CATH’s position on the Haitian crisis

The Autonomous Center of Haitian Workers (CATH) expresses its deep concern about the misery that the oppressed masses of the population are forced to endure, and in particular the workers of the Haitian textile sector. These tough workers suffer daily in their souls and in their bodies as a result of the revolting inhumane conditions they are subjected to both in their workplaces and in the streets, which has worsened over the past few weeks.

The CATH condemns the heinous murder of three comrades who recently fell under the bullets of criminals without faith or law, one in Cape Town and two others in the Haitian capital. As one would expect, none of the State Authorities deemed it necessary to address even a word of sympathy to their families grieving over these losses or even to support them. So, the entire population has come to realize that these irresponsible officials are doing everything to drag the country to the depths of abject underdevelopment. Certainly, the workers will be the first victims of the consequences of the manifestly inconsistent attitudes of these supplicants of world capitalism.

Thus, the CATH believes that it is more than necessary to sound the alarm to prevent the national boat from falling on the reefs of this policy of excessive impoverishment practiced by this puppet government determined to satisfy to the letter the slightest whims of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to meet the unacceptable and anti-worker policies through irrational and unpopular decisions such as including the increase in the price of gasoline at the pump of more than 120%. These suicidal and criminal measures adopted outside the law have further complicated the already dramatic daily life of the workers who toil for a pittance, as well as the masses of the people who lie in a heavy oppression. At a time when the entire population is trapped between the steel claws of poverty, insecurity, kidnappings for ransom, while at the same time the members of the Government do not stop wading in full view of everyone in the stinking pool of corruption that makes the news. The CATH believes that this is finally enough. “It’s too much”.

The CATH takes note of the note from the private business sector that aligns itself with the criminal decision of the de facto government in its unjust, inhumane and senseless policy of decapitalization of the economically weaker layers. Thus, if you want to be taken seriously, the CATH urges you to adjust ipso facto the minimum wage by 150% according to the view of your own note until the country is endowed with a responsible government capable of addressing all the problems faced by the Population. In addition, the CATH condemns without the slightest reservation the regrettable incident that occurred on Thursday, September 29, when at the call of the leaders of CODEVI, Dominican soldiers with tanks of war have trodden the sacred soil of Dessalines by breaking into Haitian territory in Ouanaminthe. These thugs have martyred more than thirty workers while carrying serious affronts to our sovereignty in violation of the Haitian Constitution and the International Labour Standards. In this sense, the CATH, as a Union of Class and Mass Struggle requests the Solidarity of the International Classist Workers Movement UISTEXGAL and the WFTU to help us denounce the policy of oppression against these Workers who are victims of serious physical and moral aggressions considered revolting.

Based on all these considerations, the CATH demands from the de facto Prime Minister Ariel Henry the immediate withdrawal of this unjust decision to increase the price of fuel at the pump in an unconsidered manner. We invite the country’s active forces to put in place a government with a socialist character that will take into account all the desires of the entire population. Thus, the CATH demands that the Government :

• Stop the implementation of any policy dictated by the IMF,
• Adopt a strategy to re-establish a climate of security throughout the country,
• Stop police violations against the population defending their legitimate rights through peaceful demonstrations,
• Adopt measures to combat high living costs and inflation,
• Provide clear and precise explanations on the 3 billion and the 135 million initially intended to relieve the misery of the most vulnerable sections of the population
• To grant substantial subsidies to the vulnerable sections of the population in general and to workers in particular.
• Unconditionally annul BRH Circular 114 which allows the rich to further enrich themselves with the money from the transfers (return the US money to the people as it was sent to them).

On this basis, if the government refuses to respond to the legitimate demands of the population, the CATH will continue, along with other grassroots organizations and the masses of the population as well as workers, to take an active part in all forms of mobilization aimed at forcing Prime Minister Ariel Henry to step down from his position without delay.