January 1, 2024
220th Anniversary of Triumph of Haitian Revolution

No to Foreign Intervention in Haiti! Stand with the Haitian People and Their Historic Struggle for Rights and Liberty!

On the occasion of the 220th anniversary of the Haitian Revolution, the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) sends warmest greetings to the Haitian people at home and abroad. In Canada and around the world, the sons and daughters of Haiti are a militant contingent of the working class, who stand in the front ranks of the fight for the rights of all and stand second to none in opposing imperialist war and aggression around the world.

Going into 2024, the militant traditions of the Haitian people will stand them in good stead as foreign powers seek to organize an armed intervention force to continue Haiti’s oppression and block the people from exercising control over their affairs. So too is it crucial that Canadians and Quebeckers stand firmly with the Haitian people and oppose the Canadian government’s dastardly role in Haiti for the past 20 years.

The Haitian people’s revolutionary traditions go back to 1791, when the enslaved peoples of the French colony Saint-Domingue rose up in organized resistance to overthrow both slavery and colonial rule. The revolutionaries, led by Toussaint L’Ouverture and Jean-Jacques Dessalines, fought off successive European powers – the French, Spanish and British – to proudly establish their independent republic, Haiti, on January 1, 1804. This in turn dealt a severe blow to the French colonial empire, for which the ruling circles of France have never forgiven Haiti. So too with the U.S., as the Haitian revolution inspired the people enslaved in the U.S. to persist in their struggle to end the system of slave labour and meant the U.S. too has repeatedly sought revenge and interfered in Haiti.

This historic achievement of the Haitian people was an important contribution to all oppressed and enslaved peoples and their national liberation struggles in Latin America, the Caribbean and beyond. The Haitian Revolution was the first to define citizenship rights on a modern basis, namely that they belong to people by virtue of their being human as members of a body politic. This was a decisive break from the conception of rights of the colonial powers based on the ownership of property and a system of privileges.

The Haitian revolution’s profound affirmation of rights and sovereignty continues to characterize the people’s steadfast resistance to interference from foreign powers. From 1804 to the present, the colonial and imperial powers have worked non-stop to wreak vengeance on the Haitian people who continue to fight for peace, freedom and democracy without let-up.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the 2004 military coup against the democratically elected President of Haiti, Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Canada has again gone to bat for U.S. imperialist interests in Haiti, amidst so-called gang violence in Haiti. On October 17, 2023, Canada held a summit with the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), as part of the efforts of Canada and the United States to coax the CARICOM countries to break fraternal relations with the Haitian people, which they consider a block to foreign influence and control over Haiti. All of it is done under the pretext of colonial white man’s burden and the hoax of controlling gang violence. What are called gangs are in fact factions representing private and foreign interests, and part of the aftermath of the 2004 coup.

The Canada-CARICOM summit was preceded by a UN Security Council resolution passed on October 2, 2023, drafted by the U.S., authorizing Kenya to send a 1,000-strong police force to Haiti. Kenya’s parliament has approved this plan, but its implementation has been blocked due to a legal challenge based on the fact that, according to their Constitution, only the military can be deployed abroad, not the police. The High Court will deliver its decision on January 26, 2024. Prior UN missions are notorious for their wanton violence against Haitians, while the Canadian police personnel in particular gained notoriety for their sexual misconduct against Haitians.

CPC(M-L) condemns the role played by Canada, along with the United States and France, and all other countries that make up the Core Group on Haiti, to keep the people of Haiti in a state of misery and bondage. In the state of chaos and anarchy produced by this foreign domination, for these countries to now claim a mandate for foreign intervention to stop “gang violence” is like asking for a cure from the gods of plague.

In the coming year, let us stand with the Haitian people to affirm their rights and sovereignty, and demand that Canada end its interference in Haiti and make reparations for its criminal role in the 2004 coup and all of its other wrong-doings against the people.

Hands Off Haiti – No to Foreign Intervention!
All Out to Stand with the Haitian People!

Protest at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office in Ottawa denounces Canada-CARICOM Summit held that day, and opposes any interference by Canada in the Caribbean, October 17, 2023.