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The late Malcolm X commenting in one of his speeches on the state of Black leadership at the time said: “These negroes do not want to build any nation; they want to crawl back on the plantation.”

On March 11, 2024, the Jamaican government hosted a CARICOM meeting, reportedly to discuss and find some resolution to the social disruption in Haiti.

The meeting was a farce from conception and was nothing more than a ploy, by the United States especially, to give some legitimacy to the unelected government of Haiti, and to use the Jamaican and other Caribbean political stooges to create a semblance of concern for the issues in Haiti.

The analytical and historical bankruptcy of the Jamaican government is openly demonstrated by the invitees to the meeting.

The three primary culprits of the Core Group—the United States, France and Canada—were invited to participate in the meeting.

These are the countries primarily responsible for the destabilization and social upheaval taking place in Haiti. Such idiocy is tantamount to putting the proverbial fox to watch the hen house.

The Jamaican parliamentary opposition, People’s National Party (PNP), needs to take a principled and enlightened position on this issue.

For much too long Jamaica’s performance at international forums and its foreign policy positions in general have degenerated into the abyss of total disappointment; it has traveled from the elementary and simplistic to backward and reactionary, respectively.

In the interest of national self-determination and respect, someone needs to rescue and restore some semblance of national pride, not just in sports but in the critical area of politics as well. If the PNP continues to sit on the sideline, then for those so inclined, Dante’s suggestion that “the hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in a period of moral crisis, maintain their neutrality,” is applicable.

Kenya and Jamaica are in no moral, legal, or political position to send any troops to Haiti, to supposedly bring law, order and stability. Apart from the Geneva Convention regarding the “noninterference in the internal affairs of other countries,” there also do not exist any agreements between Haiti and any of the subject countries, for providing military assistance to Haiti.

On the social level, they both have serious socio-economic problems, including high inflation, skyrocketing prices on basic consumer goods, a large unemployment burden, and crime rates that rival any large, developed country.

Jamaica cannot even control the reported 600 gangs running amuck in the country: shootouts in broad daylight in crowded squares; armed robberies of grocery stores or supermarkets; attacks on churches as well as the holdup of public transportation vehicles.

The Jamaican government is incapable of finding a sustainable and effective solution to the problem of crime. The “knee-jerk” approach with the Zones of Special Operations (ZoSo) have outlived their usefulness, and are a diversionary tactic for the government’s political impotence.

The convening of the meeting was not only ridiculous in the first place but, moreover, lacked legitimacy. CARICOM had no legal authority to convene such a “meeting” when one was not requested by a popularly elected government of Haiti.

The absurdity lies in the fact that the meeting was supposed to be discussing and resolving the social issues in Haiti; however, no legitimate social organization representing the Haitian working class or even from academia were represented. How stupid can that be?

Unless one is a willing participant in the imperialists’ plan to re-occupy Haiti. It is obvious that CARICOM leaders, like the OAS, are nothing but ideological misfits and imperialist “agents” in black face, and are a disgrace to the working class of their respective countries. The best reward for them is hastily voting them out of office and dumping them on the scrapheap of history.

It is disappointing that the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, took such a reactionary and opportunistic position by supporting foreign intervention in the domestic affairs of Haiti. Her position, by default, also gives credence to the erroneous idea that Haitians in particular, and African people in general, cannot govern themselves and need outside support—and white support at that—to bring law and order to the country.

One of the stipulations for the formation of the “interim” government is that none of the participants should be opposed to foreign intervention. This is the same line carried by the United States. Of course, Mia Mottley gladly “parrots” this position. It is rumored that she has ambitions of being Secretary General of the United Nations (UN); she is currently securing votes from the influential countries, if and when she is up for election.

Haiti’s “Unpardonable Sin”

The Republic of Haiti, founded in 1804, was the first African-populated country in the Western Hemisphere to victoriously fight for and secure its independence from the colonizers, France.

Napoleon Bonaparte, with his advanced army of personnel and arms, were routed by the Haitians and sent back to France. Having beaten the French and securing their independence was not enough; France demanded financial compensation from Haiti for its so-called material and financial “loss.”

To add insult to the socio-economic injury, the United States invaded and occupied Haiti from 1915 until 1934; the  imperial powers have never “forgiven” Haiti for the triumph of its revolution.

U.S. Marine invaders in Haiti: hunting Caco rebels. [Source: laprensagrafica.com]

During the period of United States occupation, the authorities rewrote the Haitian Constitution and installed a titular president, Jean Vilbrun Guillaume Sam. Sam made all kinds of agreements with the colonizer, including giving control of Haiti’s finances to the United States.

Over the following decades, the United States and its allies have worked tirelessly to undermine the stability of Haitian society: support of the murderous dictatorship of Francois Duvalier (“Papa Doc”) and, later, his son Jean-Claude Duvalier (“Baby Doc”); direct destabilization; and two coups finally resulting in the physical removal from the country of the first democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Imperialism’s Colonization Plan for Haiti

Ever since the reversal of the democratic gains achieved by the Aristide era, Haiti has consistently descended into social chaos to the point that it is now: the complete breakdown of the social structure and lawlessness.

Contrary to the imperialists’ narrative reported in their apologist press, there is no takeover of Haiti by gangs. The lawlessness and violence carried out in Haiti are by armed paramilitary groups supported militarily, and funded by sections of the CORE group, mainly the United States, France and Canada.

It should be noted that, in 2004, Brazil under President Lula, led the military intervention in Haiti, which overthrew Aristide. Some of these paramilitary groups include ex-security forces and current police members. And some of these paramilitary groups are known and supported by the local Haitian oligarchy, both financially and materially.

The purpose is to create havoc, social unrest, economic collapse, and political instability, which will give the imperialists a pretext to once again occupy the country through military intervention and pave the way for a puppet government, which will be favorable to capital. 

The U.S. plan for reintroducing colonization and furthering Haiti’s dependency is brilliantly outlined in an essay by Haitian scholar Jemima Pierre titled “Haiti as Empire’s Laboratory.” From the signing into law by then-President Donald Trump of the Global Fragility Act (GFA), it was made clear that the United States was intent on imposing its waning world hegemony through any means necessary. This would include continued covert action in countries it saw as “threats to U.S. security.” Jemima Pierre writes: “Among the five trial countries for GFA implementation, Haiti is the first target.”

Imperialism has always changed its tactics of intervention depending on conditions: At times they use invasion, like in the cases of Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan; at other times they create unrest using local reactionary forces which have the appearance of being locally initiated and of local origin.

History is loaded with examples of developing countries struggling for national liberation and self-determination, only to have the process thwarted by imperialist intervention both from outside and within. Intervention protects and expand the oligarchy, thereby oppressing the masses. Military intervention is the political tool for reinforcing and maintaining the dominance of capital over the lives of the working class. 

We Must Stand with Haiti – Resist All Intervention!

The democratic and nation-building process that began with the election of Jean-Bertrand Aristide and directly destroyed by the United States and its allies, must be resumed and continued by the democratic forces within Haiti. This calls for the full mobilization and participation of the working class of Haiti.

A U.S. Marine convoy makes its way through Port-au-Prince on April 5, 2004. [Source: nacla.org]

According to Mildred Aristide: “The struggle for freedom, dignity, security and peace has been a constant throughout Haiti’s history.”

In order for Haiti to begin the long and arduous road to recovery, the following needs to be done:

• The United States and its allies—especially Canada, France and Britain—must immediately stop interfering in the internal affairs of Haiti.
• There must be NO military intervention, United Nations (UN) or otherwise.
• There must be NO support for foreign intervention in Haiti, disguised as “assistance,” by organizations such as the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Organization of American States (OAS), or the African Union (AU).
• United States imperialism and its allies must be rejected and defeated by actively supporting the Zone of Peace Campaign initiated by the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) in 2014.
• The United States and its allies must stop supporting a repressive, corrupt and illegitimate regime.
• Progressive forces internationally, and within the African diaspora especially, must demonstrate solidarity with the people of Haiti by engaging their respective elected officials, and participatory social action to thwart any impending military action and allow the people of Haiti to solve their own problems in their own ways.

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Richard Dunn is a retired construction professional, trained in Architecture and Energy Management. He’s been a social justice activist since 1968 and was particularly active with the Walter Rodney defense demonstrations. Richard is an author, a contributing columnist to newspapers, an editor for a music industry magazine and operates a social justice website. Richard can be reached at: [email protected].

Featured image: Jamaican gangs are out of control. [Source: dreadeditions.com]