciudadanía para los nacionales haitianos.

8. Nos comprometemos a estar del lado del pueblo haitiano contra el imperialismo.

FIRMADO,

718 Coalition

Acción Afro-Dominicana, RD

ADDI Caribbean

Al-Awda, the Palestinian Right to Return Coalition 

All African People’s Revolutionary Party

Alliance for Global Justice

Anti Displacement NYC

Aquelarre RD

Ban Killer Drones

Black Alliance for Peace, Haiti/Americas Team

Canadian Peace Congress

Caribbean Movement for Peace and Integration

Caribbean Organisation for Peoples Empowerment

Caribbean Solidarity Network

Chicago Antiwar Coalition (CAWC)

CODEPINK

Comité Dominicano de Derechos Humanos -CDDH-, RD

Committee of Anti-Imperialists in Solidarity with Iran

Communist Party of Kenya

Community Movement Builders

Consejo de Organizaciones Sociales y Populares del Paraguay

Consejo por la Emancipación Plurinacional Peruana

Cooperation Jackson

COPLAC-Confederación Palestina Latinoamericana y del Caribe

Dar al Janub - Verein für antirassistische und Friedenspolitische Initiative

Decolonial Feminist Collective

Diaspora Pa’lante Collective

Dr. Alejandro Rusconi – Movimiento Evita

Durham Beyond Policing

Frente Patriótico Manuel Rodríguez

G-REBLS

Haiti Action

Haiti Action Committee

Haiti Liberté

Harriet Tubman Center for Social Justice

International Action Center

International Manifesto Group/New Cold War

La Articulación Regional Afrodescendiente de las Américas y el Caribe (ARAAC)

League of Young Communists USA

Left Alliance for National Democracy and Socialism - Jamaica LANDS

Malcolm X Center for Self Determination

Massachusetts Peace Action

Memphis 4 Revolutionary Socialism

Michigan General Defense Committee

Midwestern Marx Institute

MOLEGHAF (Mouvman Libèté, Egalite sou chimen Fratènite tout Ayisyen)

Montreal pour un Monde sans Guerre (World BEYOND War)

Movement for People's Democracy

Movimiento Argentino de Solidaridad con Cuba (Mascuba)

Movimiento Caamañista -MC-, RD

Movimiento Popular Dominicano -MPD-, RD

Movimiento por la Paz, la Soberanía y la Solidaridad entre los Pueblos (MOPASSOL)

Movimiento Rebelde -MR-, RD

Movimiento Reconocido

NJ State Industrial Union Council

Observatorio de Derechos Humanos de los Pueblos

Orinoco Tribune

Palestinian Youth Movement - Detroit Chapter

Pan-African Community Action (PACA)

Partido Comunista del Trabajo -PCT-, RD

Partido Movimiento del Socialismo Allendista de Chile

Partido Nuevo Encuentro – Argentina

Partido Socialista de Peru

Peace Action, Network of Lancaster, Pennsylvania

People's Power Assembly

Pro Derechos Humanos Bolivia (PRODEHBOL)

Rasanbleman Pou Ayiti

Reparations United

Rethink New Orleans

Rochester (NY) Committee on Latin America

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network

Socialist Unity Party

Socialist Workers League-Nigeria

Socialist Workers' Movement of the Dominican Republic (MST)

SOLI Puerto Rico

Solidaridad Dominicana Con Haití, Rep. Dominicana

Solidarity Committee of the Americas, Minnesota 

The African Diaspora Foundation (Barbados)

The Barbados Sovereignty Party

The Global Pan African Movement (GPAM) North American Chapter

The Global Sovereign Peoples Movement

The International Black Chamber of Commerce and Industry

The Party of Communists USA

The People’s Forum

The Red Nation

The Regional Coordination Committee of the Pan Afrikan and Indigenous Movement of the Caribbean

The Ubuntu Reading Group

Troika Collective

Ubuntu Freedom

Ujima People’s Progress Party

UNAC (United Antiwar Coalition)

US Palestinian Community Network

Women Against Military Madness

Workers World Party

World BEYOND War

Zimbabwe Movement of Pan African Socialists

Banner art and flier: by Okra Sanyika

No to Blackface imperialism. Yes to Haitian Sovereignty

OPPOSE FOREIGN INTERVENTION IN HAITI

No to Blackface imperialism. Yes to Haitian Sovereignty.

On August 1, 2023, the United States stated it would “put forward a U.N. Security Council resolution that will authorize Kenya to lead a multinational police force to help combat gangs in Haiti.” While Kenya has offered to deploy a contingent of 1,000 police officers to help train and assist Haitian police, ostensibly to “restore order” in the Caribbean republic,” their proposal is nothing more than military occupation by another name. An occupation of Haiti by an African country is not Pan-Africanism, but Western imperialism in Black face. By agreeing to send troops into Haiti, the Kenyan government is assisting in undermining the sovereignty and self-determination of Haitian people, while serving the neocolonial interests of the United States, the Core Group, and the United Nations.

For the last two years, these imperialist forces have been pushing for further armed intervention into Haiti to forcefully uphold the illegitimate “government” they have installed to maintain their control. The occupying entities of the US, United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH), and the Core Group have been desperately searching for any multilateral institution to lead this intervention, be it the UN Security Council, Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), and others. The goal is the continued denial of Haitian sovereignty.  

Haiti’s occupiers, the Core Group and BINUH, along with their puppet government, are incapable of ensuring healthcare, food, security, and access to basic needs for the people. We are told that the interest of the U.S. is humanitarian, that it wants to protect the Haitian people from “gang violence.” But we know that Haiti’s imperial occupiers have created the crisis and have fueled the violence against Haitian people.

The Black Alliance for Peace stands in solidarity with the Haitian’s people’s constant call for disbanding the Core Group, for an arms embargo against the Haitian and U.S. elite who import guns into the country, for the end of support for Haiti’s installed puppet government, and for the reinstatement of the fuel subsidies removed by order of the IMF.  It is curious that the Core Group and US/UN are calling for military intervention while not making calls to build either hospitals or schools, or to build the infrastructure for power and clean water. Yet, BINUH and the Core Group cooperate with the oligarchs who establish monopolistic domination through intimidation and force.

The ongoing occupation of Haiti and calls for increased foreign military presence in Haiti have been justified as the only solution to political or economic crises. Yet, the true ongoing crisis in Haiti is a crisis of imperialism. The country's economic and social situation has reached a critical stage, allowing for  increased political instability.

BAP demands that Kenya rescind their proposal to send 1,000 police to Haiti, and calls on the Kenyan people to join the Haitian masses and radical voices worldwide in condemning the continued occupation and governance of Haiti by the Core Group and the UN.

BAP calls on individuals and organizations in the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean and Central and Latin America, especially those member states of CELAC and CARICOM, to demand that their elected representatives SAY NO to any resolution at present or in the future to militarily intervene in Haiti.

BAP calls on individuals and organizations on the continent of Africa, particularly Pan-African organizations, to denounce African governments participation in present or future armed intervention into Haiti, and demand leaders of their countries seek true Pan-African alliances with the people and grassroots organizations of Haiti, in support of their sovereignty and self-determination – in line with demands of 60+ Haitian civic and social organizations in their letter to the African Union, dated 6 August 2023  (English | Francés).

BAP calls for popular movements in the Americas in support of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) 2014 call to make the Americas region a Zone of Peace.

SIGN HERE

Call, tweet, and email these demands to: 

Kenya: Ambassador William Ruto 

(202) 387-6101

Email: information@kenyembassydc.org or complaints@kenyaembassydc.org

Twitter: @KenyaembassyDC or@ForeignOfficeKE or @StateHouseKenya

Jamaica: Ambassador Audrey Patrice Marks

(202) 452-0660

Email: contactus@jamaicaembassy.org

Twitter: @USEmbassyJA

The Bahamas: Ambassador Wendall K. Jones

(202) 319-2660

Email: EMBASSY@BAHAMASEMBDC.ORG

Twitter: @bahamasembassy

CARICOM: CARICOM Secretariat

Turkeyen Georgetown, Guyana

Email registry@caricom.org or communications@caricom.org 

 +1(592) 222-0001

Twitter: @CARICOMorg

UN: UN Secretary-General António Guterres 

(212) 963-7160

Twitter: @antonioguterres

No to occupation. No to foreign intervention. No to Blackface imperialism. 

Yes to sovereignty. Yes to a true Pan-African alliance between the people of Haiti and Kenya.  

#HandsOffHaiti

Banner photo: Painting of French colonizing soldier being hung from trees by Haitian rebels. (courtesy PBS Documentary - Egalite for All: Toussaint Louverture & The Haitian Revolution)

In Haiti, Kenya Chooses Imperialist Servitude Over Pan-African Solidarity

ESPAÑOL ABAJO

In Haiti, Kenya Chooses Imperialist Servitude Over Pan-African Solidarity

For Immediate Release

Media Contact:

(201) 292-4591

communications@blackallianceforpeace.com

AUGUST 3, 2023—The Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) condemns in the strongest possible terms Kenya’s proposal to lead what amounts to a foreign armed intervention in Haiti. 

Kenya has offered to deploy a contingent of 1,000 police officers to help train and assist Haitian police, ostensibly to “restore order” in the Caribbean republic. Yet, their proposal is nothing more than military occupation by another name; an occupation of Haiti by an African country is not Pan-Africanism, but Western imperialism in Black face. By agreeing to send troops into Haiti, the Kenyan government is assisting in undermining the sovereignty and self-determination of Haitian people, while serving the neocolonial interests of the United States, the Core Group, and the United Nations.

There is an urgent need for clarity on the issue of occupation in Haiti. As described in a recent statement on Haiti and Colonialism, Haiti is under ongoing occupation. No call for foreign intervention into Haiti from the administration of appointed Prime Minister Ariel Henry can be considered legitimate, because the Henry administration itself is illegitimate. BAP has repeatedly pointed out that Haiti’s crisis is a crisis of imperialism. Haiti’s current unpopular and unelected government is propped up only by Haiti’s de facto imperial rulers: the unseemly confederacy of the Core Group countries and organizations, as well as BINUH (the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti), and a loose alliance of foreign corporations and local elites. 

Henry and the UN have made a mockery of sovereignty by mouthing the slogan “Haitian solutions to Haitian problems,” yet finding the only solution in violence through foreign military intervention. After repeated failed attempts to organize an occupying force to protect their interests and impose their will on the Haitian people (including appeals to the multinational organization, the Caribbean Community [CARICOM] for troops), they have now found a willing accomplice in Kenya, an east African country with its own set of internal problems. 

As Austin Cole, co-coordinator of the BAP Haiti/Americas Team, argues: “At best, Kenya is allowing itself to be used in a violent line of neocolonial puppetry that will inevitably result in more death and imperial plunder for the masses of Haitians. At worst, Kenya sees this as an easy opportunity to serve the colonial ‘masters’ and win favor for political and financial needs.” 

Indeed, what’s in it for Kenya? An opportunity to both train and enhance the salaries of local police forces and garner a patina of prestige, or at least bootlicking approval, from the West. And for Haiti? White blows from a Black hand and a further erosion of their sovereignty.

BAP demands that Kenya rescind their proposal to send 1,000 police to Haiti, while calling on the Kenyan people to join the Haitian masses and radical voices worldwide in condemning the continued occupation and governance of Haiti by the Core Group and the UN. 

No to occupation. No to foreign intervention. No to Black face imperialism. Yes to sovereignty. Yes to a true Pan-African alliance between the people of Haiti and Kenya.

Banner photo: Police officers patrol a street in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince (courtesy Marvens Compère/Haitian Times)

---

En Español

En Haití, Kenia Prefiere la Servidumbre Imperialista a la Solidaridad PanAfricana

Para Publicación Inmediata

Contacto de Prensa:
(201) 292-4591
communications@blackallianceforpeace.com

3 de AGOSTO de 2023—La Alianza Negra por la Paz (BAP) condena en los términos más enérgicos posibles la propuesta de Kenia de liderar lo que equivale a una intervención armada extranjera en Haití.

Kenia ha ofrecido desplegar un contingente de 1.000 policías para ayudar a capacitar y ayudar a la policía haitiana, supuestamente para "restaurar el orden" en la república caribeña. Sin embargo, su propuesta no es más que una ocupación militar con otro nombre; una ocupación de Haití por un país africano no es panafricanismo, sino imperialismo occidental de rostro negro. Al aceptar enviar tropas a Haití, el gobierno keniano está contribuyendo a socavar la soberanía y la autodeterminación del pueblo haitiano, al tiempo que sirve a los intereses neocoloniales de Estados Unidos, el ‘Core Group’ y las Naciones Unidas.

Urge aclarar la cuestión de la ocupación en Haití. Como se describe en una reciente declaración sobre Haití y el colonialismo, Haití está bajo una ocupación continua. Ningún llamado a la intervención extranjera en Haití por parte de la administración del nombrado Primer Ministro Ariel Henry puede considerarse legítimo, porque la propia administración Henry es ilegítima. BAP ha señalado en repetidas ocasiones que la crisis de Haití es una crisis del imperialismo. El actual gobierno de Haití, impopular y no electo, solo es sostenido por los gobernantes imperiales de facto de Haití: la indecorosa confederación de países y organizaciones del ‘Core Group’, así como la BINUH (Oficina Integrada de las Naciones Unidas en Haití), y una vaga alianza de corporaciones extranjeras y élites locales.

Henry y la ONU han hecho un desprecio a la soberanía al repetir el eslogan "soluciones haitianas para problemas haitianos", pero encontrando la única solución en la violencia a través de la intervención militar extranjera. Después de repetidos intentos fallidos de organizar una fuerza de ocupación para proteger sus intereses e imponer su voluntad sobre el pueblo haitiano (incluidos llamados a la organización multinacional, la Comunidad del Caribe [CARICOM], para enviar tropas), ahora han encontrado un cómplice dispuesto en Kenia, un país de África Oriental con sus propios problemas internos.

Como argumenta Austin Cole, co-coordinador del Equipo Haití/Américas de BAP: "En el mejor de los casos, Kenia se está dejando utilizar en una violenta línea de títeres neocolonial que inevitablemente resultará en más muertes y saqueo imperial para las masas de haitianos. En el peor de los casos, Kenia ve la intervención como una oportunidad fácil para servir a los 'amos' coloniales y obtener favor político y financiero."

¿Qué gana Kenia con ello? Una oportunidad para formar y mejorar los salarios de las fuerzas policiales locales y obtener una pátina de prestigio, o al menos la aprobación de Occidente. ¿Y para Haití? Golpes blancos de una mano negra y una mayor erosión de su soberanía.

BAP exige que Kenia rescinda su propuesta de enviar 1.000 policías a Haití, mientras hace un llamado al pueblo keniano para que se una a las masas haitianas y a las voces radicales de todo el mundo en la condena de la continua ocupación y gobernación de Haití por parte del Core Group y la ONU.

No a la ocupación. No a la intervención extranjera. No al imperialismo con rostro negro. Sí a la soberanía. Sí a una verdadera alianza panafricana entre el pueblo de Haití y Kenia.

Fotografía del encabezamiento: Agentes de policía patrullan una calle de Puerto Príncipe, la capital haitiana (cortesía de Marvens Compère/Haitian Times)

Black Alliance for Peace Once Again Calls on International Community To Reject U.S./U.N./CARICOM Plan for An Armed Intervention of Haiti

Black Alliance for Peace Once Again Calls on International Community To Reject U.S./U.N./CARICOM Plan for An Armed Intervention of Haiti

No to Foreign Militarism, Yes to Self-Determination!

For Immediate Release July 17, 2023

Media Contact: 

info@blackallianceforpeace.com 

(201) 292-4591

The Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) is alarmed that representatives of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) are at the forefront of the call for armed intervention in Haiti calling on Rwanda and Kenya to help lead the charge. Once again the Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) calls on the international community to reject U.S., UN, and CARICOM plans for an armed intervention in Haiti. We have been consistent in our support for Haitian people who view the presence of the United Nations Integrated Office (BINUH) and the Core Group as a foreign occupation. Since 2004, they have suppressed Haiti’s independence and sovereignty. A U.S./UN-led armed foreign intervention in Haiti is not only illegitimate, but illegal. 

CARICOM has caved in to pressure from the Biden administration and now supports the US/UN plan to violently attack Haiti under the racist guise of humanitarian intervention. This stance reverses a position that many members of CARICOM held early this spring; at that time, the organization’s president and Prime Minister of Bahamas, Philip Davis, said that the Caribbean countries had no intention of sending forces to Haiti. BAP condemns CARICOM’s betrayal of the people of Haiti and their complicity in surrendering regional sovereignty to the U.S. and the Core Group’s undemocratic and imperialist aims.

And what was the argument advanced by U.S. officials concerning Haiti? We are told that the interest of the U.S. is humanitarian, that it wants to protect the Haitian people from gang violence. Yet, no mention has been made of the Haitian people’s constant call for the disbanding of the Core Group, for an arms embargo against the Haitian and U.S. elite who import guns into the country, for the end of support for Haiti’s installed puppet government, and for the deep financial crises placed on the people by the IMF-led move to remove fuel subsidies. There are no calls to build either hospitals or schools. And there are no efforts to provide asylum for the thousands of Haitians in the United States, Mexico – and the CARICOM countries themselves.

The call for an armed intervention of Haiti is not about humanitarianism. Indeed, as Erica Caines, co-coordinator of BAP’s Haiti/Americas Team, argues:

 “It is an ahistorical absurdity that U.S. officials would have any concerns about the lives of the Black people of Haiti. The U.S. has one agenda, and one agenda only, and that is to maintain its hegemonic control over the peoples and territories of the Caribbean and Latin America. The real reason for the violent intervention into Haiti by the U.S. with its European allies, is to shore-up the undemocratic and illegitimate government of Ariel Henry.”

It is understandable that unprincipled servants to white power like Hakeem Jeffries, the leader of the U.S. House Democrats who attended the CARICOM meeting along with the warmongering U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, would advocate for an imperialist military assault into Haiti to prop-up its unelected puppet regime. But it is a sad day for the Caribbean that a majority of the Black heads of state in CARICOM have agreed to give political cover to this white power intervention against the dignity and rights of the Haitian people. As we said in our earlier letter to CARICOM, “We call on your countries to respect Haitian sovereignty and to support the Haitian masses in their stand against the ongoing occupation of their country by foreign powers.”

BAP, once again, is also compelled to call on the representatives of the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation to vote against any UNSC resolution sanctioning military force to Haiti.

In our initial communication with the representatives from Russia and China, we made it clear that, “in alignment with the wishes of the Haitian masses and their supporters, [we] absolutely stand against any foreign armed intervention in Haiti.” We further demand a stop to the unending meddling in Haitian affairs by the United States and Western powers. We hope that the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China will stand with the people of Haiti in its fight for liberation by voting NO on another military invasion to brutalize the long-suffering Haitian masses.

No to Occupation! No to Foreign Militarism! No to CARICOM Neocolonialism!

Yes to Self-Determination!

Banner photo: A man waves a red flag during a protest against fuel price hikes. [AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph]

BAP Haiti/Americas Team Opposes Apparent CELAC Support for Foreign Military Intervention Into Haiti

Black Alliance for Peace’s Haiti/Americas Team Opposes the Apparent Support of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) for Foreign Military Intervention Into Haiti

Peace and Solidarity In the Region Cannot Be Achieved at the Expense of Haitian Sovereignty

For Immediate Release    

Media Contact

communications@blackallianceforpeace.com

(202) 643-1136

FEBRUARY 1, 2023—The Haiti/Americas Team of the Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) vehemently protests CELAC’s (Comunidad de Estados Latinoamericanos y Caribeños / Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) apparent support for multinational military intervention into Haiti, and strongly opposes CELAC including unelected Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry in its recent summit in Buenos Aires. We deem such acts as betrayals of the Haitian people as well as the democratic and anti-colonial forces in the region. 

Founded in 2011, CELAC is a bloc of 33 Caribbean and Latin American countries. It has stated its mission as promoting regional integration and providing an alternative to U.S. power in the region, especially as that power is channeled through the multi-state entity, Organization of American States (OAS). 

At the conclusion of the summit, CELAC members released the Buenos Aires Declaration, a 28-page, 111-point document covering environmental cooperation, post-pandemic economic recovery, food and energy security. Included in that document was CELAC’s endorsement of the development of the region as a Zone of Peace, free of nuclear weapons and committed to non-militaristic solutions to intra-regional problems. 

Yet, CELAC’s commitments to peace as well as to other principles, such as “democracy; the promotion, protection and respect of Human Rights, international cooperation, the Rule of Law, multilateralism, respect for territorial integrity, non-intervention in the internal affairs of States, and defense of sovereignty,” are all directly undermined by its stance on Haiti. By inviting Henry, CELAC has legitimized an unpopular, Core Group-installed, de facto prime minister in Haiti. Henry has not only refused to hold elections, but he has presided over the departure from office of every single elected official in the country. Meanwhile, against the wishes of the Haitian masses and majority, he has begged for foreign intervention to shore up his power. 

The Haiti/Americas Team affirms the words of Ajamu Baraka, chairperson of BAP’s Coordinating Committee, who stated, “Solidarity has to be reciprocal. CELAC must commit itself to supporting the democratic struggles in Haiti against an illegitimate U.S. puppet [government]. Inviting the Haitian government to CELAC is like inviting Juan Guaidó to represent Venezuela.”

Points 101 and 102 of the Buenos Aires Declaration directly address the situation in Haiti. Point 102 endorses the September 8 letter from the UN Secretary General to the President of the Security Council encouraging the organization of a “specialized multinational force” to intervene in Haiti. Nowhere in the Declaration do they mention the role of the international community in creating the current crisis in Haiti. Nowhere do they mention that the crisis is a crisis of imperialism, brought on by the United Nations, the Core Group (an alliance of countries as well as multilateral organizations, such as the World Bank), the United States, Canada, and other so-called “friends” of Haiti in the international community. 

If CELAC supports non-intervention in the internal affairs of independent states, how can they call for foreign intervention in Haiti? If CELAC promotes a Zone of Peace, how can they demand foreign military intervention? If CELAC is for regional sovereignty, how can they support an imperialist design, driven by the United States and others? If CELAC is an advocate for the people of the Caribbean and Latin America, how can they so brazenly ignore the wishes and demands of the people of Haiti? 

BAP’s Haiti/Americas Team suggests CELAC government leaders listen to the voices of the Haitian people, and their supporters in the region, as well as CELAC Social. This new entity of more than 200 organizations issued its own declaration demanding, in part, that the “region give its own response to the Haitian question, respecting the principle of non-intervention and the right of the people of Haiti to define sovereignly their destiny.” 

CELAC’s position on Haiti is ill-informed and dangerous, representing an all-too frequent, reactionary “Haiti exception” when it comes to the “progressive” governments of the Americas. Peace and solidarity in the region cannot be achieved at the expense of Haitian sovereignty. CELAC must avoid contributing to Haiti’s current crisis—the crisis of imperialism.

—————————————————————————

Para publicación inmediata

Contacto para medios de comunicación

comunicaciones@blackallianceforpeace.com

(202) 643-1136

1 DE FEBRERO DE 2023— El Equipo Haití/Américas de la Alianza Negra por la Paz (BAP) protesta con vehemencia por el aparente apoyo de la CELAC (Comunidad de Estados Latinoamericanos y Caribeños) a la intervención militar multinacional en Haití, y se opone enérgicamente a la CELAC incluyendo al primer ministro haitiano no electo Ariel Henry en su reciente cumbre en Buenos Aires. Consideramos tales actos como traiciones al pueblo haitiano, así como a las fuerzas democráticas y anticoloniales de la región.

Fundada en 2011, la CELAC es un bloque de 33 países del Caribe y América Latina. Ha declarado que su misión es promover la integración regional y brindar una alternativa al poder estadounidense en la región, especialmente porque ese poder se canaliza a través de la entidad multiestatal, la Organización de los Estados Americanos (OEA).

Al concluir la cumbre, los miembros de la CELAC publicaron la Declaración de Buenos Aires, un documento de 28 páginas y 111 puntos que cubre la cooperación ambiental, la recuperación económica pospandemia, la seguridad alimentaria y energética. Incluido en ese documento estaba el respaldo de la CELAC al desarrollo de la región como una Zona de Paz, libre de armas nucleares y comprometida con soluciones no militaristas a los problemas intrarregionales.

Sin embargo, los compromisos de la CELAC con la paz, así como con otros principios, como “democracia; la promoción, protección y respeto de los Derechos Humanos, la cooperación internacional, el Estado de Derecho, el multilateralismo, el respeto a la integridad territorial, la no intervención en los asuntos internos de los Estados y la defensa de la soberanía”, son directamente socavados por su postura sobre Haití . Al invitar a Henry, la CELAC ha legitimado a un impopular primer ministro de facto instalado por el Grupo Central en Haití. Henry no solo se ha negado a celebrar elecciones, sino que ha presidido la salida del cargo de todos los funcionarios electos del país. Mientras tanto, en contra de los deseos de las masas y la mayoría haitianas, ha suplicado una intervención extranjera para consolidar su poder.

El Equipo de Haití/Américas afirma las palabras de Ajamu Baraka, presidente del Comité Coordinador de BAP, quien afirmó: “La solidaridad tiene que ser recíproca. La CELAC debe comprometerse a apoyar las luchas democráticas en Haití contra un [gobierno] títere ilegítimo de los Estados Unidos. Invitar al gobierno de Haití a la CELAC es como invitar a Juan Guaidó a representar a Venezuela”.

Los puntos 101 y 102 de la Declaración de Buenos Aires abordan directamente la situación en Haití. El punto 102 refrenda la carta del 8 de septiembre del Secretario General de la ONU al Presidente del Consejo de Seguridad alentando la organización de una “fuerza multinacional especializada” para intervenir en Haití. En ninguna parte de la Declaración mencionan el papel de la comunidad internacional en la creación de la crisis actual en Haití. En ninguna parte mencionan que la crisis es una crisis del imperialismo, provocada por las Naciones Unidas, el Core Group (una alianza de países y organismos multilaterales, como el Banco Mundial), Estados Unidos, Canadá y otros. -llamados “amigos” de Haití en la comunidad internacional.

Si la CELAC apoya la no intervención en los asuntos internos de los estados independientes, ¿cómo pueden reclamar la intervención extranjera en Haití? Si la CELAC promueve una Zona de Paz, ¿cómo pueden exigir una intervención militar extranjera? Si la CELAC está por la soberanía regional, ¿cómo pueden apoyar un diseño imperialista, impulsado por Estados Unidos y otros? Si la CELAC es una defensora de los pueblos del Caribe y América Latina, ¿cómo pueden ignorar tan descaradamente los deseos y demandas del pueblo de Haití?

El Equipo de Haití/Américas de BAP sugiere que los líderes gubernamentales de la CELAC escuchen las voces del pueblo haitiano y sus seguidores en la región, así como a la CELAC Social. Esta nueva entidad de más de 200 organizaciones emitió su propia declaración exigiendo, en parte, que la “región dé su propia respuesta a la cuestión haitiana, respetando el principio de no intervención y el derecho del pueblo de Haití a definir soberanamente su destino”

La posición de la CELAC sobre Haití es mal informada y peligrosa, y representa una “excepción de Haití” reaccionaria y demasiado frecuente cuando se trata de los gobiernos “progresistas” de las Américas. La paz y la solidaridad en la región no se pueden lograr a expensas de la soberanía haitiana. La CELAC debe evitar contribuir a la crisis actual de Haití, la crisis del imperialismo.

Banner Photo: Line up of CELAC and member country flags in a conference room. (Courtesy @EmbaCubaUS on Twitter)

Black Alliance for Peace Stands in Solidarity with the People of Haiti and Haitian Migrants Against Racist Harassment and Mass Deportations in the Dominican Republic

The Haiti/Americas Team of the Black Alliance for Peace Stands in Solidarity with the People of Haiti and Haitian Migrants Against Racist Harassment and Mass Deportations in the Dominican Republic

In Support of the Day of Solidarity with Haiti and Haitian Migration in the Dominican Republic and Around the World

For Immediate Release     

Media Contact

communications@blackallianceforpeace.com

(202) 643-1136

NOVEMBER 30, 2022—Haitian people, Haitian-descended Dominicans, and Africans from other parts of the globe are being harassed, detained, and deported across the Dominican Republic. The Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) stands in solidarity with Dominican and Haitian organizations in denouncing Dominican President Luis Abinader’s campaign of mass deportations under Decree 668-22. This decree enables the government to round up and deport people of Haitian descent who have been living in the Dominican Republic for years. Some sources say that this year alone nearly 20,000 people have been deported, including 1,800 children.

Decree 668-22 is just the latest in a series of racist, anti-Haitian orders, rulings, and actions that have scarred the history of the Dominican Republic. The most egregious example remains the 1937 Parsley Massacre, in which tens of thousands of Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent were systematically killed. More recently, in 2013, under ruling 168-13, Dominican courts stripped over 200,000 Haitian-descended Dominicans of their citizenship, rendering them stateless and vulnerable to abuse and expulsion. Over the past few months, the Dominican Republic has been conducting mass deportations of Haitian people who had first arrived in the country after fleeing the instability and violence unleashed because of the deteriorating security situation in Haiti.

If the crisis in Haiti is a crisis of imperialism, the question of Haitian migration is clearly a direct result of the imperial crisis. The deportation, detention, abuse, and harassment of Haitians in the Dominican Republic—and, we must add, in the United States, Mexico, the Bahamas, and elsewhere—has structural and historical origins in the international community undermining Haiti’s sovereignty as well as brutally gutting its government and economy since 2004. Haiti has been under some form of Western foreign military occupation and control since that time, ruled by the Core Group (a body of Western countries) and administered by the United Nations through programs colloquially known as MINUSTAH and BINUH. Their policies have led to mass migration from Haiti and have further stoked the flames of anti-Haitian sentiment in the Dominican Republic as well as throughout the Americas. This “migration crisis” will not be resolved without the ability of the Haitian people to assert their sovereignty and decide their own fate without imperialist meddling.

BAP’s Haiti/Americas Team supports calls against the harassment and deportation of Haitians, Dominicans of Haitian descent, and all African peoples in the Dominican Republic, as well as action to end racist treatment and violence against Haitian people globally. The war on Haiti and Haitian people must be seen as part of a global war on African people. 

In recognition of this situation, BAP’s Haiti/Americas Team endorses the Day of Solidarity with Haiti and Haitian Migration in the Dominican Republic and Around the World [Dia de solidaridad con Haití y con la migración haitiana en República Dominicana y en el mundo], being observed today. In solidarity, we share the following statement by the Haitian-Dominican civic organization Reconocido Movement. The Spanish version of the statement follows below.

Stop the Racist Harassment! No More Deportations!

—

Visit Black Alliance for Peace’s Haiti page for additional resources on Haiti’s struggle against U.S./UN/OAS colonialism.

###

 Day of solidarity with Haiti and Haitian migration in the Dominican Republic and around the world

On November 11, the Abinader government of the Dominican Republic approved decree 668-22, which creates a specialized police unit to pursue and expel from the country immigrants living on state or private lands. Since then, persecution, evictions and massive deportations, as well as violence against Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent who have been living for decades in bateyes in the country's sugar cane zones have increased. Images of destroyed homes, police and citizen violence, denial of medical attention, and hate speech towards the Haitian origin population have escalated to alarming limits, in an ongoing nationalist campaign, that already totals more than 85,000 mass deportations so far this year.

In the Dominican Republic there is a danger of perpetrating an ethnic cleansing similar to that committed by the Trujillo dictatorship who orchestrated the Parsley Massacre in 1937 killing more than 15,000 people because of their origin and skin color. 

We condemn this policy of mass expulsions and violation of personal safety that affects Haitians and black people in the Dominican Republic and that is based on the ideology of racial and cultural supremacy of the State and the Dominican elite. 

IT IS TIME TO ACT! 

We call for a united voice against the racist state violence that the Dominican state systematically maintains against the most vulnerable population.

We call on the international community, Haitian and Dominican diasporas, churches, trade union, cultural and political organizations, and human rights organizations around the world to stand in solidarity with the Haitian people, with the situation of Haitian migrants and their families in the Dominican Republic and elsewhere in the world. 

Let us remember that the Dominican Republic is a country that is sustained by tourism. We show the world the reality in which many people live because of their origin and skin color outside its beaches and resorts.

#HaitianLivesMatter #RDRacistState #NoMoreDeportationsRD #UnityAgainstRacismRD #LasVidasHaitianasImportan

If you want to learn more about this conflict:

https://www.reconoci.do/rechazamos-el-decreto-668-22-y-las-deportaciones/

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Sd9n4twbaviefP8I6Y0U_9C1cFj8d6xr/view?usp=share_link

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UkskV4JlCNlWyZpMp1K5GWk4RMw72S-W/view?usp=share_link

In English:

https://www.latinorebels.com/2022/11/17/antihaitiandecree/

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2022/11/21/americas/dominican-republic-expels-haiti-children-intl-latam/index.html

https://www.blackagendareport.com/statement-and-petition-against-inhumane-deportation-haitian-migrants-dominican-republic”

—

Banner photo: Demonstrators protest in front of the presidential palace in Santo Domingo in May calling for the restoration of their Dominican nationality. (Courtesy of Amnesty International)

En español:

El equipo de Haití/Américas de la Alianza Negra por la Paz se solidariza con el pueblo de Haití y los migrantes haitianos contra el acoso racista y las deportaciones masivas en la República Dominicana.

 En Apoyo al Día de la Solidaridad con Haití y la Migración Haitiana en la República Dominicana y el Mundo

Para Publicación Inmediata

contacto con los medios de comunicación

communications@blackallianceforpeace.com

(202) 643-1136

30 de noviembre, 2022- El pueblo Haitiano, Dominicanos descendientes de haitianos, y Africanos de otras partes del mundo están siendo acosados, detenidos y deportados en toda República Dominicana, en lo último en una historia larga de racismo y tratamiento violento de Haitianos y Afro-Dominicanos del gobierno Dominicano. La Alianza Negra por la Paz (Black Alliance for Peace) se solidariza con las organizaciones dominicanas y haitianas denunciando la campaña de deportaciones masivas y el último decreto 668-22 del Presidente Abinader. Este último decreto permite específicamente que el gobierno redondee y deporte miles de personas descendientes de haitianos que han estado viviendo en la República Dominicano durante años. Desde el inicio del decreto el 11 de noviembre de este año, algunas fuentes dicen que casi 20,000 han sido deportados, incluyendo 1,800 niños y jóvenes.

 El Decreto 668-22 es solo lo último en una serie de órdenes, sentencias judiciales y acciones que han marcado la historia de la República Dominicana. El ejemplo más atroz sigue siendo la Masacre de Perejil de 1937, en la que decenas de miles de haitianos y dominicanos de ascendencia haitiana fueron asesinados sistemáticamente. Más recientemente, en el 2013, bajo el decreto 168-13, las cortes dominicanas despojaron más de 200.000 dominicanos descendientes de haitianos de su ciudadanía, dejándolos apátridas y vulnerables al abuso y la expulsión. En los últimos meses, la República Dominicana ha estado realizando deportaciones masivas de haitianos que llegaron por primera vez al país huyendo de la inestabilidad y la violencia desatada por el deterioro de la situación de seguridad en Haití. Si la crisis de Haití es una crisis del imperialismo, la cuestión de la migración haitiana es claramente un resultado directo de la crisis imperial.

La deportación, detención, abuso y acosamiento de haitianos en la República Dominicana –también, debemos agregar, en los Estados Unidos, México, las Bahamas y otros lugares– tiene como origen estructural e histórico el socavamiento de la comunidad internacional de la soberanía de Haití y el brutal desmantelamiento de su gobierno y economía desde 2004. Haití ha estado bajo alguna forma de ocupación y control militar extranjero occidental desde ese momento, gobernado por el Grupo CORE y administrado por las Naciones Unidas a través de MINUSTAH y BINUH. Sus políticas han llevado a la migración masiva desde Haití y avivado aún más las llamas del sentimiento anti-haitiano en la República Dominicana y en todo el continente americano. Esta “crisis migratoria” no se resolverá sin la capacidad del pueblo haitiano de hacer valer su soberanía y decidir su propio destino sin la intromisión imperialista.

El equipo Haití/Américas de la Alianza Negra por la Paz apoya los llamados contra el acoso y la deportación de haitianos, dominicanos de ascendencia haitiana y todos los pueblos africanos en la República Dominicana, así como la acción para poner fin al trato racista y la violencia contra el pueblo haitiano en todo el mundo. La guerra contra Haití y el pueblo haitiano debe verse como parte de una guerra global contra el pueblo africano.

En reconocimiento a esta situación, el Equipo de BAP Haití/Américas respalda el Día de Solidaridad con Haití y la Migración Haitiana en República Dominicana y el Mundo. En solidaridad compartimos el siguiente comunicado de la organización cívica Haitiano-Dominicana Movimiento Reconocido. 

¡Alto al acoso racista! ¡No más deportaciones!

Visita a la página web Haiti de la Alianza Negra por la Paz para recursos adicionales sobre la lucha haitiana contra el colonialismo de EEUU/ONU/OEA.

# # #

Desde nuestra organización queremos invitarte a ser parte de la campaña "Dia de solidaridad con Haití y con la migración haitiana en República Dominicana y en el mundo" dicha campaña busca llamar la atención internacional a la dramática situación de violencia y vulneración de derechos hacia las personas migrantes de origen haitiano y dominicanas de ascendencia haitiana en República Dominicana a raíz del último decreto presidencial que legitima y promueve las deportaciones masivas. Te invitamos a que te unas a esta campaña el día de hoy, miércoles 30 de noviembre durante todo el día. 

Para ser parte de la campaña haz lo siguiente:

1. Pon la imagen que te anexamos en tu perfil de instagran, facebook y twiter

2. Usa los siguientes hashtag: #RDEstadoRacista #NoMasDeportacionesRD #LasVidasHaitianasImportan #UnidadContraElRacismoRD

3. Etiqueta #Tourismrd para que el mundo vea la realidad en que viven muchas personas por fuera de sus playas y resorts

4.  Copia y pega el texto que te dejamos aquí en tus redes:

Dia de solidaridad con Haití y con la migración haitiana en República Dominicana y en el mundo

El 11 de noviembre el gobierno de Abinader de la República Dominicana aprobó el decreto 668-22, que crea una unidad especializada de la policía para perseguir y expulsar del país  a las personas inmigrantes que vivan en tierras estatales o privadas. Desde entonces la persecución, desalojo y deportaciones masivas, asi como la violencia hacia personas haitianas y dominicanas de ascendencia haitiana que viven desde hace décadas en bateyes de las zonas cañeras del país se ha incrementado. Las imágenes de viviendas destruidas, violencia policial y ciudadana, la denegación de atención médica, y los discursos de odio hacia la población de origen haitiano en el país han escalado a límites alarmantes en una campaña nacionalista en curso que ya suma más de 85 mil deportaciones masivas en lo que va de año.

En Rep. Dominicana existe el peligro de que se perpetre una limpieza étnica similar a la cometida por la dictadura de Trujillo quien orquestó la Masacre de Perejil en 1937 asesinando a más de 15,000 personas a causa de su origen y color de piel. 

Condenamos esta política de expulsiones masivas y de atropello a la seguridad personal que afecta a personas haitianas y a personas negras en República Dominicana y que está basada en la ideología de la supremacía racial y cultural del Estado y la élite dominicana. 

¡ES TIEMPO DE ACTUAR! 

Hacemos un llamado a unir la voz en contra de la violencia estatal racista que mantiene el estado dominicano de manera sistemática contra la población más vulnerable.

Llamamos a la comunidad internacional, a las diásporas haitianas y dominicanas, a las iglesias, a las organizaciones sindicales, culturales, políticas, a los organismos de derechos humanos de todo el mundo, a solidarizarse con el pueblo haitiano, con la situación de los migrantes haitianos y sus familias en República Dominicana y en otras partes del mundo. 

Recordemos que Rep. Dominicana es un país que se sustenta gracias al turismo. Le mostramos al mundo la realidad en que viven muchas personas por su origen y su color de piel por fuera de sus playas y resorts.

#LasVidasHaitianasImportan

#RDEstadoRacista

#NoMasDeportacionesRD

#UnidadContraElRacismoRD

Si quieres obtener más información sobre este conflicto:

https://www.reconoci.do/rechazamos-el-decreto-668-22-y-las-deportaciones/

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Sd9n4twbaviefP8I6Y0U_9C1cFj8d6xr/view?usp=share_link

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UkskV4JlCNlWyZpMp1K5GWk4RMw72S-W/view?usp=share_link

The Black Alliance for Peace Welcomes Delayed Security Council Vote on Western Invasion of Haiti

The Black Alliance for Peace Welcomes Delayed Security Council Vote on Western Invasion of Haiti

BAP's Explicit Call for Security Council Opposition Was Heard

For Immediate Release    

Media Contact

info@blackallianceforpeace.com

(202) 643-1136

October 18, 2022 — One day after the Black Alliance for Peace - and other individuals and groups from Haiti and the Haitian diaspora - requested that Russia and China oppose the Biden Administration's UN Security Council resolution providing cover for another Western invasion of Haiti, the Security Council delayed consideration of the vote. The delay is a critical pause on a reckless, poorly-thought out, and potentially disastrous intervention into Haiti. In response to the delay, BAP’s Haiti-Americas team stated:

“We welcome the decision by Chinese and Russian representatives to the security council to speak up against the U.S.-Mexico push for another foreign military invasion of Haiti. We must also note, with worry, that the call for a “Non-UN” armed force, with no oversight, to invade Haiti is extremely reckless, and demonstrates the contempt with which the west and its minions hold Haitian people. Haitian people do not want another U.S.-led foreign intervention; they want to assert their sovereignty and an end to imperialist meddling in their country.” 

As we stated in a release yesterday, we want to be clear: The crisis of Haiti is a crisis of imperialism. 

The crisis is a result of consistent manipulation and intervention by the US, the Core Group, and aligned Western powers–with Mexico, Canada, the Dominican Republic, and the CARICOM nations assuming prominent roles.  The supposed “humanitarian” invasion that they are planning is not designed to serve the Haitian people and support their demands for sovereignty over their own affairs, but to bolster the illegitimate, criminal puppet government that they themselves have installed.

The Black Alliance for Peace, in alignment with the wishes of the Haitian masses and their supporters, absolutely stands against any foreign armed intervention in Haiti. We continue to demand an end to the ceaseless meddling in Haitian affairs by the United States and its alliance of interventionists. We hope our colleagues in the region who support democracy and self-determination will also stand with Haiti, and work toward establishing the Americas as a Zone of Peace by rejecting imperialism in all its forms.

END

Banner photo: A protester taunts police officers during Jean-Jacques Dessalines Day in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, October 17, 2022 (courtesy AFP)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: BAP Opposes Biden Administration’s Security Council Resolution on Haiti and Calls for its Veto

The Black Alliance for Peace Opposes Biden Administration’s Security Council Resolution on Haiti and Calls for its Veto

The Crisis of Haiti is a Crisis of Imperialism

For Immediate Release   

Media Contact

info@blackallianceforpeace.com

(202) 643-1136

October 17, 2022. The Black Alliance for Peace emphatically opposes the Biden administration’s draft resolution to the United Nations Security Council to call for the immediate deployment of a “multinational rapid action force” to Haiti. We have specifically asked two permanent members of the Security Council - the representatives of the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation - to veto this resolution. 

Western nations, led by the United States, and supported by Canada, the Dominican Republic, and the Caribbean Community, among others, are at the forefront of the push for another foreign military intervention in Haiti. Through a global public relations campaign, they are justifying invasion by pointing to a “humanitarian crisis” (including a new cholera outbreak) that has come about as a result of “gang violence.” 

Yet by now, we should know that when it comes to Haiti, we cannot trust the words of Western politicians and the coverage of Western media. In the context of the current “crisis,” politicians and media have worked overtime to shape the discussion of Haiti by highlighting particular details – while ignoring important historical facts.

 In the first instance, when calling for a military invasion of Haiti and promoting a narrative of crisis, the western media does not acknowledge that the current “government” in Haiti is unelected and unaccountable to Haitian people. It also fails to acknowledge that one core demand of the people is for authentic Haitian self-determination. Therefore, the last thing the Haitian people want is another “humanitarian” invasion and occupation by the US and the “Core Group.''  

Second, rarely does the media mention that, along with the demand for self-determination, the nationwide protests of hundreds of thousands of Haitian people have also been against the massive economic distress caused by a sharp increase in the cost of living. This increase was a direct result of a major increase in the cost of fuel – an increase decreed by the puppet Prime Minister and dictated by the IMF. 

Third, media coverage refuses to implicate the U.S., France, and Canada in the 2004 coup d’etat which removed the country’s popularly elected president, eventually leading to the current crisis. 

Much of what we hear about Haiti today is a distortion - or outright fabrication - of Haiti’s social and political reality. Much of it lacks historical context, especially when it comes to the unrelenting meddling of the foreign agents and institutions, for understanding the Haitian situation. Much of it is based in a deep racism that presumes that Black people are ungovernable while resenting the implications of Haiti’s historical commitment to Black freedom.

As a response to distortions and deceptions surrounding Haiti, the Haiti/Americas Team of the Black Alliance for Peace has compiled a dossier of recent statements, essays, and articles which collectively demonstrate both the imperial origins of Haiti’s crisis and the racist justifications supporting it.

We want to be clear: The crisis of Haiti is a crisis of imperialism. 

The Black Alliance for Peace, in alignment with the wishes of the Haitian masses and their supporters, absolutely stands against any foreign armed intervention in Haiti, and continues to demand an end to the unending meddling in Haitian affairs by the United States and Western powers. 

-Haiti/Americas Team of the Black Alliance for Peace 

~END~

ARTICLES :

“The Black Alliance for Peace Rejects the Calls for Foreign Intervention in Haiti and Demands that International Community Respect Haitian Sovereignty and the Wishes of the Haitian People for National Self-Determination" 

https://blackallianceforpeace.com/bapstatements/nooascallforhaitiintervention

Open Letter to Secretary General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), on the need to Support Haitian Sovereignty

https://blackagendareport.com/open-letter-secretary-general-caribbean-community-caricom-need-support-haitian-sovereignty

An Open Letter to His Excellency, Mr. Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), President of Mexico, on the Renewal of the UN Occupation of Haiti

https://blackallianceforpeace.com/movement-news/amloopenletter

Black Alliance for Peace Condemns Renewal of the UN Mission to Haiti (BINUH) 

https://blackallianceforpeace.com/bapstatements/2022unmandaterenewal

Who Rules Haiti? Black Alliance for Peace Condemns Undermining of Haitian National Sovereignty

https://blackallianceforpeace.com/bapstatements/whoruleshaiti

What is the Core Group?

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1t6RmBawvRCIY9VPYdv1ng_4fdEtor_zZp6njuzbBhlw/edit

What is the OAS?

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gYy1MkLVReCfTS6WqQN8r80f8vEipdyJmkcDRXbs6fU/edit

Haiti: On Interventions and Occupations

https://blackagendareport.com/haiti-interventions-and-occupations

The Empire’s Front Yard and the Monroe Doctrine

https://hoodcommunist.org/2022/06/02/the-empires-front-yard-and-the-monroe-doctrine/

The "Leftism" of the Americas Collapses at the Door of Haitian Sovereignty

https://www.blackagendareport.com/leftism-americas-collapses-door-haitian-sovereignty

Borders, Blackness, and Empire

https://blackagendareport.com/borders-blackness-and-empire

PROCLAMATION: LIBERTY OR DEATH, JEAN JACQUES DESSALINES, 1804

Editors, The Black Agenda Review

06 Oct 2021 

https://www.blackagendareport.com/index.php/proclamation-liberty-or-death-jean-jacques-dessalines-1804

END—

Banner photo: A protest in Haiti. (courtesy AP)

BAP Rejects Calls for More Foreign Intervention in Haiti & Stands for Respecting Haitian Sovereignty and Self-Determination

“The Black Alliance for Peace Rejects the Calls for Foreign Intervention in Haiti and Demands that International Community Respect Haitian Sovereignty and the Wishes of the Haitian People for National Self-Determination" 

For Immediate Release    

Media Contact

info@blackallianceforpeace.com

(202) 643-1136

OCTOBER 7, 2022 — The Haitian people have been protesting for months against ongoing foreign occupation and U.S. support for a corrupt government that was not elected by a popular vote or mandate. In the last weeks, popular protests and uprisings have intensified, but the U.S. and its allies have responded by claiming all the disruption in the country amounts to “gang violence” that needs to be quelled with increased foreign intervention, on top of the ongoing BINUH occupation. In addition to the ongoing UN occupation, nine thousand Dominican soldiers are stationed on the border with Haiti and videos have recently surfaced of Dominican military forces entering Haitian territory. Given the Dominican Republic’s history of anti-Haitian sentiment and violence, this is particularly concerning.

Responding to these circumstances, on September 30, The Black Alliance for Peace delivered an open letter to CARICOM (the Caribbean Community), urging the 11-nation group to support Haitian sovereignty and oppose further calls for foreign intervention. BAP reminded the leaders of CARICOM that the situation in Haiti could not be reduced to a sensationalist assertion that so-called gangs were behind the popular uprisings on the island:

"...the latest demonstrations are a direct result of two factors. First, they are a response to the everyday economic misery caused by rising inflation, especially through the staggering increase in the price of fuel. Second, they are part of a long history of demands for the end of foreign meddling in Haitian affairs, especially via the installation and maintenance of an unelected and illegitimate government by the Core Group, of which the United Nations is a part."

BAP member Netfa Freeman delivering open letter to CARICOM to the Embassy of the Republic of Suriname

BAP member Rebecca Bonhomme delivering open letter to CARICOM to the embassy of Antigua and Barbuda

BAP urges popular mobilization against continued U.S. intervention in Haiti and in support of Haitian sovereignty. This Sunday, October 9 at 4pm EST in Washington, DC, leaders from 87+ Haitian-American, faith, and human rights organizations will convene at Black Lives Matter Plaza and march to the White House “to demand the Biden Administration stop propping up a corrupt regime that has plunged Haiti into chaos, and to let Haitians decide their own future, including creating a legitimate Haitian-led transition back to democracy and security”. We encourage all who can to show up and support the Haitian people to decide their own future.

The Black Alliance for Peace has been consistent. The crisis of Haitian democracy is the result of the colonialist interventions of the U.S. and other Western powers. As we said in our communication with CARICOM: 

"BAP absolutely stands against any foreign armed intervention in Haiti, and continues to demand an end to the unending meddling in Haitian affairs by the United States and Western powers. We call for the dissolution of the imperialist Core Group, an end to Western support for the unelected and unaccountable puppet government of Ariel Henry, and for the respect of Haitian sovereignty."

We say No to Occupation. Yes to Self-Determination.

Banner photo: Canada Minister of Foreign Affairs Mélanie Joly, U.S. Sec of State Anthony Blinken, and OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro in a meeting regarding Haiti. (courtesy of @Almagro_OEA2015 on Twitter)

Open Letter to Secretary General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), on the need to Support Haitian Sovereignty

An Open Letter to Her Excellency, Dr. Carla Natalie Barnett Secretary General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), on the need to Support Haitian Sovereignty

Dear Dr. Barnett: 

On September 19, 2022, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) issued a short statement expressing grave concern about worsening conditions in Haiti and pressing for “urgent and immediate attention from the international community.” In light of CARICOM’s more direct engagement in Haitian affairs in recent months, we call on your organization to respect Haitian sovereignty and to support the Haitian masses in their stand against the ongoing occupation of their country by foreign powers. Despite the erroneous representation of the current protests in Haiti as simply “gang violence,” the latest demonstrations are a direct result of two factors. First, they are a response to the everyday economic misery caused by rising inflation, especially through the staggering increase in the price of fuel. Second, they are part of a long history of demands for the end of foreign meddling in Haitian affairs, especially via the installation and maintenance of an unelected and illegitimate government by the Core Group, of which the United Nations is a part. 

We applaud your concern for Haiti. We have also noted the support your member nations have given to Caribbean and Latin American self-determination. For this reason, we would like to remind CARICOM members that the U.S., Canada, France, and other Western countries, along with the Core Group, and UN missions such as MINUSTAH, are directly responsible for the current conditions in Haiti. Attempting to solve the current crisis in Haiti through a dialogue between unelected and illegitimate Haitian “stakeholders” will not be successful. It will only serve the needs of non-Haitians.

We share with you the words of a coalition of Haitian grassroots organizations explaining the main reason for the currency protests: 

“[T]hese popular protests are part of a struggle for a Haiti free from suffocating foreign interference, gangsterization, this extreme manufactured misery and an anti-national, illegitimate, criminal political regime established by the Core Group of which the UN is a member.”

A brief historical contextualization is in order:

The UN Mission to Haiti Is a Foreign Occupation Repressing Haitian Sovereignty

As you surely are aware, the United Nations became an occupying force in Haiti after the U.S.-France-Canada-led 2004 coup d’état against Haiti’s democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide. We must note that, in addition to Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, only Jamaica’s P.J. Patterson, in his capacity as leader of CARICOM, spoke up against the coup.  

Following the coup, the UN took over from U.S. forces. Under Chapter VII of the UN charter, the UN established the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (or MINUSTAH), for the tasks of military occupation under the guise of establishing peace and security. The Workers Party-led government of Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva then betrayed the Haitian people and undercut Haiti’s sovereignty by agreeing to lead the military wing of the UN mission in Haiti.

The history of the UN in Haiti has been a history of violence. An expensive, multi-billion dollar operation, MINUSTAH had between 6,000 and 12,000 military troops and police stationed in Haiti alongside thousands of civilian personnel. Like the first U.S. occupation (1915-1934), the UN occupation under MINUSTAH was marked by its brutality and racism towards the Haitian people. Civilians were brutally attacked and assassinated. “Peace-keepers” committed sexual crimes. UN soldiers dumped human waste into rivers used for drinking water, unleashing a cholera epidemic that killed between 10,000 and 50,000 people. The UN has still not been held accountable for this needless death.

The Core Group — an international coalition of self-proclaimed “friends” of Haiti — came together during the MINUSTAH occupation. Non-Black, un-elected, and anti-democratic, the goal of the Core Group is to oversee Haiti’s governance. Meanwhile, as with the first occupation, the United States and MINUSTAH trained and militarized Haiti’s police and security forces, often rehabilitating and reintegrating rogue members. The United States, in collusion with MINUSTAH and the Core Group, also over-rode Haitian democracy, installing both neo-Duvalierist Michel Martelly and his Haitian Tèt Kale Party (PHTK), alongside Martelly’s protege and successor, the late Jovenel Moïse.

It is claimed that this occupation officially ended in 2017 with the dissolution of MINUSTAH. But the UN has remained in Haiti under a new acronym: BINUH, the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti. BINUH has had an outsized role in Haitian internal political affairs. For example, soon after Moïse was assassinated, its representative, Helen La Lime, asserted that Claude Joseph would be installed as Haiti’s leader. Later, the “Core Group” switched gears and demanded that Ariel Henry should be president. And this is exactly what happened when a “new” Haitian government was announced on July 20, 2021, with Henry as leader. This, without any say from the Haitian people, without any pretense of a democratic process, without any concern for Haiti’s sovereignty.

UN Occupation Increases Violence and Instability

Haiti currently has an unelected, unpopular, unaccountable, and illegitimate prime minister, propped up by the United States and the western nations. Meanwhile, Haiti’s security situation has deteriorated considerably as groups, armed by the transnational Haitian and Levantine elite, continue their attacks on the Haitian people. We must emphasize that, in the eighteen years that the United Nations mission has participated in the occupation of Haiti, the Haitian people have only experienced violence and political instability. You must recognize the foreign occupation of Haiti has left it in a state of disarray and violence. 

The consequences of Foreign Meddling and Occupation

We must remind you that this is the sixth week of protests of the Haitian people against both the U.S.-backed puppet government of Ariel Henry and the continued occupation and meddling of the Core Group and the UN itself. With all the talk of Haitian “lawlessness,” one would never know that the other main reason for the protests was the illegitimate government’s decision, under IMF austerity dictates, to cut fuel subsidies, amid spiraling inflation and economic insecurity. Hear the people’s words:

“This new decision, taken to the detriment of the interests of the people, has aroused his anger and also intensified a protest movement already initiated, whose objective is the recovery of our sovereignty, the recovery of Haiti's destiny by Haitians, the establishment by Haitians of a legitimate government, capable of defending the interests of the people and meeting the various challenges of the moment.”

No to Occupation. Yes to Self-Determination.

The speed at which contemporary events are moving in Haiti makes it difficult for those outside the Caribbean republic to understand its internal political dynamics. Because of this, it is easy to resort to historical cliches and short-hand analyses in an attempt to neatly package and summarize or flatten what are oftentimes complex, structural, and historical formations whose origins are as much rooted outside than inside the country. Thus to outsiders Haiti is in the middle of a crisis, a never-ending crisis marked by lawlessness and violence, by the failure of government and the collapse of the state, and by a savage populism paired with well-armed, predatory gangs. 

We believe this representation of Haiti is fueled by an ancient racism premised on the notion that Haitian people (and African people more generally) are incapable of self-government, and this notion, in turn, nurtures the rationalization for the strengthening of the current mandate for the continued international occupation of Haiti. 

We ask that you think with all seriousness about the relationships among nations in our region. All nations should be able to chart their own destiny, not just some. You must know the history of the proud Haitian people whose Revolution changed the course of world history and material aid helped the liberation of the Americas from colonial rule and enslavement. Despite the continued affront to its self-determination, the people of Haiti will continue to fight for its liberation.

The Black Alliance for Peace, in alignment with the wishes of the Haitian masses and their supporters, absolutely stands against any foreign armed intervention in Haiti, and continues to demand an end to the unending meddling in Haitian affairs by the United States and Western powers. We call for the dissolution of the imperialist Core Group, an end to Western support for the unelected and unaccountable puppet government of Ariel Henry, and for the respect of Haitian sovereignty. 

Signed,

The Black Alliance for Peace, Haiti/Americas Team

#####

END

Banner Photo: Protesters demanding the resignation of the President in Port-au-Prince.Credit (Courtesy Reuters by Andres Martinez Casares)