2,000 rally in Brooklyn to denounce U.S. coup in Haiti
By Monica Moorehead
Brooklyn, N.Y.
Dynamic. Spirited. Unprecedented. These words
describe a truly historic rally that took place on April 7 in
the Whitman Theater at Brooklyn College. A multinational crowd
of 2,000, mainly people from Haiti and the English-speaking
Caribbean, packed the hall to hear a program entitled "An
Evening with Friends of Haiti: The Truth Behind the Haiti
Coup."
A broad range of speakers and cultural performers ignited
the stage for three-and-a-half hours to express heartfelt
anti-imperialist solidarity with the besieged Caribbean
country. Haiti has once again suffered a horrific atrocity with
the U.S.-orchestrated kidnapping of its democratically-elected
president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, on Feb. 29.
This is the second time that Aristide was forcibly removed
from office due to blatant interference by U.S. imperialism.
The first time was in 1991 under the first George Bush
administration. In 1994, Wash ington was forced to return
Aristide to Haiti due to the pressure of the Haitian masses. He
was reelected president in 2000. His term was to expire in 2006
accord ing to the current Haitian Constitution.
The Feb. 29 coup came on the heels of the bicentennial
celebration of Haitian independence in 1804, which followed the
successful slave revolution against France led by the legendary
general, Toussaint Louverture . "Two hundred and one years ago
today, Toussaint Louverture died in a French prison cell for
the crime of having freed his people from slavery," said Karine
Jean-Pierre, from Haiti Support Network (HSN).
Right now, over 1,000 U.S. Marines along with other foreign
troops occupy the island. They are there on behalf of an
imperialist-backed alliance of former leaders of outlawed
paramilitary death squads--including the despised Tonton
Macoutes--and the Haitian capitalist class. Together, they have
illegally taken over the reins of government.
'Illegal, illegitimate' regime
The rally was co-chaired by Kim Ives and Karine Jean-Pierre
with Pat Chin and Sara Flounders from the Inter na tional
Action Center (IAC). La Troupe Makandal, a Haitian drum group,
was an integral part of the rally as they provided powerful
African rhythms after each speaker. Behind each speaker or
performer on stage were large still photos of the Haitian
masses in struggle.
Ives from HSN remarked, "Washington has gone to great
lengths to give the present Haitian coup a constitutional
color. But with every passing day, one thing becomes ever
clearer to the world: The government set in place by U.S.
Marines in 2004, just as in 1915, is illegal, illegitimate and
foisted on the Haitian people. Their coup is doomed to
fail.
"We are here tonight to seek the truth about the hidden hand
and shadowy forces behind the Feb. 29 coup d'état."
Distinguished African American actor Ossie Davis captivated
the audience as he read an 1893 speech by Frederick Doug lass,
the former slave and first U.S. ambassador to Haiti. Douglass's
prophetic speech said in part, "My subject is Haiti, the Black
Republic... Her proximity should alone make us deeply
interested in her welfare, her history, her progress and her
possible destiny, yet we turn the cold shoulder. The reason for
coolness between the countries is this: Haiti is Black, and we
have not yet forgiven Haiti for being Black... I regard her as
the original pioneer emancipator of the nineteenth
century."
Dr. Luis Barrios, a Dominican priest in New York, explained
the Haiti Com mis sion of Inquiry's findings. The com mis sion,
comprised of HSN and IAC representatives, recently sent a
delegation to the Domi nican Republic to help bring world
attention to the reactionary role the Domi nican government
played in the Feb. 29 coup.
Barrios stated, "Our investigation has proven beyond a doubt
that the territory of the Dominican Republic was used for
training and arming the so-called Haitian rebels, with the
knowledge of the national authorities, and that their attack
was launched from Dominican soil... In press accounts, U.S.
military officials have confirmed that 20,000 M-16 rifles were
given by the U.S. to the Dominican military after November
2002."
Teresa Gutierrez, a leader of the New York Committee to Free
the Cuban Five and a Commission of Inquiry delegate, spoke on
how the Bush administration would like to repeat in socialist
Cuba and Venezuela what it did in Haiti. She exposed Bush's
so-called war on terrorism by raising the case of the five
Cuban patriots languishing in U.S. federal prisons for daring
to defend Cuba's sovereignty against right-wing Cuban-American
terrorists based in Miami.
Waters: 'I salute Haiti'
Rep. Maxine Waters, who came from California, electrified
the audience as she spoke with great passion about her ongoing
contacts with Aristide by cell phone as he was being kidnapped
by U.S. forces and sent to the Central African Republic. She
was part of a delegation that later traveled to CAR to
accompany Aristide to Jamaica, where he and his wife Mildred
are now guests of the government.
Waters focused much of her remarks on the complicit roles
that Secretary of State Colin Powell and National Security
Advisor Condoleezza Rice played. She stated, "Aristide was
elected by the people. Rice was not elected by anybody." She
ended her rousing remarks with, "I salute Haiti! I salute
Aristide! I salute Lavalas! I support real democracy!"
Ben Dupuy, secretary-general of the National Popular Party
(PPN) in Haiti, told the audience, "U.S. Secretary of State
Colin Powell calls investigations into the latest Haitian coup,
even that called for by CARICOM, a waste of time. This shows
how much they fear the truth getting out. To add insult to
injury, the U.S. is promoting diversionary investigations into
Aristide's alleged drug trafficking, human rights abuses and
corruption.
"Meanwhile, to carry out their coup, Washington is
collaborating with death-squad leaders and soldiers universally
recog nized as corrupt, drug-dealing human-rights abusers." He
called Aristide's ouster a "coup-napping."
Sara Flounders and People's Video Net work coordinator
Johnnie Stevens traveled to the CAR along with Ives in March to
break the media blockade. They demanded to see and interview
Aristide.
Flounders told the cheering crowd, "CARICOM, representing
the 15 Carib bean nations... and the 53-nation African Union
have demanded an inquiry into the coup. What a courageous
stand! All the U.S. plans for Haiti are unraveling because
people are so outraged at this criminal act.
"Just as we see in Iraq today, there is growing resistance
to U.S. plans. Brutal occupation is being met with a level of
resistance never thought possible," Flounders said. "The U.S.
tanks rolling into Port-au-Prince, Haiti, are no different than
the U.S. tanks rolling into Fallujah, Iraq."
'Reparations must be paid'
Stevens talked about the neocolonial conditions that still
exist in the Central African Republic, where Aristide was held
under U.S. orders: "There is one flight a week to Central
African Republic on Air France. French newspapers are the only
print media available. The population of 3.6 million lives on
land that contains a wealth of diamonds--making up 54 percent
of the CAR's exports. Yet their average life expectancy is 42
years, with infant mortality close to 100 per every 1,000 live
births. Nearly half the people cannot read or write.
"Who is profiting from the diamond mines?" Stevens asked.
"While most people survive by growing their own crops, the
country is paying high interest on an $881 million foreign
debt, mainly to French- and U.S.-controlled banks. ... The
conclusion to this story is that reparations must be paid."
Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, who founded the
first Haiti Com mission of Inquiry in 1991, declared, "If you
don't stand up for Haitians, for their rights and their
freedom, you don't see the urgent need of the world."
Omar Sierra, representing the Boliv a rian Circles in
Venezuela, recalled the impor t ant support national liberation
leader Simon Bolivar received from the Haitian people in the
19th century. He said it is crucial for all Latin American
peoples to come to Haiti's aid today.
Other speakers included Alina Sixto, Family Lavalas New
York/Tri-State Area; Rep. Major Owens of Brooklyn; Mario Dupuy,
Aristide's state secretary of communication; Don Rojas, Amy
Goodman and Bernard White, WBAI-Pacifica Radio; Ray Laforest,
Haitian labor organizer, District Council 1707; Brian Con
cannon, human-rights attorney; Brooklyn College student Starr
Bernard; Serge Lilavois, Support Committee for PPN; Los Angeles
anti-police brutality activist Michael Zinzun; Dominican
activist Marc Torres; and Haitian performers Marguerite Laurent
and Phantoms.
New York City Councilmember Jose Ser rano and Baltimore City
Council member Kwame Abayomi sent solidarity messages.
Acclaimed filmmaker Katherine Kean presented a video she
made of Aristide speaking in CAR. An audio message from
death-row political prisoner and journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal was
played.
The rally was sponsored by the Coal ition to Resist the Feb.
29 Coup in Haiti. This coalition includes Ajoupa, Haiti Action
Committee, International Act ion Center, International ANSWER,
Komite Beton, Lavalas Family, Leve Kanpe, OBNH, Patisan Jezikri
and PPN Support Committee.
Pat Chin, co-editor of the book "Haiti: A Slave Revolution,"
told Workers World: "The response to this rally shows that all
the confusion that once divided the movement is being swept
away. As we get the information out there, more people are
beginning to understand that Aristide was ousted because even
though he made num erous concessions to the Inter nation al Mon
etary Fund's 'death plan' for Haiti, he still didn't go far
enough to please Wash ington.
"His ouster is not about alleged human-rights violations or
corruption--things that the U.S. is known for worldwide. It's
not just Aristide, but the popular movement he symbolizes,
that's in imperialism's crosshairs."
Reprinted from the April 22, 2004, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
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