Haitian Civil Society Organizations to CARICOM

At the CARICOM Heads of Government Conference, Haitian leaders call on their Caribbean neighbors for solidarity action

Port-au-Prince, Haiti 14 February, 2023

Honourable CARICOM Heads of Government,

We, the signatory Haitian organizations, have learned that the 44th CARICOM inter-sessional Heads of Government Conference will be held in Nassau, Bahamas from 15-17 February. This Conference will be marked by the presence of the Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, as a special guest, and that of Ariel Henry, the much reviled de facto Prime Minister, imposed on the Haitian people by the so-called “Core Group”. It was announced in an official press release from Ottawa, dated 11 February, 2023, that during this meeting, "the Prime Minister will advance shared priorities, including continued assistance to the people of Haiti...This meeting will provide leaders with an opportunity to explore ways that would enable the region to continue assisting the Haitian people on a political, security and humanitarian basis”. Moreover, "they will also discuss their support for Haitian-led solutions to the situation in Haiti, which is having devastating effects on the people of that country. As an unwavering partner, Canada stepped in to respond to this egregious situation. Among other things, it provided assistance to the Haitian National Police and deployed a long-range patrol aircraft to disrupt gang activity”, read the press release.

We are long past the point where one needs to prove that the gangs who have taken over Haiti, who have been purposely rendered all-powerful, and gifted the right of life and death over the Haitian people, are anything other than the foot soldiers of the international community. They are a criminal fabrication who bear the imprimatur of the “Core Group”, which is a gang of Ambassadors which includes, among others, the OAS, Canada, France and the United States, who enjoy the unfailing complicity of the PHTK regime of oligarchs and corrupt and criminal Haitian politicians. The purpose for the gangs is to reinforce the relentless state of insecurity. Under these conditions, how can one believe that Mr. Trudeau will really be using this meeting as an opportunity to "explore means that would allow the region to continue to help the Haitian people on a political, security and humanitarian basis", as alleged by the press release?

Since 7 October, 2022, the current de facto Prime Minister and his ministers, have donned a hideous costume of TRAITORS TO THE NATION by requesting foreign military intervention on our national soil, which is a crime of high treason, punishable by article 21.1 of the Haitian Constitution. Mr. Ariel Henry was actually installed by a mere tweet from the Core Group. The actions taken by this so-called Prime Minister are the expressions of the will of the Core Group and not that of the Haitian people. All of the prescriptions of the Haitian Constitution and the right to self-determination of the Haitian people are presently being trampled upon. Consequently, Ariel Henry, the Core Group’s Prime Minister, has no title, no capacity, and no legitimacy authorizing him to decide or speak on behalf of the Haitian people.

Therefore, all decisions arrived at with this gentleman will only commit him and his cronies, and will in no way bind Haiti or the Haitian people, who are locked in struggle for survival with him. We, the signatory organizations, reject in advance any draft resolution aimed at supporting this de facto Prime Minister and his cronies or the mafia agreement of 21 December, which is nothing more than the Core Group's last ditch effort to save their incompetent puppet from the wrath of the people.

The cries of distress of the Haitian people trapped by the Core Group and the mafia PHTK power

The gangs, who are real terrorists working for the Core Group and the Henry government, operate with total impunity, with astonishing ease and frightening arrogance. Well-equipped and highly protected, these gangs and their local collaborators have managed, under the auspices of the Core Group, to establish a reign of terror, chaos, and lawlessness, which sees the Haitian people living under a constant state of insecurity, systemic political repression, targeted political assassinations, and programmed daily kidnappings, all openly planned by the State. The undeclared war which the imperialistic powers are waging against the Haitian people is entering its final stage of implosion, whereby the fundamental rights to security, freedom of movement, food, education, health and life itself are all being systematically denied to the Haitian people.

Honourable CARICOM Leaders,

We ask you not to allow yourselves to be drawn into the criminal logic of the imperialistic powers, who are determined to suffocate or eliminate Haiti, and we urge you to engage in a deep political reflection on the revolting situation our country is undergoing, in order to better understand what is really going on, and be in a position to help us to overcome it.

We, the signatory Haitian organizations, cannot forget our common past marked by significant events uniting Haiti and the Caribbean, which resonate with the memory of our rebellious and victorious ancestors. Thus, the great Boukman Dutty connects us to Jamaica from where he was expelled for his rebellious attitude. Haitian hero, Henri Christophe, builder of the Citadel, a monument which is now a UNESCO World Heritage site, links us to the island of Grenada from whence he hailed.

Sister Nations of CARICOM, it is time for the Caribbean to stop being the amplifiers of the former colonial powers, who are today’s imperialistic powers, and instead rediscover the meaning of active solidarity.

The Haitian people fully expect to find among you steadfast supporters of our cause, and thank you in advance for your solidarity to help us to break from this dangerous impasse and take charge of our destiny. We hereby list the help which is primarily required by Haiti, to break out of this disastrous predicament, so that her people can claim and obtain restitution and reparations for the centuries of injustices suffered:

• We demand an end to the indecent support of the international community, in particular the USA, Canada and France, for the criminal PHTK government of Ariel Henry, a de facto government which has neither the will nor the capacity to bring about the required solutions;

• We claim a sovereign Haiti, freed from the genocidal grip of the imperialistic powers, and as former American Special Envoy to Haiti, Daniel Foote pointed out in his letter of resignation: the right of Haitians to take their destiny into their own hands;

• We ask for genuine support to break the wall of silence erected to conceal from the world the criminal actions of the imperialistic powers, the Core group, and in particular the American government against the Haitian people;

• We ask for support for the Haitian people’s right to self-determination, and respect for their rejection of military intervention, which will only serve to maintain Ariel Henry and his clique in power, to reinforce the tutelage being imposed on Haiti with a view to achieving total political control of Haiti in order to consolidate foreign interference and facilitate the looting of the country’s resources;

• We demand Reparations from France for the historical debt for slavery, as well as restitution of the hundreds of millions extorted over a period of no less than 122 years, in the form of an odious and egregious ransom to punish Haiti for daring to win its independence, as well reparations for all the wrongs, abuses and injustices suffered.

• We demand the double restitution due to Haiti from the US for the gold reserves stolen by US Marines from the vaults of the National Bank of Haiti on 17 December, 1914, and for the theft of Navassa island, as well reparations for all of the wrongs, abuses and injustices being endured to this day.

• We demand Reparations from the UN for the families of the 30,000 victims of cholera.

  Honourable CARICOM Leaders,

  We hope that the 44th CARICOM inter-sessional Heads of Government Conference will be an occasion for a great awakening, and that CARICOM will not continue to be complicit with the former colonial, slaveholding, and racist powers.

  We, the signatory organizations, wish to end this letter by reminding you of the very significant words of Bishop Desmond Tutu:

  "If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor, because neutrality always helps the oppressor, never the victim.”

  The Haitian people currently find themselves in a situation of extreme danger, and we ask you to heed the words of Bishop Tutu, and take a stand for righteousness, to help the people of Haiti from sinking into the abyss into which its oppressors are intent on driving it.

  Long live the solidarity between the peoples of the Caribbean with Haiti!

Long live the solidarity of the peoples of the world with Haiti!

Signatories:

Alternative Socialiste (ASO) / Jean Hénold Buteau et Jean-Paul Bastien ALBA MOVIMIENTOS, ChapitreHaiti/Islanda Micheline Aduel KONAKOM, Dunois Erick Cantave
Inisyativ Patriyòt Maryen (IPAM) / Hugues Célestin

Latibonit Kanpe pou Ayiti (LAKAY) / Rigaud Velumat
Mouvman Revolisyonè pou Liberasyon Mas yo (MORELIM) / Nelio Petit-Homme COMIPOL/ Ernso Ertilus et Julio Fils Cham
Osnel Jean-Baptiste / Journaliste engagé
Union Nationale des Normaliens-nes d’Haïti (UNNOH) / Peguy Noel
Kolektif Solidarite, Idantite ak Libète (KASIL) / Rudy Prudent
Centrale Nationale des Ouvriers Haïtiens (CNOHA) / Dominique St Eloi
Konbit Ayisyen pou Lojman Altènatif (KAYLA) / Francia Pierrette
Obsèvatwa pou Egalite (OPE) / Jean Claudy Aristil
Platfòm Ayiti Vèt (PAV) / Saico Jean Michel Sévère
Union Syndicale des Transporteurs Haïtiens (USTRAH) / Venès Junior Many
Asosyasyon Viktim Masak Leta nan Katye Popilè yo (AVIMEKP) / Nevelson Jean-Baptiste Respect des Ouvriers Haïtiens de la Manufacture (ROHM) / Camito Sainclair
Collectif des Planteurs Responsables pour l’avancement d’Haïti (COPRAH) /
Rezo Òganizasyon Nòdwès / Kerby Joseph
Fowòm Sitwayen nan Sid (FOSID) / Rejean Fontaine
Platfòm Oganizasyon pou Ideyal Bwawon Tonè / Hugues-Capè Mondésir
Gary Lindor MOSSO/AVIMB /
Kowòt Patriyotik / Francisco Alcide
Cercle Grégory Saint-Hilaire / Cilien Luxenat
Armand Joseph Jules / Citoyen engagé
Cri Castro / Wismanie Perrin
Fòs Dèlma 32 / Clerveaux Fritznel
Fanm Vanyan pou sove Souverennte Ayiti/Myrlène Deshommes
Sèk Janil / Bedouby Nobert
MSTH-ROZO / Mario Maisonneuve
ESKANP/ Mario Coty
ROZO/Mirtha Elie
AJSOCH/ Jean Thony Forest
FOSYNPO/Gedeon Junior Georges
FRAKKA/ Francois Philippe
ZOULA/ Pierre Dieudonné Delice
Oganizasyon Konbit Aksyon Popilè / James Francisque
Schneider Alcereste / NOUVOLIB
Kolektif Atis Angaje (KATAN) / Kébert Bastien

Konbit Òganizasyon Sendikal, Politik ak Popilè / Josué Mérilien
Plateforme Haïtienne de Plaidoyer pour un Développement Alternatif (PAPDA)/Camille Chalmers
Mouvman Leve Kanpe pou yon Lòt Endepandans / Patrick Joseph