12503: Guacimal workers: Picket Line in front of the Haitian Consulate in New York (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Tttnhm@aol.com

Batay Ouvriye Solidarity Network
Press Release
July 10, 2002
Picket Line in front of the Haitian Consulate in New York
Thursday July 11, 2002  5:30 - 6:30 PM,
271 Madison Ave between 39th St and 40th St
Consulate Tel. # :212-697-9767

       Many sympathizers of the Workers' Cause have complained that they did
not receive the following Press Release that was sent last week as an update
on the status of the jailed workers in Haiti.  We are sending it out again as
the situation of the jailed workers has taken a turn for the worse. In fact,
last week, Batay Ouvriye sent out an alert for solidarity in view of the
worsening conditions of the workers who were injured at the time of the
massacre and never received any medical attention up to this point as we
speak.
       So far the Picket Line has been going on fine. We meet in front of the
Haitian Consulate chanting slogans such as " Stop Repression in Haiti,
Justice for the Workers", "Hey, Hey, HO, Ho, Repression's got to go, in
Haiti",  "Free the jailed Workers in Haiti, HO HO!  We also distribute
literature on the events in Guacimal, St Raphael in Haiti.
       The 9 Guacimal workers are still in jail in the National Penitentiary
and Fort National in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti. However, at least 40 Human Rights
organizations in Haiti have raised their voices to protest and demand the
unconditional release of the workers from the lavalas jails. In a new twist,
Mario Dupuy, Secretary of State for Communications in the Lavalas Government,
declared in a local radio station in Brooklyn, Radio Soleil, that he never
said that the workers were "Terrorists".
       At this point, it is important for Justice-minded folks to understand
that the massacre on Monday May 27th 2002 that left 2 elderly workers chopped
to death, scores of workers injured, and eleven victims arrested by the
Lavalas Government  was a result of the Alliance among big landowners in
Guacimal, the bourgeoisie and the Lavalas Government. The massacre and the
eventual arrest and continued incarceration of the Guacimal Workers are part
of a strategic effort on the part of the Lavalas authorities nationally to
stage a major offensive to repress the workers' struggle for better working
conditions, the right to organize Unions, and to demand wage increases to
offset the rise in the cost of living.
       As you may well know, the 1995 minimum wage of 36 gourdes a day,
today, is worth less than $1.50. The Workers wish to develop mechanisms to
express their needs as workers democratically. These workers' awareness of
their rights threaten the attempt of the bourgeoisie and the Lavalas
Government to establish Free Trade Zones along the border with the Dominican
Republic. As the workers already experienced life in the Assembly factories,
the sweatshops, they have a good idea what is being planned for them in those
Free Trade Zones.
        In countries where those Free Trade Zones exist such as Mexico, and
the Dominican Republic, the working conditions are tantamount to slavery. It
is interesting to note that the Lavalas Government that is preparing to
celebrate the 200th Anniversary of the abolition of slavery and Haiti'
Independence in 2004, is, at the same time, introducing the establishment of
slave-like working conditions represented by the Free Trade Zones on the back
of the workers in Haiti. It is usually with great fanfare that the Lavalas
Government uses National Pantheons for lip service only to do the exact
opposite of what they represent to the Haitian People.
       The Lavalas Movement, the Fanmi Lavalas Party and the Lavalas
Government have used a populist ideology since the beginning of the 1990s to
hypnotize the Haitian People while actively forging alliances with the
bourgeoisie and the landowners.This populist ideology is a double-edged
sword: it allows the Lavalas Government to keep the people docile and
powerless while at the same time making them believe that it is the symbol of
their power. It is therefore a reactionary ideology because it primarily
seeks to keep the people in their place, so to speak, passive, and
indifferent to the necessity for fundamental changes in their lives.
       The Guacimal Massacre exploded the populist ideology by exposing the
real deal: The alliance of the Lavalas Government with the reactionary,
antiquated forces represented by the haitian landowners and the bourgeoisie.
In that reactionary alliance, the Lavalas Government is serving the interests
of the Haitian Ruling classes while trampling under foot the interests of the
workers. Everything is clear now for anyone who sincerely wants to see what
is going on. The Lavalas Movement has succeeded in reconstituting Duvalierism
in Haiti today.
       The repulsive actions of the Lavalas Government has prompted us to be
in front of the Haitian Consulate, on a weekly basis, chanting slogans in
favor of justice for workers. History seems to be repeating itself. The
anti-worker repression currently being carried out in Haiti reminds us so
much of the Duvalier years that it has become more urgent for justice-loving
people to come out and take a definite stand in the interest of the workers.
The dictatorship against the workers has unmasked itself.
       Right now, international solidarity is an important ingredient in the
overall struggle of the workers to face off with this reactionary alliance of
the landowners, the bourgeoisie and the Lavalas Government.
       We are calling on all Justice-minded folks to come out and join us
this coming Thursday July 11, 2002 in front of the Haitian Consulate from
5:30 to 6:30 PM.
Take Trains #1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, D, F, get off at 42nd Street. Walk to 271
Madison Ave
between 39th St and 40th Street.
For more information, please call Batay Ouvriye Solidarity Network at:
347-248-2143 or e-mail at: bosolidarity@hotmail.com. You may contact Batay
Ouvriye in Haiti at: Batayouvriye@hotmail.com or 011-509-222-6719. Check out
Batay Ouvriye's Website for updates at: www.ifrance.com/syndicats-bo-haiti.