On the 20th anniversary of the 2004 coup that overthrew the democratically elected administration of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and the Fanmi Lavalas Party, we commemorate the continued resistance of Haiti’s grassroots movement. As the crisis in Haiti continues to unfold, we urge you to attend this important and timely event to hear from leaders of Fanmi Lavalas, the people’s party of Haiti. The program will be held both at Eastside Arts Alliance in Oakland and live-streamed on youtube.
Featured speakers: Dr. Maryse Narcisse and Joel Edouard “Pacha” Vorbe, members of the Fanmi Lavalas Executive Committee [participating via zoom]; Dr. Rama Ali Kased, US Palestinian Community Network, Assistant Professor of Race and Resistance Studies, San Francisco State University; Pierre Labossiere, co-founder Haiti Action Committee; Professor Walter Turner, host of KPFA Africa Today, President Global Exchange Board of Directors. Marvin X will read poetry accompanied on drums by Andrew Reynolds.
Haiti’s Lavalas governments made historic advances in health care, women’s rights, housing, economic justice, food sovereignty and education. The 2004 coup reversed these gains and ushered in 20 years of foreign occupation, dictatorship and terror, and a wave of neoliberal economic policies that have created a disaster in Haiti. But the achievements of the Aristide administrations are etched deep in the soul of Haiti and remain a foundation for Haiti’s future.
Twenty years after the US-orchestrated coup, Haiti is at a critical juncture. In 2023, 5000 people were killed by paramilitary death squads and more than 300,000 people were displaced from their homes in the wake of terror, kidnappings and sexual violence. Nearly half the population is facing acute food insecurity. Schools and hospitals have shut down in the face of unrelenting violence, while the US continues to support a string of dictators and orchestrate a new foreign invasion.
In the face of repression and relentless terror that Haitians have called “hell on earth,” the Haitian people continue to defend their communities and to build new institutions, such as free clinics, cooperatives, and schools that embody a vision for a new, democratic and just Haiti. As the US and UN move forward with plans for a new foreign invasion, this time fronted by Kenyan police and other African and Caribbean nations, the Haitian popular movement, including Fanmi Lavalas, demands an end to foreign occupation once and for all. They are calling instead to replace the current dictatorship with a people’s transition government of “Sali Piblik” (public safety).
The time for solidarity is now. We call on all freedom-loving people to defend the right of Haiti’s people to live with dignity, free from foreign domination.
