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Solidarity with Haiti and demands on the U.S. government

On Jan. 19 the International Action Center began a petition campaign around the following main points: “Haiti’s airport must be devoted to humanitarian relief flights. Haiti needs food, water and medical aid, not a U.S. military occupation. Haiti’s sovereignty and democratically elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide must be restored.” See IACenter.org/haitipetition. Following are excerpts from an earlier IAC statement on Haiti.

Justice for Haiti means immediate aid, reparations, debt cancelation, restoration of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, asylum for all Haitians and self-determination, not military occupation.

The International Action Center expresses its full solidarity with the Haitian people at this time of greatest crisis following the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake.

Tons of supplies could be parachuted to desperate people in immediate need of food and especially water. The delivery of this essential aid, plus the placement of rescue and medical teams, must be the priority.

[The following] realities will continue to affect the future of Haiti, and all of us should keep them in mind.

1. Haiti is the poorest and least-developed country in the hemisphere because Haiti has been occupied by U.S. imperialism again and again. In 2004, in a coup planned from Washington and supported by troops from France and Canada, President Jean-Bertrand Aristide — a president democratically elected by more than 75 percent of the vote — was kidnapped and removed.

2. The Pentagon is controlling the U.S. intervention in the disaster, now increased to 10,000 troops, [whose] main role is repression and control, just as it is in Afghanistan, Iraq and other occupied countries.

3. President Barack Obama has appointed not only Bill Clinton but also George W. Bush in charge of raising support for the U.S. relief effort. It was Bush — probably the most hated of U.S. presidents worldwide — who cynically delayed relief efforts and allowed the people of New Orleans to drown following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and who presided over the kidnapping and enforced exile of President Aristide.

4. From 1804 — when the first successful slave revolution in history drove out the French colonialists and slave masters — until the present, Washington has continually imposed sanctions, debt repayments and military intervention in an attempt to crush Haitian independence.

5. The $100 million [in aid] President Obama promised sounds like a lot of money, but it is tiny compared to the amount the rulers of France and the United States stole from Haiti and its people over centuries.

6. The IMF [International Monetary Fund] immediately gave a $100 million loan to Haiti. This is an outrage and a crime. Haiti’s debts are already unsustainable.

Millions of people in solidarity with the Haitian people are making great efforts to send emergency supplies. The Haitian people themselves are organizing and gathering desperately needed supplies. Along with emergency peoples’ relief efforts, there must be peoples’ demands on the U.S. government and the powerful corporations.

In light of the above points, the International Action Center proposes the following demands:

• Immediate delivery of food, water and medical supplies, not military occupation;

• Allow the return of democratically elected President Aristide to Haiti and restore his government;

• Reparations from the U.S., France and Canada so that Haitians can take charge of the relief effort and invite the international assistance of their choice;

• Immediate cancelation of Haiti’s debts;

• Immediate asylum for all Haitians in the United States;

• Permission for Haitian residents of the U.S. to go to Haiti to help their families and to return to the U.S.;

• Self-determination for Haiti.