Statement from Haiti’s popular movement

In this statement, written right before the postponement of the January 24th presidential “run-off” election, 68 grassroots
organizations in Haiti issue an urgent call for solidarity with their struggle for free and fair elections, dignity and justice.

The statement was written as tens of thousands of Haitians have
taken to the streets—braving assassination, tear gas, beatings, and
police torture—demanding the annulment of the fraudulent elections
that gave the lead positions in the legislative and presidential races
to the hand-picked candidates of President Michel Martelly.

The postponement of the presidential election was a dramatic and
hard-won victory for the people’s movement, which had insisted that
no election take place until it could be free and fair and democratic.

The struggle for the right to vote and for all Haitians
to participate in the political process continues.

WE ArE hONOrEd TO cIrcULATE ThIs POWErfUL mEssAgE

Haiti Action Committee

A Call for Solidarity from Haiti’s Popular Movement

Reflecting on the voting rights struggle led by Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr. and so many other courageous fighters for justice fifty years ago in
the US; on the one person one vote struggle led by Mandela’s comrades
in South Africa; reflecting on struggles everywhere, we came to the
conclusion that a people can’t be sovereign if they don’t have the right
to vote. No people can retain their dignity if their vote does not count.
As clearly stated by President Aristide: “If we don’t protect our dignity,
our dignity will escape us!” That is why we struggle and ask that people
the world over with a history of struggle stand in solidarity with us.

Six years after the earthquake that jolted the country, causing the death of hundreds of thousands of Haitians, we, Haitian organizations, in the
context of reflection, take our hats off and humbly say to the people all over the planet who opened their hearts to us, “We have not forgotten your
acts of solidarity”. The sharing impulse manifested by people the world
over, should have helped the Haitian people to rebuild their environment,
rebuild their lives. Pity! To this day, the people’s lot has not changed. Adding
insult to injury, shameless characters, local slave owners, empowered by
various international organizations, hijacked the reconstruction funds.

Right after the earthquake, the internationals took advantage of our
momentary state of helplessness to occupy the political space. Today,
the Haitian people are engaged in an all out struggle to reclaim that
space and to exercise their right to vote. The very ones who hijacked the
reconstruction money want to prevent the people from choosing their
government, in a wide scale conspiracy to continue the looting of the
country’s resources. Subsequent to many schemes designed to remove
the people from the political equation, local colonialists joined forces
with international colonialists to force the people to accept choices
against their best interests. Illegitimate officials implemented urban
removal plans and land grabs, assaulting both the middle-class, as well as the poorer classes, putting the country on the brink of collapse.
The people’s resistance slowed down the “terror apparatus,” prevent-
ing it from completing this program. Now they want to put more false
officials at the helm of the government to continue their assault.

The blatant violence perpetrated in Ile-a-Vache, the hideous massacres
perpetrated on the people of Arcahaie, the continuous massacre of the people of Cité Soleil because they manifest a will to vote, various
acts of aggression perpetrated throughout the country, in the context
of land-grab or voter suppression, convince the Haitian people that
they are in a fight for their very existence. We say NO, WE WILL NOT
OBEY ILLEGITIMATE OFFICIALS. Self-defense is a legitimate universal
law. Civil-Disobedience is an accepted universal right when a people
confronts an illegal regime. The right to elect a government is uni-
versally accepted as a way for people to protect its existence. Today,
confronted by the danger presented by local and international colo-
nialists, the Haitian people have started a RESISTANCE FOR EXISTENCE
movement. They ask for people to people solidarity from everywhere
on the planet. The local and international colonialists plan is not an
earthquake, yet it has caused far more damage to the country.

Our experience of the six years since the earthquake is no different than
the experience of other small countries with natural and human resourc-
es. The internationals loot, have an orgy, while the international media
turns a blind eye to lies spread by “their” ambassadors in their country’s
name. The Haitian army, now being rebuilt to oppress the people, is a gift to the Haitian people by the Organization of American States (OAS). The
Cholera epidemic and the blood thirsty and corrupt Haitian Police, were
United Nations (UN) gifts to the Haitian people. The Media is mute, as the
country nears total collapse. We say NO, WE WILL NOT OBEY. We will not
dig our own graves. We’d rather tell the truth and expose the conspiracy. n

List of Signers

Action Nationale des Chauffeurs (ANC)

Aide Humanitaire

Alternative Syndicale pour le
Transport Moderne (ASTM)

APMS: Action des Paysans de Masson Sion

APTN: Association pour le
Développement Terre Noire

Association Professionelle des
Enseignants Haitiens pour l’Avancement
de l’Education (APEAE)

APSAB: Association Planteur Savane Dubois
Asosiyasyon Fanm Senlwidisid (AFS)
Asosiyasyon Fanm Vanyan Okay (AFVO)
Asosiyasyon Machann Aken (AMA)
Asosiyasyon Peyizan Gwomaren (APG)

BPN (Baz Popile Nord)

Baz Fanmi Lavalas Aken

Baz Fanmi Lavalas Anike

CEGBD

CHANJE LESON

CURO: Comité Usager Rodaille

COSCOB

CRCSPFL (Cellule de Reflexions des Cadres
Socio Professionnels de Fanmi Lavalas)

CUREH (Cercle Universitaire pour
le Renouveau d’Haiti)

DEMELE FANM

G.R. (Gwoup Refleksyon)

FAJEP (Fanm an Aksyon
pou Jistis ak Pwogre)

FANM LENTO

FANM WOZO

FASA

Groupe Alternative pour Petites et
Moyennes Entreprises (GRAPME)

Gwoupman Plante Senlwidisid (GPS)
JOFAP
Baz Fanmi Lavalas Kanperen
Baz Fanmi Lavalas Kavayon
Kodinasyon Peyizan Sid (KPS)

KPDS (Konbit Planteur pou Devlopman Sanyago)
KORE MAP KORE W
Le PHARE
Baz Fanmi Lavalas Maniche

MOFUP

MOJIDMA: Mouvement des Jeunes Intègres
pour le Développement de Marigot

Mouvement d’Opposition Citoyenne (MOC)
Mouvman Tet Kole Kavayon (MTKK)
OBMP
Oganizasyon Devlopman Solon (ODS)
Oganizasyon Fanm Vanyan (OFAV)
OGANIZASYON LEVE KANPE

OJFS
Baz Fanmi Lavalas Okay
Organisation 30 Septembre
OPG: Organisation Paysan de Grande Rivière
Organisation Sans Bloff (OSB)

OPDPS: Òganizasyon Pou
Devlopman Peyizan Sarazin

OPPB: Organisation Paysan Platon Blan

Plateforme Nationale des Syndicats
de Transports Fidele (PNSTF)

POGRES (Oganizasyon Planteur
pou Devlopman Sanyago)

Baz Fanmi Lavalas Port Salut

Pou Solèy Leve

Regroupement des Enseignants
Normalien Haitien (RENOH)

RFDP (Rasanbleman Fanm pou
Devlopman Petitans)

Rasanbleman Militan Pwogresis (RMP)

RASSINE (Rasanbleman Sitwayen
NORD AK NORD EST)

SDDC (Societe d’Encadrement pour le
Developpement Communautaire)

Baz Fanmi Lavalas Senlwidisid
Solidarite Jenn Kavayon (SJK)
SOPU- FANM pou FANM
S.O.S Transport Federee

Baz Fanmi Lavalas Tibiron

Baz Fanmi Lavalas Torbec

Union du Mouvement Syndical de
Transport Public (UMSTP)

UJDSB:Union des Jeunes pour le
Developpement Savane du Bois.