Haiti:
Anger at the Government

Oct 14, 2019

The following article is translated from Lutte Ouvrière (Workers’ Struggle), the newspaper of the revolutionary workers’ group active in France.

For several weeks now, significant mass demonstrations in Haiti have demanded that President Jovenel Moïse resign. On September 27, thousands of Haitians protested in the capital, Port au Prince. The Revolutionary Workers Organization active in Haiti described the events as follows in their journal, Workers Voice.

The government and gas importers had maneuvered to create an artificial shortage of gas. On September 17, people from the exploited classes, like motorcycle taxi drivers and penniless young people from the poor neighborhoods, began showing their anger against the aggravation this caused. The movement spread to other cities.

When politicians opposed to the president called for a protest against the government on September 20, many exploited people didn’t pass up the opportunity. Big numbers took to the streets to show their anger against the corrupt government and call for it to step down.

But the media do not show young people from the slums arrested by police. Nor do the media show the demands concerning bad living conditions of the working masses. Instead, almost exclusively, the media feature the opposition politicians. These opportunistic middle class politicians participate in the struggles only to take the lead in order to come to power. Workers and their supporters need to know that these politicians are there to take advantage of the situation in order to take power. Once in power, they will turn against the masses.

The fights of the working class and the masses will have real results when they gain the means to analyze, to prepare, and to lead these movements—with the help of a party of their own, a revolutionary workers’ party.