Canada out of Haiti

The unelected Haitian government is asking for an international ‘peacekeeping’ force to quell unrest in the country and has specifically called for Canada and the US to send troops. That call has been echoed by UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres. 

 

There have been widespread demonstrations in Haiti for many weeks against the cost of living and against the corrupt reign of Prime Minister Ariel Henry. Recent protests  saw thousands in Port Au-Prince demonstrating against the call for foreign military intervention. 

 

Canada’s Foreign Minister, Melanie Joly met with other leaders of the Organization of American States - a mouth-piece for US policy in Latin America - last week and says that 19 countries signed a joint statement on Haiti calling for stability and an end to protests and gang violence. 

 

But Trudeau and the government of Canada have no interest in protecting the rights of the Haitian people. Even a cursory look at the history of armed intervention by the Canadian state shows that they never have.

 

The CORE group - consisting of Canada the US, France and a host of international agencies has been meddling in the politics of Haiti for years and their interventions have always had disastrous consequences. Henry is himself an appointee of the CORE group and is the most recent source of instability in the country. 

 

Since the Canadian/France/US led coup that overthrew the elected government of Jean Bertrand Aristide in 2004, Canada has played the role of maintaining power for unelected oligarchs. It was the government of Canada that convened the “Ottawa Initiative on Haiti” that made plans for the coup. 

 

They did so mainly for the benefit of Canadian corporations who make a killing off of the sweatshop labour of the Haitian people. Earlier this year, Haitian police violently attacked striking garment workers at the Sonapi Free Trade Zone in Port-au-Prince. The workers were on strike against Centri Garments a major supplier for Gilden Activewear which is headquartered in Montreal. 

 

Many of the gangs that Joly and the Canadian Government are denouncing have been working with the current Haitian government. According to the Haiti info project, “The evolution & role of gangs in Haiti is clear… First they worked with police to serve as enforcers of the US-installed client PHTK regimes of Martelly/Moise. Today these same gangs serve as the main justification for yet another foreign military intervention.”

 

Haitian journalist and filmmaker Etant Dupain said, “In the letter the Haitian "government" sent to the UN, the first demand is asking for 15 thousand soldiers/police for a time period of 5 to 10 years. MINUSTAH spent 15 years and more money and left the country in a in a terrible state.”

 

We must oppose any military intervention by the Canadian forces or police agencies. The people of Haiti have suffered long enough at the hands of the imperial powers.