Dear Leaders of CARICOM, I greet you in the name of each common ancestor whose bones remain restless at the bottom of the Caribbean and Atlantic Oceans. I hope this brief note finds you in excellent health as it deals with an urgent crisis which requires that we summon superior collective wisdom, intelligence and, above all, courage. As you read this note, in the town of Jeremi (South-West Haiti/ Grandans), corpses are being pulled under collapsed rubble. The region was hit by a 4.9 magnitude quake early this morning. This occurred a few hours after floods had devastated large parts . . .
CORE Group
For Peace in the Americas, We Must Center Haiti
Adapted from remarks given by Austin Cole, Interim Co-Coordinator of Black Alliance for Peace’s Haiti and the Americas Team, as part of “America v. CELAC: Whither the Monroe Doctrine at 200?” hosted by the International Manifesto Group. As the crisis of imperialism in Haiti continues and US-led ‘Western’ nations debate how best to sell an escalated military invasion, it is imperative that we continue to say No to Military Intervention in Haiti. Yes to Haitian Self-Determination. But this is the bare minimum, we must also understand and center the critical role that Haiti plays in the Western Hemisphere – particularly . . .
On the Renewal of the UN Occupation of Haiti
The United Nations occupation of Haiti under MINUSTAH and BINUH brought instability, violence, and even cholera to that nation. Signatories of an open letter to Mexico’s president Lopez Obrador remind him that his support for regional self-determination means little if he spearheads renewal of the BINUH mandate. Dear President López Obrador, We, the undersigned, condemn in the strongest possible terms Mexico’s spearheading of the renewal of the mandate of the United Nations Integrated Office (BINUH) in Haiti. The Haitian people view BINUH’s presence as a foreign occupation that, since 2004, has suppressed Haiti’s independence and sovereignty. We agree. We want . . .
Defending Our Americas: A Syllabus
What does it mean to defend our Americas? For the Black Alliance for Peace, defending our Americas begins with a re-drawing of the map of the Americas. No longer can the United States stand at the center of the hemisphere, upholding an eternal whiteness while imposing a suffocating capitalism. Instead, for BAP, Haiti is the center of the Americas. Solidarity with Haiti is key to the defense of the Americas. Haiti endures the original territory of Black emancipation from slavery, of Black independence from colonialism, and Black resistance to racism and global capitalism. Yet Haiti has also become the region’s . . .
The Empire’s “Front Yard” and the Monroe Doctrine
We used to talk about, when I was a kid in college, about “America’s backyard.” It’s not America’s backyard. Everything south of the Mexican border is America’s front yard. And we’re equal people. We don’t dictate what happens in any other part of that — of this continent or the South American continent. We have to work very hard on it. But the trouble is: we’re having great difficulty making up for the mistakes that were made the last four years, and it’s going to take some time. Remarks by President Biden in Press Conference JANUARY 19, 2022 The claims . . .
Once Again, the Vultures Circle Haiti
The crisis in Haiti is a crisis of imperialism. It is because of western imperialism – and those who aid and abet it – that the earthquake and tropical storm become wide scale disasters. . . .
On Intervention and Occupation in Haiti
Calls for foreign intervention in Haiti have continued. These calls have ignored two important facts. First, previous foreign interventions have been unmitigated disasters. Second, and most importantly, Haiti is already under occupation. Calls for “intervention” are not only disingenuous, but actually redundant. . . .