On Dec. 10, dozens of Haitians demonstrated alongside progressive allies
in front of the United Nations General Headquarters in Dag
Hammarskjold Plaza, to demand the annulment of Haiti’s Nov. 28 sham
elections, the removal of the current Provisional Electoral Council, and
the immediate withdrawal of the 13,000 UN occupation soldiers. These
troops, misnamed a “peacekeeping force” have occupied Haiti
since 2004, when a U.S.-backed coup removed Jean Bertrand-Aristide, the
democratically elected president.
 Ray Laforest of the International Support Haiti Network |
 Orlando Aupont of Multicultural Family Nexus |
Since that coup, UN troops have been
used to systematically repress activists from Aristide’s Lavalas
Family party, as well as other anti-occupation organizations and individuals.
While there has been extensive coverage of the natural disasters that
have afflicted Haiti, the Western media has been almost entirely silent
on the large-scale demonstrations that have taken place against the
occupation forces and their front-man Haitian President Rene Preval.
In the immediate days following the Nov. 28 elections, tens of thousands
of demonstrators spontaneously took to Haiti’s streets to call for the
annulment of elections, which were plagued by widespread irregularities
like vote stuffing, incomplete voter rolls, and voter harassment. The Provisional Electoral Council overseeing the elections was hand-picked by Preval and the UN occupation forces. Making clear
the sham character of this exercise in Haitian “democracy,” fourteen parties were disqualified from
running, including Lavalas Family, Haiti’s largest party.
Meanwhile, as 1.5 million Haitians remain homeless one year after the
earthquake, the Haitian elite spent $30 million on their self-serving
campaigns.
The Dec. 10 demonstration in front of the UN was called by the newly formed Coalition Against Sham Elections and Occupation. In a statement released by the coalition, Marlène Jean-Noel condemned the UN and Haitian government for “[forcing] the sham election on
us at gunpoint.”
Outside the UN, Roger LeDuc of the Haitian Coalition to Support the Struggle in Haiti (KAKOLA) gave an electric speech: “We don’t want daycare democracy, we want popular democracy. We want land and freedom, we want our own government.” Calling the massive street resistance in Haiti “just a warning,” LeDuc continued: “We want
peace, but if you do not give it to us, we will fight for it.”
Edna Bonhomme, a Haitian-American youth, spoke on the continued humanitarian disaster in Haiti, and the fact that such a small portion of donated funds have reached those most in need. “We need to demand that all the money given after the earthquake not go
to NGOs, or occupation troops, but directly to the Haitian people. That money is not
for people riding around in SUVs occupying the country.”
Orlando Aupont of Multicultural Family Nexus spoke out forcefully for international solidarity. “We call on the American people to stand with the Haitian people and
fight with us until we have our freedom. We need the American people’s
voice. Shame on the Obama administration, Bill Clinton, the UN and CARICOM. We the Haitian people are ready to rebuild our own nation —
let us have a free and fair election.”
Kim Ives, a lead organizer of the Dec. 10 rally, summed up the most recent round of spontaneous struggle in Haiti: “Haiti is at a historic turning point in the six-year occupation. The Haitian people pioneered the rebellion against colonialism and slavery in 1804. They
pioneered the thwarting of U.S. electoral engineering in 1990. They pioneered
the wave of popular electoral revolutions that have taken place in Latin America. They are
pioneering the fight against “international peacekeeping” used by the First World to subjugate the Third World. This model is about to face its first major
challenge in Haiti.”
The next support rally in New York City will take place on Dec 16, the anniversary of the Haitian people’s first popular electoral victory in 1990.
