ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) San Francisco held a well-attended benefit for Haiti Feb. 7. It featured a keynote talk by Pierre Labossiere from the Haiti Action Committee and inspiring music by “son of Haiti” King Wawa. Co-sponsors of the event included the recently formed Bay Area Latin American Solidarity Coalition, FMLN-N. Calif. and Task Force on the Americas.
 Pierre Labossiere calls for solidarity. Photo: Billl Hackwell |
Gloria La Riva, coordinator of the National Committee to Free the Cuban Five, chaired the event.Labossiere gave a penetrating and thorough analysis of the current situation in Haiti. He insisted that although the 7.0 magnitude earthquake was an unavoidable natural disaster, economic and social oppression of the Haitian people are unnatural variables that account for much of the toll of dead and injured.
Haiti, a country rich in resources, has been a target of imperialist aggression since it overthrew French colonialism in 1804. After decades of U.S. occupation and U.S.-backed dictatorships, the Haitian people elected Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a former Catholic priest and popular leader, president in 1991. Aristide was overthrown by a U.S.-backed military coup in September 1991, but served as president again from 1994 to 1996 and from 2001 to 2004, when he was overthrown yet again by a U.S.-backed coup.
Thirty years ago, Labossiere explained, Haiti produced all the rice it needed. In 1986, Haiti requested a loan from the International Monetary Fund, but the loan had a condition: Haiti had to drastically cut tariff protections of locally produced rice. Today, Haiti imports most of its rice from the United States, which has a highly mechanized and subsidized industry. As a result, rice farmers were forced out of the countryside and into unsafe conditions in Port-au-Prince and other Haitian cities to be super-exploited by U.S. corporations.
Labossiere indicated that the Haitian people have been fighting against imperialism for self-determination and sovereignty for more than 200 years. He emphasized that they will continue their struggle until a government is established whose decisions meet the needs of the Haitian people, not imperialist interests.
All proceeds of the event went to Haitian earthquake relief. The Haitian people need our support and solidarity. Long live the struggle of the Haitian people!
