Declaration of the 4th Edition of Linking Alternatives (EA4) on the current situation in Haiti

 

Adopted by the General Assembly of Social Movements May 16, 2010 in Madrid

The earthquake of January 12, 2010 in Haiti has opened a new period of crisis in this country, which comes on top of the prolonged structural crisis resulting from more than 500 years of colonial and neocolonial rule and the imposition of 30 years of neoliberal policies.

Linking Alternatives 4 (EA4) salutes the courage and resilience of the Haitian people, who every day since the disaster, provide an exemplary lesson of solidarity, mutual aid and self-organization.

 

More than four months after the terrible earthquake, the situation of the Haitian population is far from improving. The rights of victims are constantly violated while the “international community” puts on a spectacle for the media, such as the donor conference donors held in New York March 31, 2010.

EA4 denounces the use of a humanitarian alibi for the sole purpose of defending the geopolitical, economic and military interests of the U.S., with the complicity of the EU. This policy is intended to promote the interests of multinationals who want to transform Haiti into a single zone, for the full exploitation of its cheap labor and natural resources. The establishment of the Interim Commission for the Reconstruction of Haiti (HRIC) decided at the meeting in New York has established a trusteeship over the Haitian people and their representatives and created a precedent that is unacceptable.

EA4 strongly supports social movements and peasant organizations in Haiti in their efforts to develop an alternative response to the crisis that meets the basic needs of the Haitian people and to act as the central player in defining the options that determine future.

The EA4 demands:

 

• Respect for Haiti’s national political and economic sovereignty
• A moratorium of three to five years on the international economic agreements  signed by Haiti
• An end of to the traditional conditionalities imposed by international financial institutions.
• Replacing the use of military force as a solution to the crisis with cooperation that  respects the sovereignty and dignity of the Haitian people
• Immediate total and unconditional cancellation of Haiti’s external debt – illegitimate and illegally claimed from Haiti – and the establishment of reparations
• Legalization of all undocumented Haitians and grant of rights to all Haitian immigrants by the EU and and its member States as an act of real solidarity.