[News] The Unreported News from Haiti

[Anti-Imperialist News]

*The Unreported News from Haiti​
*

The relentless attacks on democracy in Haiti continue as Haitians, who 
have lived under United Nations MINUSTAH military occupation since the 
2004 /coup d'etat/ against popularly elected president Jean-Bertrand 
Aristide, rise up to demand governmental accountability and economic 
justice. The most recent wave of protests began in early September 
marking the anniversary of the Sept 11, 1988 St Jean Bosco 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Jean_Bosco_massacre>massacre.

10/24 – Demonstrations 
<https://twitter.com/HaitiInfoProj/status/923148541714866176> continue 
to erupt throughout Haiti, braving the terror of the Haitian National 
Police (PNH) and affiliated paramilitary forces. The demonstrators 
assert that Jovenel Moise and his illegitimate government are no 
different than the old Duvalier dictatorships, and they refuse to accept 
it. They demand the resignation of Moise, along with the resignations of 
similarly imposed corrupt members of parliament.

10/17 - The Moise regime attacked demonstrations throughout the country 
marking the anniversary of Haiti's first/coup d'etat/ in 1806 and the 
assassination of its first head of state and founder General, later 
Emperor, Jean-Jacques Dessalines. He is revered as a personification of 
Haiti's independence, and for his relentless campaign to distribute land 
to the formerly enslaved African majority, the chief reason for the coup 
against him.

10/12 - Members of BOID, the militarized unit of the Haitian National 
Police (PNH) trained and supervised by the UN/US occupation with U.S. 
taxpayer dollars, rampaged through the Port-au-Prince community of 
Lilavois, burning down houses and terrorizing the population in yet 
another case of repression and collective punishment. The short video 
<https://twitter.com/jeanbennet86/status/919743349279674373> posted on 
“HaitiInfoProj” on 10/25/17 **was filmed in the dark during the police 
terror and is accompanied by a plea“...BOID terrorists set fire 
indiscriminately to cars, homes and businesses of people struggling to 
make ends meet..., shooting tear gas that is greatly harmful to children 
with asthma... How can we blame people for leaving Haiti...?” Radio and 
witnesses reported that one person is known to have been executed, 
others have disappeared, and many others severely beaten.

Community organizations, women groups, unions, and political parties, 
including the largest,**/Fanmi Lavalas/ Political Organization founded 
by former president Aristide (who was the priest at Jean Bosco in 1988), 
have been in full support of the popular mobilizations against the 
miserable living conditions and blatant government and generalized 
corruption associated with the disastrous 14-year UN occupation. In 
October, the UN rebranded its MINUSTAH army of occupation to become 
MINUJUSTH, a smaller force which will rely more on a rebuilding of the 
despised Haitian army, disbanded by President Aristide in 1995, to 
maintain control; see Edwidge Danticat in the /New Yorker/,**_“__A New 
Chapter for the Disastrous United Nations Mission in Haiti? 
<https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/a-new-chapter-for-the-disastrous-united-nations-mission-in-haiti>__”_

Widely supported general strike 
<https://twitter.com/HaitiInfoProj/status/914894475167653888>_s_took 
place on September 11 and October 2. Teachers have not been paid in 
months, and the regime is attempting to destroy the informal economy by 
squeezing out the market women, taxi drivers and other sectors to force 
people to rely on the ruling elite-owned supermarkets and corporate 
services that make profits for the wealthy and further marginalize poor 
people. The Haiti Information Project reported that a September 
25thgeneral strike was called off by union leaders 
<https://twitter.com/HaitiInfoProj/status/912475729832456193>who were 
bought off by the government, but many people participated in the strike 
anyway.

The occupation government has met these demonstrations with savage 
repression, attacking demonstrators with batons, bullets, tear gas and 
an irritant shot from water cannon that stings and burns the skin. The 
police and government-organized militia also follow people after 
protests, beat them with baseball bats, and frequently arrest them 
without cause and detain them without trial as is the case of the 
co-host of “Radio Timoun (Youth Radio)” show “Political Education.” 
Death squads operate with impunity. /L'Initiave des Avocats pour la 
Promotion et la Defense des Droits Democratiques/ (Initiative of Lawyers 
for the Promotion and Defense of Democratic Rights) reported in a Radio 
Timoun interview on 10/7/17, 15 people killed and over 40 arrested, with 
many others wounded.

During the protests on 9/21/17, government forces killed a young 
protestor in Port-au-Prince; another was killed the day before in 
Hinche. Many were arrested and wounded also in Trou-du-Nord as the 
infamous militarized police unit BOID assaulted demonstrators 
in Arcahaie, destroying taxi-motorcycles and other businesses of 
community residents. Children in school in Les Cayes were attacked with 
tear gas__ 
<https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FWidlerTout%2Fstatus%2F914916235065876482&data=02%7C01%7Cpierrelabossiere%40hotmail.com%7C07d96715853841b9f13b08d51dba0b42%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636447607245739537&sdata=IE1b5yu30MKm0j06TceGmsZEd638aNMXfl%2Bj3YS0uPs%3D&reserved=0>because 
they supported the general strike. The outraged community responded with 
rocks against the police in defense of their children.

The State University of Haiti has closed the schools of Humanities, Law 
and Ethnic Studies due to ongoing strikes and protests. Many young 
people who want to pursue higher education are forced to leave the 
country. This highlights the importance of UNIFA, the University of the 
Aristide Foundation, as a center of learning dedicated to advancing the 
needs of the country and engaging Haitian youth to that end.

After an “electoral coup” that brought to power the Moise administration 
without any pretense of a democratic process (see the new /Haiti 
Solidarit/ 
<http://haitisolidarity.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Haiti-Solidarity-August-2017-issue.pdf>/y/page 
6 “Haiti 2017: >From Demonstration Election to Electoral Coup”), the 
illegitimate government imposed by the US/UN occupationnow targets the 
very right to vote, by implementing taxes that would make voting itself 
a commodity out of the reach of poor Haitians. It will now cost a 
minimum of about $254 to obtain a voting card; the cost is associated 
with the payment of new excessive fees and taxes that have so outraged 
the Haitian public. When the minimum wage hovers at around $4/day, these 
taxes are one more form of electoral corruption, as many will not be 
able to afford to vote. This is whatthe “democracy” being imposed on 
Haiti looks like.

Besides robbing Haitians of the right to vote, the new taxes will also 
rob them of their very land, because new taxes on land would cost the 
average farmer from ~$3900-$5,200/year, way more than they can possibly 
afford. If the farmer cannot pay, their land may be confiscated. In 
addition, Haitians living outside the country will reportedly have to 
pay $186 in additional taxes to enter Haiti.

As the Moise regime attempts to destroy democracy and extort money from 
the impoverished population, it continues the tax holiday and lucrative 
no-bid contracts provided to the rich. It can pay a $20,000 /per diem/ 
for the president to travel and similarly obscene rates for his family 
and entourage, it can lavishly pay off members of parliament for their 
vote, pay for death squads and restore the brutal military dubbed the 
new “/Tonton Macoutes/”, but it has no money for education, healthcare, 
trash removal, or the basic needs of the population. A mafia is in power 
in Haiti, imposed in full collaboration with US/Canadian/UN/European 
designs on Haiti's land and resources. Despite the repression, 
resistance grows, as more people demonstrate in more and more places. 
The situation is very grave and demands active solidarity.

*SUGGESTED ACTION*: *Help us report the news!*

Since the media either blocks or distorts news from Haiti, we ask that 
you, our supporters, become a people’s media for Haiti and help us 
report the news. Please forward this information to your lists, like us 
on facebook, follow us on twitter, and buy and help distribute our 
newsletters - 5 copies for $20! Haiti needs solidarity, and now is the 
time. Donations can be made by check to Haiti Action Committee, mailed 
to P.O. Box 2044, Berkeley, CA 94702.

*SUGGESTED ACTION*: *E-mail and phone-in campaign to:*

- Say No to the Restoration of the brutal Haitian military

- Hold the US and UN occupation accountable for the terror campaign by 
the Haitian police and security forces they train and supervise.

- Say No to impunity for police terror in Haiti

*Contact:*

- US State Department: HaitiSpecialCoordinator at state. 
<mailto:haitispecialcoordinator at state.gov>gov

- Your Member of Congress: 202-224 3121

-UN Mission in Haiti: minujusth-info at un.org <mailto:minujusth-info at un.org>

-- 
 From Haiti Action Committee
www.haitisolidarity.net <http://www.haitisolidarity.net>
@HaitiAction Committee
<http://www.haitisolidarity.net>
@HaitiAction1 <http://www.haitisolidarity.net>

-- 
Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 
863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/
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