La Va Campesina Calls for Solidarity with Haiti as it Faces both Environmental and Political-Economic Disasters
(Harare – August 27th, 2021) La Via Campesina stands in solidarity with Haiti as they face the terrible consequences of an earthquake that took the lives of two thousand people amid a pandemic, permanent protests and political unrest that have been of by interfering capitalist and imperialist interests.
The economic and political crisis that Haiti is undergoing is not new and has been deepening for years. This year a new stage of this crisis unraveled with the assassination of USA supported right wing president. Currently, there is no governance system in place to speak of and no democratically elected president, but rather merely a prime minister imposed by the USA. Every person involved in running the country, right now, is either illegal or illegitimate.
In Haiti not only life and nature are being destroyed, but also the political system of a country that was once a model of independence in the continent. The 7.2 magnitude earthquake which happened last August 14th worsened the political and health crisis Haiti was already undergoing and had a direct impact on the most vulnerable rural and peasant areas: mainly, homes, schools, food collection points, highways and health centers.
With deep grief we confirm that several people from our member organizations of CLOC-Via Campesina Haiti passed away as a result of this event which had such tragic consequences for thousands of families. It is estimated that ca. 2200 people lost their lives, 12 thousand were injured and 52 thousand households disappeared with a half million people affected.
The country’s agrarian production system is ruined, leaving thousands of peasants in extreme precariousness and poverty, threatening Haiti’s Food Sovereignty and security. Thus, as La Via Campesina we denounce the imperialist and interventionist practices that are responsible for the political disaster and oppression of the Haitian people, while calling for concrete solidarity from members, friends and allied organizations to enable the reconstruction of the country, especially in the countryside. We join the cry of the Haitians who demand a Haitian solution to the multiple political, economic, climatic and sanitary crises they face and emphatically reject any international interference.
Solidarity is the Tenderness of the Peoples!