HAITI Statement of the
Fourth International in the demonstrations against this government.
Now that the first few days of joy have passed, it has to be recognized that the Duvalier regime was only one of the problems we have faced
THE FOURTH International hails the courageous people of Haiti, who, through their mobilizations over the last months of 1985 and the first months of 1986, brought down the hated dictatorship of Jean-Claude Duvalier and its gang of murderers, the Tontons Macoutes.
of this US-backed dictatorship - the second oldest in the
- opens for the first time in organize open political and trade-union activity by the oppressed and exploited working people of Haiti.
The new military-civilian junta in Haiti, largely handpicked by Duvalier
Haitian people of this hard-won opening for democratic political organization and activity. We stand beside the Haitian workers and peasants in their demands that the torturers tyranny be brought to justice and punished; that all the prisoners be released;
that all political exiles be allowed to return to Haiti immediately; and that an end be put to all police and army attacks on popular demonstrations and
The massive US military presence in the Caribbean looms as a danger to the gains that the
Haitian people have conquered and are now fighting to consolidate and extend.
No US Military intervention in Haiti!
No imperialist pressure on Haiti!
Imperialist forces out of Haiti!
decades the opportunity flight, is now trying to and murderers of the
March 1, 1986 in the history of our country. Cleaning out the Augean stables for a few weeks will not end the evils that are caused not specifically by the Duvaliers but by a colonial and imperialist legacy.
The basis of the savage repression exercized for so long against our people has other roots. It is the need that a class of parasites has to maintain an outdated social order. Only a radical change in this order could guarantee democracy.
Such a radical change would have to involve the following points as a minimum:
- giving the land to those who work it, not just to limit hunger but also to save the soil from erosion (1);
nationalizing the import-export trade, which has been robbing the peasants of an important part of their labor;
expropriating the big industrial, commercial and financial companies that are transferring the fruits of the