Currently, neighborhood groups are handing out machetes and setting up checkpoints to keep gang members out.
According to a New York Times report June 3, there has been a very sharp reduction in kidnapping and killing following the killings of gang members. The Times proclaims concern about vigilantism, that is, the self-organization for combat within the community independent of the police, and speculates about a potential reaction from the gangs.
Anyone know if there are any strong socialist groups in Haiti?
I wrote a long ass thing, but my computer crashed lmao. I’m not Haitian, but at least I’m no gringo. I really care about Haiti, can you tell?
Long story short, the biggest Marxist platform right now is Platfòm Pitit Desalin. But very few of their efforts filter through to the “Western” news as état-uniennes call it, like calling for the violent overthrow of the unelected Ariel Henry, which I think is pretty dope. Also both Dessalines the lemmy dev and Dessalines the Frenchslayer have my respect for all the good they’ve done.
But social-democratic parties like Tèt Kale and Fanmi Lavalas still tend to advocate for important things like self-sufficient agriculture. They also have a habit of getting killed by Florida Men or kidnapped by the USA, while also being accused of siding with gangs to fight protests that advocate for the toppling of a guy who had to be elected twice, though they were elected under military occupation from the USA and Brazil at the time.
After Moïse (president, not PPD one) was killed, the government has basically been ruled by this never-ending unelected OAS puppet government. Supposedly there’s an election later this year but there doesn’t even seem to be an announced date yet.
Haiti itself was founded on what I perceive as an early anti-capitalist revolution, famously killing every single European on the land and forbidding foreigners from owning property, but has been repeatedly invaded and toppled by NATO even before NATO was a thing. If not for Haiti being forced to pay a State-wide emancipation compensation under threat of invasion to France and the USA, they’d likely have kept their subsistence farming structure they attempted shortly after the Revolution. If the French and USAns banks repaid that with interest that’d be around 30 billion USD, with which Haiti would be able to afford an UBI of USD 2 (one estimate for average individual income) for 44 years by my very rough calculations, while only costing France 1% of their GDP. And that is not even considering the actual reparations for slavery. Tell me why the liberal French hate reparations without mentioning racism, I dare you.
But be very careful when reading gringo newscorps talking about new vigilante justice group with an cool name that gringos can’t even translate properly. In fact, on this article you can see that the origin of the Fòs Revolisyonè G9 an Fanmi e Alye (FRG9), which is being called only by the pop name “bwa kale” by foreigners, seems to have been an unofficial branch of the police which has only now rebelled against the government too.
They seem to at least advocate for socialism and a purge of the bourgeoisie too, though I have some trouble reading much about them as they speak and write mostly in Creole, which I am still in the very early process of learning. For example, I can’t really attest to them being either actual revolutionaries or just some CIA ploy to justify yet another military intervention to “Maintain Order”.
They do have a youtube channel though if that is interesting. Would be pretty cool if somebody who knew Haitian Creole and any romance language to translate some of their self-reporting.
I am working on some stuff regarding Haiti from a Marxist and anti-racist perspective, hopefully the election actually happens before I’m done with it and I don’t get charged for foreign election meddling by the USA.
wow thanks for the write up comrade!