Out with MINUSTAH from Haiti now!

Faced with brutal repression by the UN troops of the protest due to the increase of prices of food 

A few days ago, thousands of Haitians walked into the streets of Port Prince and other Haitian cities to protest against the steep increase of the prices of food that made the poverty of the Haitian people even more grievous.

Several days before the generalisation of the increase, the organisation Batay Ouvriye had exposed that the proposal of a minimum salary offered by the puppet Rene Preval administration, $2.95 a day, was unacceptable and that no worker could live on anything under $12 a day (even the government admitted that, according to their estimates, the least a worker needed was $8 a day). It is estimated that 80% of the Haitians possess an income of $2 a day.

The protests were of a spontaneous nature and many demonstrators marched on to the National Palace (seat of Rene Preval administration) chanting “we are hungry” and blamed him for the high price of rice, fruit and milk, demanding his resignation and the ousting of the UN troops. Apart from that, according to press correspondents, in Petit Goave (southern zone), demonstrators set a Minustah base on fire.

When they were trying to get into the president’s building, the police and the Minustah troops started shooting at the crows, according to journalists at the spot “aiming to kill” to drive them away from the House of Government and other public buildings. During the several days long protest, there was a toll of at least five mortal casualties an dozens of wounded.

IWL-FI repudiates this brutal repression and expresses our most complete solidarity with the Haitian people. We also wish to make it clear that these facts reveal the real role of the forces of occupation in the service of imperialism played by the Minustah in Haiti. Far from “guaranteeing peace” in the country as the UN hypocritically declare, the real role is that of the “an armed wing” of a proimperialist plan to oppress and exploit the Haitian people and repress them violently in case they protest against such situation.

This reality turns the imperious need to double the campaign for the withdrawal of the blue helmets from Haiti. Especially demanding that these Latin American governments that – as Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay or Bolivia, maintain their soldiers in that country murdering and shooting against Haitians. We call on all the organisations of workers, of the toiling masses, of the left, anti-imperialist and democratic to get together in order to carry out joint activities in demand of

Let us repudiate the brutal repression by the “blue helmets”!

Solidarity with the Haitian people!

Down with the puppet Preval administration!

Out with Minustah from Haiti!

Sao Paulo 9^th April 2008-04-10

International Secretariat
International Workers’ League – Fourth International (IWL-FI)