[News] Haiti needs the world's support

[Anti-Imperialist News]

Haiti needs the world's support: Noam Chomsky, 
Tariq Ali, Slavoj Žižek and others call on the 
US, France and Canadda to keep out of Haiti's 
democratic process in an open letter to the Guardian

<http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/mar/02/haiti-election-open-letter-noam-chomsky>guardian.co.uk, 
Wednesday 2 March 2011 15.46 GMT

Over the next few years, much of Haiti will be 
rebuilt and much of its economy restructured. In 
response to last year's earthquake an 
unprecedented amount of money has been promised 
for reconstruction. It's more important than ever 
before that Haiti be governed by an 
administration that reflects the true will and 
interests of its people, rather than the concerns 
of foreign governments and corporations.

In 2004, the US, France and Canada, in alliance 
with members of Haiti's business community and 
demobilised soldiers of the Haitian army, 
overthrew the last Haitian government to enjoy 
genuine popular support: the party that led this 
government, Fanmi Lavalas, was elected with 
around 75% of the vote. This past November, these 
same powers imposed and funded an illegitimate 
electoral process in Haiti, one that blocked the 
participation of Fanmi Lavalas. Only 23% of 
Haitian voters participated, scarcely a third of 
the proportion who voted in the last presidential election.

In recent weeks, the US and its proxies have 
brazenly interfered in the interpretation of this 
election's first round of results. The flawed 
November vote was not only inconclusive and 
unrepresentative, its outcome was also unlawful. 
If the second round of these elections goes ahead 
as planned on 20 March, it is now sure to result 
in the unconstitutional selection of a president 
with closer ties to the powers that sponsored and 
manipulated them than to the people meant to participate in them.

At the same time, the powers that dominate Haiti 
have facilitated the return of the former 
dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier while discouraging 
the return of the twice-elected president (and 
Fanmi Lavalas leader) Jean-Bertrand Aristide. 
These powers, with their allies in the Haitian 
business community, have made it clear that they 
seek to delay Aristide's return until after 20 
March. They will only allow Aristide to return 
after a suitably pliant new government has been 
installed, to preside over the imminent reconstruction process.

We the undersigned call on the Haitian government 
to make the security arrangements that will 
enable Aristide's immediate return, and we call 
on the international community to support rather 
than undermine these efforts. We call on the 
Haitian government to cancel the second-round 
vote scheduled for 20 March and to organise a new 
round of elections, without exclusions or 
interference, to take place as soon as possible.

Signed:

Marie-Célie Agnant, writer
Tariq Ali, writer
Andaiye, Red Thread, Guyana
Roger Annis, Canada Haiti Action Network
Reginald Antoine, PEVEP
Alain Badiou, Ecole Normale Supérieure (Paris)
Brian Becker, National Co-ordination, Answer Coalition
Emile Wilnes Brumer, Mas Popilè Site Solèy
Jean-Claude Cajou, community activist
Sara Callaway, Women of Colour/Global Women's Strike, UK
Yves Camille, Haiti Liberté
Noam Chomsky, MIT
Ramsey Clark, former US attorney general
Brian Concannon, Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti
Dan Coughlin, executive director, Manhattan Neighborhood Network
Ezili Dantò, Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network
Mike Davis, UC Riverside
Castro Desroches, SUNY
Rea Dol, SODUPEP
Berthony Dupont, Haiti Liberté
Ben Dupuy, Haiti Progrès & Parti Populaire National
Darren Ell, Montreal-Haiti Solidarity Committee
Joe Emersberger, writer
Yves Engler, writer
Anthony Fenton, journalist
Weiner Kerns Fleurimond, Haiti Liberté
Pierre L Florestal, Fanmi Lavalas - NY
Daniel Florival, Tèt Kole Oganizasyon Popilè yo
Sara Flounders, International Action Center
Laura Flynn, Aristide Foundation for Democracy board
Danny Glover, actor & activist, board chair, TransAfrica Forum
Leah Gordon, photographer and curator
Manu Goswami, NYU
Greg Grandin, NYU
Thomas Griffin, lawyer
Bishop Thomas Gumbleton
Peter Hallward, Kingston University London
Georges Honorat, Haiti Progrès
Kim Ives, Haiti Liberté
Selma James, Global Women's Strike, UK
Dr G Carlo Jean, retired public school teacher
Marlène Jean-Noel, Fanmi Lavalas Baz NY
Tony Jean-Thénor, Veye Yo
Frantz Jerome, Coalition Against Occupation and Sham Elections
Evelt Jeudi, Fanmi Lavalas Miami
Mario Joseph, Office of International Lawyers (BAI)
Farah Juste, representative of Fanmi Lavalas for Florida & the Bahamas
Michelle Karshan, Aristide Foundation for Democracy
Katharine Kean, film-maker
Ira Kurzban, Counsel for the Republic of Haiti from 1991-2004
Pierre Labossière, Haiti Action Committee
Ray Laforest, International Support Haiti Network
Frantz Latour, Haiti Liberté
Andrew Leak, University College London
Didier Leblanc, Haiti Liberté
Jacques Elie Leblanc, Haiti Liberté
Maude Leblanc, Haiti Progrès
Richard Ledes, film director
Nicole Lee, President, TransAfrica Forum
Nina López, Legal Action for Women, UK
Gardy Lumas, PEVEP
Isabel Macdonald, journalist
Albert Maysles, film-maker
Yves Mésidor, Mas Popilè Site Solèy
Johnny Michel, Mas Popilè Site Solèy
Melinda Miles, Let Haiti Live
Georges Mompremier, Fanmi Lavalas Baz NY
Fednel Monchery, Jeunesse pour la République (JPR)
Joia S. Mukherjee, Chief Medical Officer, Partners In Health
Nick Nesbitt, Princeton University
Harry Numa, community activist
Vanel Louis Paul, Mas Popilè Site Solèy
Gladys Timmer Phillpotts, Fanmi Lavalas Baz St Francis
Fritzner Pierre, radio host of Dyalog Popilè
Wadner Pierre, Haitianalysis.com
Yves Pierre-Louis, Tèt Kole Oganizasyon Popilè yo
Kevin Pina, Haiti Information Project
Margaret Prescod, Women of Colour/Global Women's Strike, US
Jackson Rateau, Haiti Liberté
Roosevelt René, engineer
Claude Ribbe, author and filmmaker
Corey Robin, Brooklyn College & CUNY
William Robinson, UCSB
Nicolas Rossier, film-maker
Robert Roth, Haiti Action Committee
Jean Saint-Vil, writer
Alina Sixto, Radio Fanmi Lavalas New York
Mark Snyder, International Action Ties
Jeb Sprague, UCSB
Irwin Stotzky, University of Miami Law School
Lucie Tondreau, community activist
Eddy Toussaint "Tontongi", Revi Tanbou
Harold Valentin, Oganizasyon Jen Salomon (OJESA)
Burt Wides, former counsel to Haiti's 
constitutional government; Special Counsel to 
President Carter for oversight of all US Intelligence agencies
Cécile Winter, Collectif politique sida en Afrique
Slavoj i ek, University of Ljubljana







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