A Statement of Solidarity with the Haitian People from EPICA

EPICA calls for the following:



* No U.S. military intervention in Haiti, under any circumstances. No U.S. support for a return of the Haitian military or for the rebel takeovers.

* End the violence, regardless of its source. Bring to justice the armed groups, FRAPH and ex-Haitian military taking part. Condemn any state violence or support for armed Lavalas groups attacking political demonstrations or activists. Condemn any support for violence by the political opposition.

* Let the Haitian people decide their own affairs. End all attempts to destabilize the Aristide government; End USAID funding through the National Endowment to Democracy to the political opposition.

* Oppose the neo-liberal structural adjustment plan for Haiti. End U.S., World Bank, IMF and IDB pressure to impose a neo-liberal economic plan on Haiti. End the economic embargo on Haiti for development aid.



The Current Crisis



Since 1990, EPICA has supported the Lavalas movement in Haiti and the presidency of Jean-Bertrand Aristide. We joined in the formation of Voices for Haiti during the 1991 military coup and denounced the gross violation of human rights taking place at that time. We were critical of the U.S., not only for lending support to the military coup, but for tying President Aristide's hands and forcing him to sign off on the World Bank structural adjustment plan, and forcing him to return to Haiti accompanied by 20,000 U.S. military.



Now, ten years later, we find ourselves calling once again on the United States not to intervene any further in Haiti. That means no backing for a return of the Haitian military, and no U.S. military intervention in Haiti. Let the Haitian people decide! What we have heard so far, is that the Haitian people are divided with respect to President Aristide. There are strong voices of support for the president, and there are strong voices calling for his resignation, not only among the Democratic Convergence political opposition and their civil society allies in the Group of 184, but also among grassroots popular organizations who feel he has betrayed the ideals of the Lavalas movement.



Indeed, Haitian society is polarized, and on the brink of civil war. It is never too late to seek a political solution to the conflict, but that solution must come from the Haitian people, not foreign intervention. The moment is critical, and Haitian sovereignty is at stake. Unless a political solution to the crisis is reached soon, we fear a further descent into civil war, empowering the most repressive elements of FRAPH and the remnants of the Haitian military, and risking U.S. military intervention in Haiti under the guise of stemming the tide of Haitian refugees. This only serves U.S. geopolitical interests, allowing for the consolidation of the neo-liberal economic plan in Haiti, the suppression of progressive grassroots movements in the region, and an increase in U.S.-led political and military attacks on sovereign nations.



Today, Haiti is on the brink of civil war – or worse, a military intervention or a military coup backed by the United States. In recent weeks, armed groups have taken over dozens of police stations and towns in the north and northwest part of Haiti. These groups have been joined by some of the most repressive elements of the paramilitary organization FRAPH (Front for the Advancement and Progress of Haiti), as well as ex-members of the now demobilized Haitian army who have crossed into Haiti from the Dominican Republic. These groups are already poised for an assault on Port-au-Prince. While there is no evidence to support ties between the political opposition and the rebels in the north, the failure of the Democratic Convergence to make a clear denunciation of the takeovers is unacceptable. The U.S. also bears responsibility for the violence, by helping to create FRAPH, failing to disarm them in 1994, and refusing to return the FRAPH documents to Haiti.



In recent months, significant sectors of Haitian society, who once formed part of the Lavalas movement that brought President Aristide to power, have called for his resignation. This call is based on charges of arming and/or condoning Lavalas supporters who in turn have attacked demonstrations critical of the government; charges of impunity and a lack of prosecution of political crimes like the assassination of Jean Dominique, Antoine Izmery, and Jean-Marie Vincent; charges of corruption, and a lack of transparency; charges of politicizing the Haitian police; and charges of abandoning the ideals of the Lavalas movement of 1986 – 1991.



On the other hand, the Democratic Convergence, the major political opposition to Aristide, can be critiqued for accepting funding from the United States. In 2001, USAID gave $1.3 million to the International Republican Institute, and $1.2 million to the National Democratic Institute, both channels for the National Endowment for Democracy, to fund “actors in civil society and political parties.” Such funding raises serious questions about the independence of the Democratic Convergence. It must also be noted that the Group of 184, composed of civil society organizations as well as business elites disaffected with Aristide – like sweatshop owner Andre Apaid – recently joined the Democratic Convergence to form the Democratic Platform in December 2003. However, these close ties to the United States should at least raise questions about what political and economic project the Democratic Convergence represents.



There are also other voices in Haiti, such as the voices of 30 progressive grassroots organizations not officially tied to the Democratic Convergence or the Group of 184, who formed the Popular Democratic Group in December 2003. These are organizations with a great deal of respect in the U.S. solidarity movement, and include such organizations as Tet Kole Ti peyizan Ayisyen (national peasant movement), SOFA: Solidarity with Haitian Women (women's organization), and PAPDA: Popular Platform for Alternative Development (representing NGOs, unions and peasant organizations). In addition to calling for President Aristide's resignation, they are adamant against any foreign military intervention.



The Roots of the Crisis



The roots of the crisis in Haiti go deep, and much of the blame must be laid at the doorstep of United States. The U.S. failed to recognize Haiti as the first black republic in the Western Hemisphere until 1862, occupied Haiti militarily from 1915-1934, supported the Duvalier dictatorship for decades, and did everything possible to destabilize the presidency of Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 1991, including support for the military coup.



In order for the U.S. to back Aristide's return in 1994, he had to sign off on the World Bank “structural adjustment” plan and agree to return with 20,000 U.S. troops, a move opposed by many of the popular organizations in Haiti. The U.S. was heavily involved in the creation of FRAPH, a paramilitary death-squad responsible for many of the 3,000 – 5,000 deaths during the military coup. The U.S. also failed to effectively disarm the paramilitary groups once the U.S. military occupied Haiti in 1994.



Aristide finished his first term in 1996 and was succeeded by his Prime Minister Rene Preval. Both were heavily pressured by the United States and the World Bank to implant a “structural adjustment” plan for Haiti that would privatize state industries, lower tariff barriers, dismantle the traditional agricultural sector, destroy food security, and exploit Haiti's comparative advantage in the global economy: “cheap labor” and “proximity to the United States” as a market.



Discontent with these policies led to further divisions within the Lavalas Party. During the 2000 Legislative elections, opposition candidates charged that demonstrations were attacked by Aristide supporters, and the elections were fraudulent. This led to the formation of the Democratic Convergence, and a boycott of the 2000 Presidential elections which Aristide easily won, though the voter turn-out was extremely low. The Democratic Convergence is demanding that President Aristide resign, and a government of transition be established until new elections can be held.



During his second Presidency, Aristide accepted many of the structural adjustment policies demanded by the international financial institutions. Combined with the withholding of international development aid to Haiti by the U.S., the consequences of the neo-liberal economic plan on the Haitian people have been disastrous. In its review of the socioeconomic situation in Haiti in 2002, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) said:



“Under the combined impact of political and institutional instability and the persistent decline in production and revenues, the Haitian population will continue to grow and to evolve beneath the absolute poverty line.... Haiti will need more than 50 years, or the equivalent of two generations, to recover from its current state if the process of recovery were to start now.”



Since 2000, the Organization of American States (OAS) has made more than 20 missions to Haiti, calling on President Aristide and the political opposition to come to an agreement and to form a Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) to select a new Prime Minister and to prepare new elections. Both sides have been intransigent. The U.S. responded by withholding millions of dollars in development aid until the crisis is resolved. The Caribbean community of nations (CARICOM) has joined in these efforts, as has a U.S. mission led by Assistant Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere, Roger Noriega, a former aide to Senator Jesse Helms, again to no avail. The political opposition will not negotiate until President Aristide resigns.



It appears that the U.S. is willing to do anything to create a government in Haiti subservient to its neo-liberal economic interests – including destabilizing the Aristide government, or funding the political opposition which it believes it can manipulate to do its bidding. And, when convenient, the U.S. is prepared to foment division, back the return of the Haitian military, or let Haiti descend into a bloody civil war - in order to justify U.S. military intervention. Whatever the scenario, the United States must bear primary responsibility for this assault on the dignity of the Haitian people. We must stand together with the Haitian people to make sure this does not happen!

No U.S. Intervention in Haiti! Let the Haitian People Decide!

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