|
--
| Socialist
Party
USA:
Statements |
-
Solidarity with the People of Haiti
passed by
the National Action Committee, January 13, 2010
The Socialist Party
USA stands in solidarity with the people of Haiti after the devastating
earthquake that hit the island. Estimates of the dead are more than one
hundred thousand and significant parts of the capital city
Port-au-Prince’s infrastructure have been destroyed. The full extent of
the damage will not be known for days and the country seems certain to
be thrust into a humanitarian crisis even more serious than the one
that exists on a daily basis.
While
this
disaster
has
natural
origins,
it occurred within a nation that had
already been ravaged by capitalism. Haiti is a model case for the
failure of the neoliberal economic model and the negative legacies of
US militarism in the region.
After
coming
out
of
the
vicious
dictatorship of 'Baby Doc' Duvalier in the
late 1980s, the country was saddled by massive debt payments to the IMF
and World Bank. When the “people’s priest” Jean Bertran-Aristide was
elected to the presidency in 1990 new hopes for change were raised.
Aristide promised to move beyond a government of the elites and to
challenge the IMF free-market model. His administration was then
brought down by a violent military coup backed by the US military.
After a direct US military occupation, Aristide returned to office,
agreed to implement the IMF plans and was again removed by a military
coup. The already weak Haitian economy spiraled, creating mass
unemployment and suffering.
As
multinational
companies
exited
the
country,
they left behind ecological
and economic devastation. Large swaths of the countryside have been
de-forested rendering them useless for cultivation. Even before the
earthquake, the urban infrastructure was in decay, suffering from a
lack of investment for decades. In a final humiliation, a few months
before the earthquake, a group of multinational investors assembled in
Port-au-Prince to create a plan to return to exploiting the population.
Despite
all
of
this,
the
Haitian
people have continued to struggle for justice.
In their trade unions, cooperatives and women organizations, poor and
working Haitians have kept alive the legacy of struggle born in the
great Haitian Revolution of the 18th century. Such grassroots
democratic struggles offer the best hope for the future of the island.
The
Socialist
Party
USA
encourages
our
members and supporters to get
involved with efforts to provide relief to earthquake victims. There
are many organizations engaged in this effort including the Haiti
Emergency Relief Fund which has supported grassroots democratic
struggles in Haiti since 2004. The history of Haiti offers a reminder
that democratic socialism must offer a vision that transcends national
borders in order to create a global society based on solidarity,
compassion and justice.
|
-
| Past
Statements |
Statement
in Solidarity With Alberto Durango by Zelig Stern, Labor Commission Chair
(March 1, 2010)
Call
for an International Socialist Feminist Work Group by Susan Dorazio Women's Comm Chair (Feb.
26,
2010)
Statenent
on
President
Obama's
Healthcare
Summit
by SPUSA Co-Chair Billy Wharton
(February 25, 2010)
Statement
on
the
Austin
IRS
Building
Incident by the National Action Commitee
(February 22, 2010)
Statement
on
Black History Month by the
People of Color Commission (February 2010)
Solidarity with
the People of Haiti by the National Action Commitee
(January 13, 2010)
Response to
Obama's Surge in Afghanistan by the National
Action Committee (Dec 3, 2009)
Solidarity
with
the
UC
Student
Protests;
Education
is
our
right! (Nov. 23,
2009)
Hyde
Amendment
and
Obama’s
Health
Care
Bill.. by
the SPUSA Women's Commission (Nov.
20, 2009)
Vote No on
Obama-care! Healthcare is Our Human Right! by the SPUSA
National Action Committee (Nov 2009)
Response
to
the
LGBT
Referendum
Results by
the SPUSA Queer Commission (Nov. 2009)
All
Out for Rosie Jimenez Day by the
SPUSA Women's Commission (Sept. 13, 2009)
Solidarity
w/
the
People
of
Honduras by
the
National Action Committee (July 7, 2009)
Statement
on
United
for
Peace
&
Justice (July 31, 2009)
Statement
on
Iran by Eric Chester
International Commission Chair (June 30, 2009)
..Socialist-Feminist
Response
to
U.S.
Militarism
and
the
Global
Econ.
Crisis by the War
@ Home Cmte (June 09)
Statement
on
the
40th
Anniversary
of
the
Stonewall
Rebellion
by the Queer
Commission (June, 2009)
Message
to all Workers on Their Day by the National Action Committee (April
15, 2009)
Wars
Abroad,
War
at
Home:
Building
a
Socialist
Feminist
Response (April 2009)
Statement
on
Financial
Crisis by the National Committee (Jan. 25, 2009)
Our
Love is Worth Fighting For by the
National Action Committee (Dec. 4, 2008)
Post
Election
Racist
Attacks by the
National Action Committee (Nov. 20, 2008)
No al plan de rescate de Wall Street!
Por el partido socialista de Estados Unidos, Comité de
Acción Nacional
Statement
on Iran by the SPUSA
International Commission (August 2008)
Statement
on
Religious
Freedom by the SPUSA Faith & Socialism Commission
(July 2008)
Statement
on
Bolivia by the SPUSA
International Commission (June 2008)
Statement
on
Tibet by the SPUSA International Commission/ National Action
Committee (March 26, 2008)
Support
the
American
Axel
Workers by the SPUSA Labor Commission (March 2008)
Statement
on
the
Israel-Palestine
Conflict (Dec. 16, 2007)
Statement
of Support for the Screenwrters Strike, SPUSA Labor Commission
(Nov. 8, 2007)
Solidarity
with
the
Protestors
in
Myanmar
(Burma) by Tino Rozzo (Faith &
Socialism Commission)
Mobilize
To Support
Auto Workers by Matthew Andrews, Chair, Labor Commission (Sept. 24,
2007)
Anniversary
of
the
Stonewall
Rebellion by Amber
Clifford-Napoleone Convener, Queer Commission (June 28, 2007)
|
-
|
