By September 7, 2023
The United States has been looking for a new way to intervene in Haiti for nearly two years. The multiple ways it has interfered in Haiti’s internal affairs over the past 200 years needs to be brought up to date.
It is clear that the de facto government of Ariel Henry can’t control the situation. The vicious squabbles of the “gangs” that have been created by different factions of the Haitian bourgeoisie, with the blessing of the U.S., to enable the extraction of every possible profit from Haiti’s economy, have made the lives of everyday Haitians desperate.
Protests draw fed-up people in Haiti, despite risks. Signs read: “We are human. It is necessary that we live as humans.”
Intimidation and violence are inescapable and make the people’s misery and poverty ever more intense. Hunger and thirst run rampant. Half or more of Haitians go hungry every day. They are what the U.N.’s food programs call “food insecure.” Water that is fit to drink, potable water, is only available to 43% of Haiti’s rural population.
Kenya sending troops to reinforce Haiti’s police
Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Aug. 1 that Kenya had agreed to lead a U.N.-approved intervention to reinforce the Police Nationale d’Haïti (PNH), but it took until Aug. 20 for a “security assessment team” from Kenya to arrive in Port-au-Prince. The Kenyan delegation, under U.S. protection, with a dozen or so U.S. diplomats present along with the top brass of the PNH, met to assess operational requirements to protect “key government infrastructures like the airport, seaports and main roads.” (Miami Herald, Aug. 24.)
The Kenyan delegation insisted on staying in a hotel close to the airport in case they had to leave quickly. Some of the U.N.’s security experts pointed out that much of this infrastructure has already been claimed by “gangs” that are not going to give up their profits without a fight.
The violence in — and poverty of — Haiti are real and incessantly documented by all the big media in the U.S. and Europe. An example of this approach is in an AP dispatch from Aug. 8: “From January to March, more than 1,600 people have been reported killed, injured or kidnapped, a nearly 30% increase compared with the last three months of 2022, according to the newest UN report.”
The AP report does mention the Bwa Kale popular movement against the “gangs,” basically characterizing it as vigilante-style violence. Bwa Kale has had some real success in reducing the “gangs’” violence, intimidation and kidnapping, while facing some vicious blowback.
Corporate media present Haiti’s major problem as not having enough cops to control the criminal “gangs” that have “seized over 80% of Port-au-Prince.” It presents the actions of the U.S. and the Core Group — representatives of the U.N., Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Spain, the European Union and the Organization of American States — as motivated by “humanitarian” concerns, ignoring their responsibility for the present situation.
Without the support of these imperialist powers, Michel Martelly of the Haitian Tèt Kale (Bald Headed) Party (PHTK) would never have become president, nor would have Jovenel Moïse, whose assassination over two years ago precipitated the current crisis.
International statements in solidarity with Haitian people
The Kenyan parliament still has to approve the deal over Haiti that Kenyan President William Ruto worked out with President Joe Biden.
The Communist Party of Kenya said in a statement issued Aug. 30 that it “strongly condemns their nation’s involvement in the impending occupation of Haiti.” It explicitly “condemns attempts to use a Black face to brutalize Haiti or any other nation by the members of the Core Group” and calls for the Kenyan parliament to “intervene in the actions being undertaken by the current administration.”
The statement concludes with “Long Live free, liberated Haiti! Long live the struggle for justice and liberation! In solidarity with the oppressed peoples of the world.” (tinyurl.com/4xnxj7rt)
In the U.S., Black Alliance for Peace has issued a number of strong statements on Haiti. On Aug. 30, the organization wrote: “The Black Alliance for Peace stands in solidarity with the Haitian 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. “
The statement continues, “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.” BAP calls on individuals and organizations to denounce and protest armed foreign intervention in Haiti. (blackallianceforpeace.com)
