Editor’s note: Last week, former US President Bill Clinton visited Guyana, to participate in conversations on investment in the region at the United Caribbean Forum, organised by the locally based Dominican Republic Chamber of Commerce. United is what we need to be as people of the region, especially when it comes to acting in solidarity with the Haitian people, whose historic aspirations for self-determination have been flagrantly and violently undermined and betrayed by both Bill Clinton and various governments of the Dominican Republic. The Haiti Support Group refused to let this visit go unremarked, and organised a Haiti Solidarity Picket last week Tuesday outside the Arthur Chung Convention Center in Lillendaal, Guyana, where discussions, once again undoubtedly at the expense of the Haitian people, were taking place. This week’s column reproduces the Press Statement released by the Haiti Support Group, that reminds us of what is at stake, and that unmasks the naked power behind the smiles. Beware the snakeoil salesmen.
Press Statement
We picket today to demonstrate solidarity with the people of Haiti and their right to self determination, free movement, and national sovereignty. We picket to denounce the racist and discriminatory policies of the Dominican Republic against Haitians, as well as the Government of Guyana’s violation of the Treaty of Chaguaramas with regard to Haitians’ right of free movement throughout the Caribbean. Today’s picket is also against former US President Bill Clinton for his role in contributing to the corruption and destabilization of Haiti.
Although Haiti, with its population of over twelve million, is the most populous country in the Caribbean, as well as the first free Black republic of the Western hemisphere, it has, for decades, been the victim of blatant racism, exploitation, and foreign intervention.
The Dominican Republic (DR) – convener of this United Caribbean Forum, and neighbour of Haiti- has, for decades, systematically discriminated against Haitians. The DR has enacted and maintained a policy of denying the right to nationality to persons of Haitian descent, in an attempt to intimidate and expel Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent. Tens of thousands of children born in the DR to Haitian parents have been denied citizenship rights and rendered stateless- with DR government authorities cancelling their birth certificates and identity documents. This discriminatory action has been denounced as a violation of human rights by Amnesty International, and a blatant example of structural racism.
Numerous nation states of CARICOM, including Guyana, have also failed to protect the human rights of the Haitian people especially with regard to free movement within the Caribbean as provided under the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas. Under the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, Haitian nationals – as CARICOM nationals – are entitled to hassle-free entry and an automatic six-month stay upon entry into a CARICOM member state. However, in 2021 President Irfaan Ali cancelled the Immigration Order of 2019, thereby removing Haitians from the list of Caricom nationals who could enter Guyana without a visa and enjoy an automatic six-month stay. This revoking of permission only applies to Haitian migrants and is thus obviously discriminatory. Several other CARICOM states have also arbitrarily stripped Haitian migrants of this right, exposing them to flagrant violations of their human rights. Clearly, there is no real United Caribbean, at least not for Haitians.
The participation of former US President Bill Clinton in this forum is also distasteful to us. While president of the United States, Mr. Clinton forced Haiti to drop tariffs on imported American rice, providing farmers from his home state of Arkansas with a lucrative market for their crop but destroying the local Haitian rice farming sector. Haiti is now one of the main importers of American rice – which has been found to contain unhealthy levels of arsenic and cadmium, heavy metals that can increase risks of cancer and heart disease, according to a recent study by the University of Michigan. This destruction of a key element of the Haitian agricultural sector and loss of the Haitian nation’s ability to be self-sufficient and feed its citizens, as well as the provision of a staple food item full of toxic chemicals to the Haitian people remains a most reprehensible act, one which no amount of excuses can ever forgive or repair. It shows a clear prioritizing of business and friends and family politics over respecting a nation’s sovereignty and the lives of its citizens; this is not something we want or need more of here in Guyana.
Clinton continued to demonstrate his continued disrespect and disregard for Haitian sovereignty and lives and his prioritization of profit over people in his role as chairman of the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission (IHRC), set up after the devastating 2010 earthquake to provide aid and assistance to the Haitian people. Less than 1% of the billions of dollars collected by the IHRC went to Haitian businesses and Haitian non-governmental organizations; most of the money went to international aid agencies, international NGOs and for-profit businesses. Less than 10% of the funds went to the Haitian government. The Clinton Foundation has also been accused of widespread corruption and disempowerment of the Haitian people for their role in projects such as the Caracol Industrial Park which displaced over three hundred Haitian families and prioritized profit and cheap labor for multinational companies instead of providing proper employment and a living wage for Haitian workers.
We will continue to express solidarity with the people of Haiti as their struggle for self-determination and recognition of their rights is one that resonates with us as Indigenous and descendants of formerly enslaved and indentured persons. We stand against business and economic policies which prioritize profit over people, rights, and justice, especially when championed by persons and institutions that espouse racist ideology and disregard for human rights. We desire a United Caribbean where our Haitian cousins can enjoy free movement throughout the region, without fear of discrimination, persecution, or forced deportation, where their rights are equally upheld, their lives and livelihoods safeguarded, and their national sovereignty respected by foreign forces.