Political Revolution or Popular Uprising? New Horizon in Haiti

HaitiAnalysis –

At HaitiAnalysis we have observed how recent turns of events have redefined even the language describing the permanent Haiti crisis, to the point where terms like “insurgents” and “insurgency”, or “Revolution” and “revolutionary”, are now normal lexicon of activists, and some alternative outlets.

Mainstream media however, while not calibrating as usual the increasingly rebellious mood of the massive protests during recent weeks, using the couched language of empire & the elites, is nevertheless beginning to pick up on the increasing rage of the masses, where for example at the end of this New York Times article, a protester is calling for the population to rise up to overthrow the government.

Multiple videos from journalists and activists show the rising tides of Haiti’s movement from below. Police and security forces in the country have been meanwhile used to violently assault the growing protests. This is a phenomena that has been growing over the last year, really kicking off with the infamous La Saline massacre that occurred in November of 2018.

What is clear is the Haitian government (which came to office with the support of only 9% of the country’s voting age population) cannot rule through coercion alone.  The country’s government faces a constant crisis of legitimacy.

Washington though continues to back the country’s unpopular president Jovenel Moïse. The so-called “national security blob” in Washington cannot accept the fall of a government that has sided so closely with their imperial policies in the region.  In recent weeks mercenaries (believed to be North American) have been photographed taking part in operations targeting the country’s popular movement.

In addition & incredibly enough, the word “Revolution” is now also part & parcel of the Haitian-American diaspora.  We witness how even this occurred at a recent U. S. congressional panel conducted in Florida by Congresswoman Frederica Wilson & Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. In this video we witness how  Haitian-American Carline Paul as one of the panelists, emphatically states during her testimony to Pelosi & Wilson that….”This time the Revolution is going to happen”…. .

Incredibly enough, Ms. Paul directly warns Wilson & Pelosi, …”people in Haiti told me to tell you, no interference….they do not want America to send any kind of group in Haiti to try to calm them down, …..they do not want America to send any troops in Haiti & they want Jovenel Moise to go, & they want them to respect the plan that they have.”  It is also noteworthy, that the key members of this panel offering input testimony, were Haitian-American women, reminding us somehow of the key roles that Haitian women played during the Revolution, according to the writings of C.L.R. James in his classic “The Black Jacobins”, describing how Haitian women accompanied the men into battle.

Notwithstanding the forthright testimony that these brave Haitian-American women proffered at this panel, in favor of true change for the plight of the Haitian nation, Pelosi as expected showed her true colors, as the imperialist dominatrix that she truly is, by rudely countering positive comments about President Maduro of Venezuela by one of the Haitian-American women at the panel, with her toxic demonizing of Maduro, with the unproven & outlandish claim, that Maduro was “exporting corruption” in the hemisphere, as per this Miami Herald article.

We must confess to some bewilderment to Pelosi’s barb about the leader of the Bolivarian Revolution.  Perhaps Pelosi was confusing “corruption” with “revolution”, like many American politicians used to do during the Cold War, when they would claim that “Cuba was exporting revolution”, as though revolution or corruption could be exported like any other commodity.  Or better perhaps it could’ve been, that Pelosi was confusing Maduro with one of Washington’s sundry corrupt puppets in the hemisphere, like Duque of Colombia, Hernandez of Honduras, or Medina of Dominican Republic, all pro-U.S. presidents amply known for their brazen corruption scandals.

It is remarkable after decades of imperialist interference in the internal affairs of Haiti, given the historical traditions of its people to rise up against foreign domination, it’s almost miraculous that a more violent reaction to these unrighteous & constant interferences by foreign forces, hasn’t taken place in Haiti, to the point of an all out popular armed insurrection.

That odious mechanism of global power elites known as the “CORE Group”, recently met with members of Haiti’s opposition, meeting afterwards “in secret” with political party leaders including from the ruling PHTK party.  The CORE Group is composed of elite functionaries of the UN secretary general’s special representative for Haiti (Helen Meagher La Lime of the U. S.), the Ambassadors of the U. S., the European Union, France, Canada, Brazil, Spain, & the Special Representative of the OAS.

     Regarding the OAS, in one of our past HaitiAnalysis articles, we exposed the historical disgrace that accompanies this “Ministry of Yankee Colonies”, as it was forever baptized for Latin American history, by the legendary “Canciller de la Dignidad”, Dr. Raul Roa Foreign Minister of Cuba, in Punta del Este, Uruguay, in 1962.  In the aforementioned article, we exposed the neocolonial leanings with which the OAS is still encumbered with, when the corrupt governments of Haiti & Dominican Republic were coaxed into voting on January, 2019, to not recognize the democratically elected President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

Regarding that shining example of Western democracy known as Canada, one of the key members of the CORE Group, its membership in this nefarious international organization is no mere coincidence.  It is open knowledge that 75% of the world’s mining companies are based in Canada & are listed in the Toronto Exchange.  It is also known that the world’s second most productive open pit gold mining complex is located in Cotui, province of Sanchez Ramirez in Dominican Republic, operated by Barrick Gold/Goldcorp.   It is precisely because of the suspected & proven mineral deposits of Hispaniola, including those known to exist in Haiti, that this is one of the predominant reasons why Canada is a key member of the CORE Group.  We will spare the grief to our readers, regarding the violations of human rights & the environmental damages caused by Canadian mining companies worldwide, including the island of Hispaniola.

As we’ve already stated, our HaitiAnalysis prism on Haiti is one focusing on the internationalism & Hispaniola dimensions of the current struggle, besides what we’ve perceived as a qualitative evolution of the struggle by the Haitian masses, to the point where “Revolution” & “Insurgency” are now part of the current discussions.  But for the sake of compendium we will capsulize the present crisis:  As reported by the digital newspaper “Hoy” of Dominican Republic, on October 4, 2019; these recent protests commenced on September 16, 2019, due in part to the chronic fuel shortages, but these shortages had been ongoing prior to this date.  These well-organized protests by the country’s popular movement and various opposition and grassroots organizations, have been going on as of this writing, for about four weeks.  [It must be noted that  some opportunist elements of the country’s elite political scene have tried to hijack the protests, but have thus far failed.]

The present government headed by President Moise is increasingly dysfunctional, reflected in the fact that in March of 2019 Prime Minister Jean Henry Ceant was deposed, & the legislative branch has not approved any of Moise’s candidates for that post.

Friday October 4, 2019 was designated “Day of National Dignity”, when massive protests took place in Port Au Prince & other localities.  The main protest movement headed towards the UN Mission headquarters, close to the International airport, where protestors read a message to the international community.  As per the article in Hoy, as of October 4, 2019, 17 persons had died during the protests & 189 wounded.  As of this writing & from credible sources we have spoken to in Cap Haitien, that city is under lockdown with no ongoing commercial activity, & with schools still closed.

As usual, we’ll continue monitoring the situation in Haiti, providing our panoramic view, keeping always in mind that Haiti does not exist in a vacuum, due to its unique geographical & historical realities as part of the island of Hispaniola and Caribbean sub-region.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR