Views
Caribbean Organizations Denounce UN Security Council's Approval of Kenya-Led Mission to Haiti
We, the undersigned, strongly condemn the decision by the United States and its allies to deploy a foreign military force to Haiti. We are adamant that a U.S./UN-led armed foreign intervention in Haiti is not only illegitimate, but illegal. And we support Haitian people and civil society organizations who have been consistent in their opposition to foreign armed military intervention -- and who have argued that the problems of Haiti are a direct result of the persistent and long-term meddling of the United States, the United Nations, and the Core Group.
On
Monday, October 2nd, 2023, the United Nations Security Council
(UNSC)
voted on a resolution for a Multinational Security Support
Mission
authorizing the deployment of a foreign military and police
intervention into the Republic of Haiti. Although the vote did
not
receive unanimous approval as
it saw abstentions from two permanent UNSC members, 13 other
permanent
and non-permanent members voted in support, including 3 African
countries (Gabon, Ghana and Mozambique). This is a particularly
egregious betrayal of Haiti, which has been for Africans and
Black
people around the world, a beacon
in the fight against slavery, colonialism and imperialism. Yet
the U.S.
administration, the corporate media, alongside figures such as
Linda
Thomas-Greenfield, have hailed the vote as a victory. We note,
also,
that the U.S. has tapped Kenya, another African country, to lead
a
multinational force of
"volunteer" nations to occupy Haiti, leaving their own troops at
home
while offering at least $100 million in support.
There is a long history here. For more than two years now, the U.S. has been pushing for a build-up of the military presence in Haiti to protect the puppet government of the unelected and unpopular Ariel Henry. Yet the U.S. is not willing to put its own boots on the ground, turning instead, first to Canada, then Brazil, then the CELAC and CARICOM countries -- all of whom were reluctant to lead the mission, even if they supported the call for military intervention. The Kenyan government leapt at the opportunity to lead the intervention, bought off by a bag of silver and an approving pat on their neoliberal heads. Haiti will now be invaded by the U.S., but with the Black face of Kenya as cover. Kenya erroneously claims this is "Pan-Africanism;" it is, in fact, neocolonialism.
We
are told that the interest of the U.S. in Haiti is humanitarian,
that
the U.S wants to protect the Haitian people from "criminal
gangs." Yet
U.S. weapons have flooded Haiti, and the U.S. has consistently
rejected
calls to effectively enforce the UNSC resolution for an arms
embargo
against the
Haitian and U.S. elite who import guns into the country.
Moreover, when
we speak of "gangs," we must recognize that the most powerful
gangs in
the country are subsidiaries of the U.S. itself: the United
Nations
Integrated Office (BINUH) and the Core Group, the two colonial
entities
who have
effectively ruled the country since the
U.S./France/Canada-backed coup
d'etat of 2004. Haiti has no sovereignty and has long been under
foreign occupation. The current de facto "Prime Minister" was
installed
by the Core Group and whatever calls for military intervention
are
being made by those
already occupying Haiti.
We hold in contempt the neocolonial governments that are taking part in this mission to further oppress Haitian people and deny them sovereignty. We denounce the governments of Kenya and the CARICOM nations, such as Bahamas, Jamaica, and Antigua and Barbuda, which have failed Haiti and have violated the notion of the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace.
Furthermore, we demand that:
- The U.S. and the UN must end their interference in Haiti and the Core Group must be disbanded.
- The U.S. must stop its criminal gangster actions against Haiti and stop propping up the illegitimate government they installed.
- Kenya must end its support for a racist and imperialist intervention in Haiti
- The governments of the U.S. and the Dominican Republic stop dumping arms and ammunition into the country and for the de facto Prime Minister to stop arming paramilitaries in the country.
- The United Nations pay restitution for the devastating 2010 cholera outbreak by rebuilding Haiti's water, sanitation, health, and educational infrastructure.
- That fuel subsidies for Haiti are reinstated and the minimum wage increased.
- The CARICOM countries, alongside other regional nations, normalize pathways for work visas and citizenship for Haitian nationals.
We vow to stand on the side of the Haitian people against imperialism!
To view the list of the signatories, click here.
This article was published in
Volume 53
Number 12 - October 2023
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2023/Articles/MS53125.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca