Protests in Haiti vs. widespread cholera, suffering

Conditions in Haiti are growing ever more desperate. As misery and repression grow, so too does resistance.

Hundreds of thousands of Haitians are living under shreds of fabric that used to be tarps or tents, in the camps set up for survivors of the Jan. 12, 2010, earthquake.

More than 6,500 Haitians have died from cholera since last year. According to Dr. Renaud Piarroux, a cholera specialist at Aix-Marseilles University, 10,000 new cases are being reported each month. Around 600,000 Haitians have been sickened with the disease. A United Nations report released in October says Haiti is the country in the world most affected by cholera.

Haitians and most experts believe that Minustah, the U.N. force that began occupying Haiti seven years ago, introduced cholera into Haiti over a year ago by dumping raw sewerage into a river used by people for drinking and bathing.

Sanitation and access to clean water are essential to limit the spread of cholera.

In 652 of the camps created to shelter people displaced by the earthquake, only 7 percent had access to clean water in August, and out of 12,000 latrines needed, only 38 percent were usable. The money for cleaning and servicing these latrines ran out in August.

Only 12 percent of the camps have facilities for hand washing, compared to 20 percent in March. The National Directorate for Water and Sanitation of the Haitian government conducted this survey in August, which was reported by the U.N.’s Office of Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs.

Half of all Haitians don’t get enough to eat, and more than that live on less than $1 a day. At least eight hundred thousand people have no regular access to basic staples. Less than one-third of all Haitians have a regular job.

On Oct. 19, hundreds of protesters took to the streets in Port-au-Prince and Peite-Rivière, a small city in the Artibonite, the central part of Haiti, where cholera was introduced.

In Port-au-Prince on Oct. 19 — the one-year anniversary of the cholera outbreak — hundreds of people responded to the call of the Collective for Reparations for Cholera Victims. They took the streets in Fort-National, a working-class community in Port-au-Prince, and carried placards denouncing Minustah; the U.N.; Bill Clinton, who heads the commission controlling Haiti’s finances; and the imperialist powers, like the U.S. and France, who installed Minustah.

The Artibonite has suffered a serious economic blow from cholera, because it is a rice growing area, and workers are refusing to go into the paddies because that is where they get cholera. Haitians in the diaspora have also stopped visiting because of fear of cholera, and the agricultural products of the area have lost their markets. At Hinche, another city in the Artibonite, a demonstration protesting Minustah and cholera took place Oct. 31. (Haïti-Liberté, 2 novembre, 26 octobre)

The Movement for Liberty, Equality and Fraternity for all Haitians (or Moleghaf — derived from its name in Creole) has been conducting a picket line in front of the Ministry of Social Affairs every Tuesday for a few months. They are struggling against unemployment, hunger, misery and the high cost of living.

At the picket line on Oct. 25, eight Moleghaf militants were arrested and taken to the main police station. Moleghaf called for a mobilization to free them, and when a judge held a hearing the next day, with several dozen militants marching outside, they were released immediately. Moleghaf has announced it intends to continue its protest.