17782: Esser: First Anti-Slavery Revolution in America (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: D. E s s e r <torx@joimail.com>

Havana. January, 8 2004

HAITI First anti-slavery revolution in America BY MARIA VICTORIA
VALDES-RODDA
-Granma International staff writer-

THE first revolution in America against slavery has just turned 200
years old.
Although January 1 is the exact date for celebrating Haiti's
independence,
continental forums have been paying a well-deserved tribute for the
last few
months to the brave republic of Toussaint L'Ouverture, who became a
heroic
legend back in 1804.

In the framework of the Caribbean Peoples Assembly in Haiti's Cape in
October
2003, Nobel Peace Prize winner Adolfo Pérez Esquivel insisted that the
best way
of honoring that Black uprising against a colonial regime is to unite
all voices
against neoliberalism and the current pretensions of imperialism -
disguised as
a fair interlocutor of free trade agreements - to impose merciless law
of the
market. It is necessary, he said, to continue battling like yesterday
for
equality among peoples.

Guided by the slogan, "Let us build our sovereign, egalitarian,
equitable, just
and peaceful Caribbean," in a gesture of solidarity and on account of
its
historical legacy, the meeting subsequently voted for Haiti as a new
member of
the Executive Committee, with sights set on another meeting in 2005.

"The emancipating epic of our Haitian brothers constitutes one of the
most
splendid and notable moments of American history. Haiti's finest sons,
who
emerged from the masses of slaves, had to confront and defeat the
military
superiority of the French colonial armies until they triumphed in the
great
Battle of Vertiers in 1803. It was the era of the rule of Napoleon,
whose troops
conquered a large part of Europe; nevertheless, the Haitian generals
made them
bite the dust of defeat."

These reflections, in turn, are part of the Declaration by the
Organization of
Solidarity of the Peoples of Africa, Asia and Latin America (OSPAAL), in
relation to the Bicentennial of Haiti's independence, published by the
digital
edition of Tricontinental on December 17 last year.

The text venerates the audacity of the Caribbean rebels in abolishing
slavery,
which was a premonitory step for a region that, shortly afterward, had
the
perspective of founding a diverse but united region. In that context,
the text
reads: "The Haitian patriots not only contributed one of the most heroic
chapters to the history of the continent and its hopes for the future,
but also
offered generous aid to the liberator Simón Bolívar at difficult
moments (during
the government of Alexandre Pítio, Bolívar was exiled twice to Haiti)
for the
revolutionary armies who would fly the flag of liberty in the lands of
the rest
of the great homeland."

Meanwhile, at its 11th meeting, the Sao Paulo Social Forum called for a
profound
and serious diffusion of Haitian realities. In particular, the issue of
urgent
humanitarian aid indispensable to rescuing that Caribbean nation from
underdevelopment and poverty deserves a greater international
sensitivity.

In reference to the current boycott imposed unilaterally imposed on the
Haitian
people by the United States, the Latin American fighters condemned that
fascist
policy which only harms children, women and the elderly. The right of
every
state to solve its internal affairs without foreign intervention will
be the
banner to raise in 2004.

The Caribbean Community of Nations, CARICOM, and the Association of
Caribbean
States (ACS) maintained their confidence that, in the midst of its
bicentennial,
Haiti will manage to overcome its difficulties, as it did in its
glorious past.

© Copyright. 1996-2004. All rights reserved. GRANMA INTERNATIONAL/ONLINE
EDITION. Cuba.