Nearly 30 activists gathered in front of the Brazilian Consulate on Nov. 13 to demand the safe return of Haitian organizer Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine, who was kidnapped on Aug. 12. Brazil commands the U.N.’s occupation forces in Haiti. The event was a rally and solidarity fast.
Actor Danny Glover kicked off the rally by supporting the Haitian people and Lovinsky. Other speakers included Margaret Prescod, Global Women’s Strike, and Hank Jones, one of the San Francisco 8, former Black Panthers railroaded into jail on false charges.
Ian Thompson, ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism), condemned the kidnapping of Lovinsky and attacked the U.S. government’s false concern for human rights. “Washington doesn’t care about human rights at all. In fact, it was the U.S. government that organized and led the 2004 coup that ousted Haitian president Aristide. It has been the U.S. government that has promoted neoliberal economic policies that are strangling the people of Haiti.”
Thompson concluded, “We raise our voices here in Los Angeles as part of this struggle, which will continue until Lovinsky is back home and until the people of Haiti enjoy the peace, prosperity and self-determination that they so justly deserve.”
The protest was called by the Ad Hoc Working Group on Haiti in Los Angeles, which includes Global Women’s Strike, ANSWER Coalition, CISPES-LA, Coalition in Solidarity with Haiti, International Action Center and the Pan African Activist Collective.
