By Freedom Road Socialist Organization
Feb 29, 2004
The U.S. invasion of Haiti is a crime that deserves the condemnation of everyone who values justice and liberation. The dispatch of U.S. Marines marks the culmination of Washington’s policies of destabilization and destruction. We demand that the U.S. get out of Haiti now.
For years Washington has been working to isolate and destroy the democratically elected government of Jean-Bertrand Aristide. By all accounts, Aristide had the support of a considerable portion the poor and working people. He was hated by the ranks of Haiti’s elite and despised by the death squad leaders who defended pro-U.S. regimes in the past.
U.S. weapons against Aristide’s government included economic warfare, funding and advice for anti-government forces, complicity with a reactionary armed rebellion and finally, direct military intervention. There are reports that Aristide was taken into custody and forcibly exiled by U.S. troops. If this is the case, it only compounds their crimes.
No one should be confused about the nature of the “rebels” who have seized many of Haiti’s cities. Their roots can be found in the Duvalierist regimes that bedeviled Haiti from 1957 until 1986, and the CIA-tied military government that ruled in the early 1990’s. They are nothing more than torturers, thugs and killers.
U.S. imperialism has always treated the countries of the Caribbean as an area with strategic importance. The U.S. has occupied the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Granada at one time or another. Puerto Rico is a U.S. colony right up to today.
In the weeks ahead we will hear every kind of defense for the invasion. We will be told that it was the “humanitarian” thing to do, as if the U.S cares anything for ordinary Haitians – one only need look at the brutality and discrimination visited upon Haitian refugees in Florida. We will hear talk of “failed states,” drugs and restoring democracy. If any other imperialist powers or regional puppets join the U.S. we will be told that the invaders represent the will of the “international community.” In the end, every one of these justifications is a lie and U.S. military intervention serves an empire run for the profits and power of U.S. corporations.
The Haitian people have a proud history of resisting imperialism. Two hundred years ago, under the leadership of Toussaint, the Haitian people rebelled against French rule, destroyed slavery and established the world’s first Black republic. In 1986, they brought down the dictatorship of the U.S.-backed “Baby Doc” Duvalier. There is no doubt that they will continue to fight for a free Haiti, where the country’s destiny is in the hands of the Haitian people.
National liberation and independence for Haiti!
U.S. Out Now!
National Executive Committee,
Freedom Road Socialist Organization
Feb 29, 2004
