Benjamin Dupuy, a longtime important voice for Haitian independence, died April 23 in Miami, Florida, at the age of 91. He was a major Marxist leader and theoretician who knew how to explain the tenacious struggles of the Haitian people against imperialism to an international audience.

Dupuy at podium at an APN congress in Haiti, 1999.  Credit: Pat Chin

As a journalist, photographer, cinematographer, diplomat, organizer and head of a political party – the National Popular Assembly (APN) – Dupuy was unshakable in his pursuit of a socialist revolution in Haiti.

He set the tone, structure and analysis for the film “Bitter Cane,” which was shot clandestinely in Haiti for seven years in the late 1970s and won worldwide acclaim for its depiction of the struggle against the Duvalier regime.

After the film was finished, Dupuy initiated a weekly newspaper, “Haïti Progrès,” which he edited until he became a traveling ambassador for President Jean Bertrand Aristide in 1990.

In the 1980s and 90s, Dupuy frequently spoke to major progressive, anti-war groups in the U.S.

G. Dunkel

G.Dunkel@workers.org

Share
Published by
G. Dunkel
Tags: Haiti

Recent Posts

Powerful three-day strike wins new contract for New Jersey Transit engineers

New York, N.Y. On May 18, Locomotive Engineers at New Jersey Transit (NJT) won a…

May 19, 2025

Ho Chi Minh ¡presente!

May 19, 2025, will mark the 135th birthday of the great Vietnamese leader Ho Chi…

May 16, 2025

Marking 40 years since city officials dropped a bomb on MOVE

Philadelphia Honoring the 11 people murdered by the state when they dropped a bomb on…

May 16, 2025

The enduring legacy of Malcolm X

The centennial of the birth of Malcolm X, also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, is…

May 16, 2025