On Feb. 29, 2004, the president-elect of Haiti Jean-Bertrand Aristide was overthrown in a U.S.-sponsored coup. Soon afterward, the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) occupied the country.
Although MINUSTAH poses as a “peacekeeping force,” its mission has been to provide a cover for the imperialist
agenda of the United States and its partners, Canada and France. MINUSTAH has been engaged in the systematic repression of political freedom, focusing particularly on neighborhoods with large numbers of supporters of Aristide and his popular movement Lavalas.
San Francisco
On July 6, 2005, U.N. troops under Brazilian leadership conducted a massive raid in the Port-au-Prince district of Cite Soleil—a stronghold of Lavalas—killing over two dozen residents. A Dec. 22, 2006 raid targeting the same district of the Haitian capital left at least 30 dead. Many other operations against civilians have been conducted, usually under the pretext of fighting “criminals” and “gangsters.”
An International Day of Solidarity with Haiti was held around the world on Feb. 7, calling for the end of U.N. massacres in Haiti and for the withdrawal of all foreign occupation forces. The solidarity actions counted with the confirmed participation of 53 cities in four continents.
The talk below was given by ANSWER activist and PSL member Silvio Rodrigues on Feb. 7 at a San Francisco rally in front of the Brazilian Consulate.
I just got back from Brazil a little over two weeks ago, and I have to say that the Brazilian media’s coverage of Haiti has been absolutely appalling. Actually, you could take many of the articles printed in the American press about U.S. intentions in Iraq, cross out “Iraq” and put “Haiti” in its place, and you’d get an idea of the spin that the Brazilian media has been putting on this.
They praise the Brazilian troops for helping “democracy” thrive in Haiti. For bringing “security” to the Haitian people. These are some of the very same Brazilian newspapers that openly denounced the Iraq war, which shows how far their hypocrisy goes.
Brazil has been leading a brutal occupation—there is no other name for what’s going on in Haiti today. The Brazilian government is selling out the people of Haiti to U.S. imperialism. If the goal of this mission was to restore democracy and peace to Haiti, the most important step toward that goal would be for the U.N. troops to leave now.
But it’s important for everyone here to know that what the Brazilian government has been doing in Haiti is hardly representative of the Brazilian people.
The truth is that the poor of Brazil and the poor of Haiti have much in common. They share a colonial history. They share a struggle against slavery. They have known first hand the harsh reality that is life under military dictatorship. And neither Brazilians nor Haitians are people who let themselves be broken or give up in the face of adversity.
When I was in Brazil last month, I met some truly amazing activists from some of the poorest communities in Rio de Janeiro who are waging a struggle against police. The Brazilian police often raid the shantytowns where these people live, always under the pretext of looking for criminals.
These activists told me how in March of last year, the Brazilian police went through their community and just opened fire at random against the residents. Twenty-nine people died that day—29 poor, working people. And when you hear a story like that, you can’t help to see the parallel between what’s going on in Rio de Janeiro and the massacres being conducted by the Brazilian troops in Haiti.
It’s no wonder that the Brazilian media goes out of its way to cover up what’s going on in Haiti.
The struggle of the Haitian people is the struggle of the Brazilian people. It’s the struggle of all peoples who know what it’s like to go hungry in order to feed the U.S. empire.
My call today doesn’t go out to the Brazilian government or to the U.S. government—we already know where they stand. My call goes out to the people of Brazil, as well as to the people in the United States, to stand together in solidarity with the people of Haiti; to keep spreading the word about these atrocities and break the media blockade; to continue to take the struggle to the streets until the very last U.N. troop is out of Haiti.
On March 17, there will be a National March on the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., not only to oppose the U.S. war of aggression in Iraq but also to show our support for all who are fighting back against the U.S. empire—be it in Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine, Haiti or elsewhere. Here in San Francisco, we’ll gather on Sunday, March 18, at Justin Herman Plaza at noon. Please be there and help us build the resistance at home.
U.N. troops out of Haiti now!
