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<a href="http://www.haitisolidarity.net/article.php?id=217" eudora="autourl">
http://www.haitisolidarity.net/article.php?id=217<br><br>
</a>Call to Action - 3rd International Day in Solidarity with the People
of Haiti!<br><br>
Four years after the Feb. 29, 2004 coup d’etat that overthrew the
democratically-elected government of President Aristide… <br>
Four years after US Special Forces kidnapped the President at gunpoint
from his home, late at night, and flew him on a military plane to exile
in Africa… <br>
Four years after US Marines seized control of Haiti’s capital and
installed a US-appointed coup regime…<br><br>
Haiti is still under foreign military occupation, by a UN force that
replaced the Marines in June 2004. It is an occupation marked by rapes
and wanton killings of the poor. Haiti faces hunger…unemployment…lack of
public services. The situation, imposed by IMF/World Bank policies, has
steadily worsened since the coup and occupation.<br><br>
Haiti’s jails are still filled with political prisoners. The poor
majority still face political persecution, while the coup plotters &
paramilitary death squads enjoy impunity.<br><br>
Dear Sisters and Brothers, Friends of Haiti: <br><br>
The United Nations forces in Haiti (MINUSTAH) and Haiti’s tiny
elite – backed to the hilt by the US, France and Canada – continue their
repression of the poor majority, targeting especially supporters of the
Lavalas grassroots democracy movement. Although a new President Rene
Preval was elected in 2006, most functionaries from the US-installed coup
regime of 2004-06 remain in office today. And the reins of power remain
effectively in the hands of the US Embassy and other foreign occupation
forces.<br><br>
Let us not forget that 200 years before the 2004 coup, Haitians rose up
and overthrew both slavery and colonial rule. The Haitian Revolution was
an earth-shattering development in the struggle for the emancipation of
labor all over the world, and remains our shining example. <br><br>
Now, when the enemies of freedom and sovereignty are attempting to
re-colonize and re-enslave Haiti, we need to act in solidarity with our
Haitian brothers and sisters, in the spirit of their resistance.
<br><br>
Call to Action – for each city to organize its own Haiti solidarity
activity on or around Friday, February 29, 2008 – to be coordinated as a
SINGLE WORLDWIDE MOBILIZATION. It could be a march, rally, public
meeting, film showing, vigil, house meeting or civil disobedience in your
town – whatever you are able to do – in support of the following
demands. <br><br>
We Demand:<br><br>
End the US/UN Occupation – Respect Haiti’s sovereignty <br>
Free the political prisoners – No more illegal arrests or prolonged
detention without charges <br>
No more killings and sexual abuse of the poor by UN troops, police and
paramilitaries under police control <br>
President Aristide must be free to return to Haiti – Respect the Haitian
Constitution <br>
No more ‘disappearances’ – Work for the rule of law and the safe return
of kidnapped Haitian human rights advocate Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine
<br>
Launch an independent inquiry into the February 29, 2004 coup and forced
removal of President Aristide <br>
Perpetrators of the coup and massacres of the poor must be brought to
justice – Reparations for the victims <br>
<br>
With your participation, we know we can make the Third Haiti Solidarity
Day a success. This year’s call is being initiated by the Haiti Action
Committee. Last year, on February 7th, the 2nd International Day in
Solidarity with Haiti saw 75 actions in 62 cities on 5 continents – from
South Africa, the Philippines, South America, to the Caribbean, Europe
and North America, to Haiti, where nearly 200,000 took to the streets in
10 cities, demanding that Haiti’s sovereignty and democracy be respected.
Let us make February 29th, 2008 even bigger. <br><br>
Please tell us what activity you are planning for Friday, February 29,
2008 [or that weekend] in support of the people of Haiti, as part of
Coordinated International Protests on the 4th anniversary of the 2004
coup in Haiti.<br><br>
In Solidarity, <br>
The February 29th Organizing Committee<br><br>
Contact the Feb. 29th Organizing Committee at 510-847-8657
<a href="mailto:feb29@sonic.net">feb29@sonic.net</a><br><br>
Contact us if you would like to receive a DVD about Haiti under US/UN
Occupation – including footage of UN massacres in Cite Soleil. <br>
Contact us if you would like to order some ‘3rd International Day in
Solidarity with the Haitian People’ buttons (2-inch round). <br><br>
For more information, and for complete city-by-city reports on the 1st
and 2nd International Days in Solidarity with the Haitian People on
September 30, 2005 and February 7, 2007, go to the website of the Haiti
Action Committee at
<a href="http://www.haitisolidarity.net/">www.haitisolidarity.net</a> .
More Haiti news and information can be found at
<a href="http://www.haitiaction.net/">www.haitiaction.net</a> . <br><br>
Here are some of the cities that answered the Call for the 1st & 2nd
International Days in Solidarity with Haiti, September 2005 and February
2007: Durban, South Africa…Rio de Janeiro, Brazil…Montreal,
Quebec…Port-au-Prince, Haiti…San Francisco, Calif…Manila,
Philippines…Mexico City…Miami, Florida…Georgetown, Guyana…Dublin,
Ireland…Los Angeles, CA…Cap Haitien, Haiti…Boston, Mass…Cordoba &
Buenos Aires in Argentina… Johannesburg, South Africa…New York City…Santo
Domingo, Dominican Republic… Tuscon, Arizona…Vancouver, BC…Washington,
DC…Puerto Cabello, Venezuela… Central Florida…Cochabamba,
Bolivia…Detroit, Michigan…Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta…Lima,
Peru…Jacksonville, Fla…London, England…Milwaukee, Wis…Atlanta,
Ga…Point-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe…Fort de France,
Martinique…Trinidad…Philadelphia, Pa…Ottawa, Canada…
Minneapolis/St.Paul…Sacramento, Calif…Santiago, Chile…Tampa, Fla…Houston,
Texas… Kinshasa, Congo…Sao Paulo and Brasilia in Brazil…Benin, West
Africa…Les Cayes, Hinche and St. Marc in Haiti…Oslo, Norway…San Jose,
Costa Rica…Newark, NJ…Joint statement of Haiti committees in France,
Belgium and Switzerland…Dominica…Toronto and Windsor in
Ontario…Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada…Portland,
Oregon…Sydney, Tatamagouche, New Glasgow and Antigonish in Nova
Scotia…San Diego, San Rafael, Richmond and San Jose in
California…Portland, Maine…Huddleston, Virginia…Amherst and Greenfield,
Mass…Gonaives and Port-de-Paix in Haiti…Columbus, Indiana…Columbia,
Maryland…Fredericton, New Brunswick… Enterprise, Oregon… Halifax, Nova
Scotia… Miragoane, Leogane and Jacmel in Haiti… Ekurhuleni in South
Africa. <br><br>
Add your city’s name to this growing circle of solidarity, by joining
this 3rd International Day in Solidarity with the Haitian People on
February 29, 2008.<br><br>
<br><br>
<br><br>
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