The people of Haiti deserve water, food and shelter not criminalization
(This is one of a series of fortnightly columns from Guy-anese in the diaspora and others with an interest in issues related to Guyana and the Caribbean)
Why is there money to
occupy but not to feed?
This article is written to encourage readers to join us in helping the grassroots people of Haiti who are struggling for survival after enduring four tropical storms and hurricanes under conditions of occupation. The death toll is high and rising as tens of thousands have been without food or water for many days, and two-thirds of the population is homeless.
While the media coverage has indicated the scale of the disaster, it never even hints at recognizing Haiti’s contribution to humanity as the first country in the world to abolish slavery. Instead of praising the revolutionary determination of its people in the face of US invasions, coups, dictatorships and economic blockades, it makes excuses for the racist incompetence, slowness or worse of those who should be dealing with the present catastrophe.
Haitian after Haitian has angrily pointed the finger at the United Nations (UN) forces that have occupied their country since 2004, when the US invaded and forced the elected president Jean-Bertrand Aristide into exile. With a budget of over USD$535 million a year, what are UN forces doing to help? Why are internationally funded NGOs which have been collecting money, supposedly to “help Haitians” for years, so slow at providing help when it is most needed? Given Haiti’s past history with hurricanes, why were no emergency shelters set up, and roads and bridges shored up in areas that have traditionally been hardest hit? Why are “security concerns” being used to prevent food distribution? Why are UN forces and NGOs shamelessly complaining that distribution is being delayed because too many people need help? Isn’t “helping” what they are supposed to do? Why is there money to occupy but not to feed?
Like the majority of the population of New Orleans, most Haitians are descendants of African people who were enslaved. In the face of devastating hurricanes, both have been treated as criminals to be rounded up rather then victims to be helped (Out of the countries regularly affected by hurricanes, whose frequency and ferocity have been magnified by global warming, only Cuba has successfully organized to preserve the lives of its people).
In the months preceding the hurricanes, the people of Haiti were reported to be eating “mud cakes” as a result of extreme poverty and lack of affordable food. Free market policies had destroyed Haitian agriculture to make way for imported subsidized US rice, and rising food prices had put rice and other staple foods out of most people’s reach. When this was reported, the emphasis was often on the threat of “food riots” not of starvation. Given that many faced starvation even before the hurricanes struck, to delay water and food distribution is genocidal.
Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine, the Haitian human rights activist who disappeared on August 12, 2007, would have spelled that out. He would have worked tirelessly for the survival of the most affected, the most neglected, the most discriminated against: women and children in the poorest neighborhoods of Gonaives, Port-au-Prince and other urban and rural areas. Lovinsky has been silenced for the time being, but his organization, the Fondasyon Trent Septanm for victims of the 1991 and 2004 coups, continues his work. And in Georgetown Guyana, Los Angeles, London, San Francisco and elsewhere we will continue our weekly vigils demanding his safe return with redoubled determination.
The Global Women’s Strike has been sending $500 monthly to help support the Haitian grassroots, beginning with women and their families. More, much more is needed. Our donations go only to Haitian organizers who prioritize survival and solidarity. Every penny reaches those it is destined for, no NGO or agency takes an “administrative cut”. We appeal to all those who strive for justice, and who, like us, feel indebted to the people of Haiti, to make a regular contribution, at least in this immediate period, and, if possible, on a longer term basis, since hunger and repression are ongoing emergencies in Haiti. Any donation however big or small is deeply appreciated.
If you are interested in donating or finding other ways to help Haitians struggling with four hurricanes in the context of occupation, please contact Red Thread, the Guyana co-ordinator for the Global Women’s Strike. We are located at 72 Princes & Adelaide Streets, Charlestown, Georgetown. You can call us at 227-7010, or send us an e-mail at: red_thread@gol.net.gy
If you have family members in North America or are reading this online, you can contact Vanguard Public Foundation’s Haiti Emergency Relief Fund which supports organizations giving humanitarian aid to the people of Haiti. Make cheque out to: “Haiti Emergency Relief Fund/Vanguard” and send to Vanguard Public Foundation, 383 Rhode Island St. Suite 301, San Francisco, CA 94103
In addition to monetary and in-kind donations, there is more you can do, like join the vigils and fasts to demand the safe return of Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine:
¨ Participate in the vigils and fasts (see www.lovinsky.org for details)¨ Sign and ask your friends and colleagues to sign the petition at: www.lovinsky.org
¨ For more info visit www.lovinsky.org or www. Haitisolidarity.net
¨ As Brazil heads UN forces in Haiti and is therefore responsible for law and order, write/fax/email demanding Lovinsky’s safe return to: the Brazilian Embassy, the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), the US Embassy in Haiti, and Haitian President Préval. See model letter at www. lovinsky.org. Please send your letter to Red Thread, which has been co-ordinating the vigil in Guyana, and which will collect all letters and ensure they are sent on your behalf to President Préval of Haiti, to the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), and to the United States Embassy, Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
This week we carry an appeal for local and diasporic online readers by the Global Women’s Strike (www.globalwomenstrike.net), whose motto is Invest in Caring not in Killing! Red Thread is the Guyana Co-ordinator for the Strike.