17559: This Week in Haiti 21:39 12/10/2003 (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

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                           HAITI PROGRES
              "Le journal qui offre une alternative"

                      * THIS WEEK IN HAITI *

                      December 10 - 16, 2003
                         Vol. 21, No. 39

BYEN KONTE, MAL KALKILE

The following is a statement from Ben Dupuy, Secretary General of
the Haiti's National Popular Party (PPN), to an international
conference of socialists held in New York on the weekend of Dec.
6-7. The theme of the conference was "How can the struggle for
worldwide socialism be revived?" The question is not an academic
one in this day and age when millions of people worldwide are
looking for an alternative to Washington's "new world order" of
escalating wars and deepening poverty. The PPN, which seeks to
offer the "people's alternative" as a party in Haiti, analyzes
some of the features of the rapidly intensifying campaign to
overthrow the elected Haitian government.

Friends and Comrades,

On behalf of the Haitian people, I salute you and regret that I
could not be with you today. This conference is of great
importance. It is only through the establishment of worldwide
socialism that we can hope to rescue our fragile planet from the
grips of a small class of profiteers who are destroying our
environment, subverting sovereign governments, waging merciless
wars, and  plunging billions of people into deeper misery and
despair.

Never before has socialism been so achievable, and never before
so necessary.

Two hundred years ago today, our Haitian ancestors were also
ushering in a new society, preparing to declare Haiti's
independence on January 1, 1804. They had just defeated Napoleon
Bonaparte's army at the Battle of Vertières on November 18, 1803.

Ours was not just the only successful slave revolution in
history. Haiti was the first nation in the Western Hemisphere,
and indeed the world, where all men and women were truly free and
equal, regardless of race.

The European colonialist powers and the slave-owning United
States immediately ostracized and embargoed our new nation, much
as they have done to revolutionary Cuba in recent times. Over
these past two centuries, they have constantly attacked our
nation militarily and with lies.

This offensive continues to this day. Washington and Paris are
engaged in an all-out campaign to vilify and overthrow the
popularly elected government of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
The two wings of our ruling class   the big landowners and the
import-export bourgeoisie   have put aside their usual feuding to
assist imperialism in destabilizing Haiti. Their representatives
among the politicians and intellectuals have vowed to boycott and
undermine the celebration of Haiti's bicentennial.

The essential elements of this campaign are an aid embargo, media
disinformation and vilification campaign, diplomatic meddling,
fomenting violence in Haiti's shantytowns, and a contra-style
guerilla war. The campaign bears many similarities to the secret
wars waged against Allende's Chile, the Sandinista's Nicaragua,
Bishop's Grenada, and today, Hugo Chavez's Venezuela.

Despite tremendous hardships, the Haitian people continue to
resist. Over the past two years, the National Popular Party has
held several giant marches to denounce imperialism's offensive
and to call on the Haitian government to more vigorously defend
the Haitian people's democratic gains. Over ten thousand people
participated in PPN's march in the capital this past September
30, the twelfth anniversary of the CIA-backed coup d'état against
Aristide.

Imperialism and its lackeys are trying to engineer another coup
and foreign military occupation of Haiti. This is the only way
they can hope to take back control of the country.

But just like Napoleon in 1803, their plans are doomed. The
Haitian people today refuse to return to the dictatorship we
experienced under the 1991 to 1994 coup and during the Duvalier
dictatorships, just as our ancestors refused to return into
slavery.

In Creole, we have an expression. "Yo byen konte, yo mal
kalkile." Imperialism has counted well, but calculated badly.
They have miscalculated the Haitian people's resolve in defending
our nation, our sovereignty, and our bicentennial.

Long live the struggle of the Haitian people! Long live the
struggle for justice, peace and socialism!

All articles copyrighted Haiti Progres, Inc. REPRINTS ENCOURAGED.
Please credit Haiti Progres.

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