Dear CARICOM: What is Necessary in Haiti

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 . . .

Haitian man with fist up in a march

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 . . .

BAP resists UN occupation of Haiti

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 . . .

Black Alliance for Peace Haiti and the Americas Syllabus

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 . . .

Cartoon depicting the Monroe Doctrine - the US empire's claim to hegemony in the Western hemisphere which declares that Central and South America and the Caribbean are its “front yard”

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 . . .

White vultures playing volleyball during a crisis in Haiti.

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.  . . .

Members of the Black Alliance for Peace calling for an end to US intervention in Haiti

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. . . .