Haitian dictator resigns as the people face election trap

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classrooms. Conditions have got worse under “emergency management” appointed by the same governor who replaced elected officials in Flint. Teacher strikes are illegal in Michigan, so many took the sick-out tactic of protest. On some poor health days, 85 of Detroit’s 100 schools had to In late January a judge was appointed to hold hearings about teacher job actions and the state legislature started rumbling about more puni­ tive anti-worker legislation. Al Jazeera America reported, “The governor and the school district’s emergency manager should be put on trial, not teachers, according to Detroit teacher Steve Conn. Teachers are upset over pay, class sizes, building conditions, and Gov. Rick Snyder’s plan to And In the Land of Sky Blue Waters—As usual, a lot has been happen­ ing in the Twin Cities. The Minnesota Nurses Association negotiated an early wage reopener for 6000 hospital members that preserved current health and pension benefits. Tenured, tenure-track, and adjunct faculty at the Twin Cities campus of the University of Minnesota have filed for an election to authorize SEIU Local 284 to represent them. And 4000 SEIU janitors whose contract expired Dec. 31 have authorized a strike. n If you have a story appropriate for Labor Briefing, please contact billon­ [email protected] and mention Labor Briefing in the subject.

SOCIALIST ACTION FEBRUARY 2016 5 Weeks of massive protests against election fraud in Haiti and calling for the ouster of the pro-U.S. Haitian Presi­ dent Michel Martelly forced the dicta­ tor to finally step down on Feb. 7. The Haitian constitution prohibits a suc­ ceeding five-year term, and Feb. 7 was the date for his term to end.

Feb. 7, 2016, marked the 30th anni­ versary of the fall of the U.S.-backed dictator, Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duva­ lier, who was toppled by a nationwide rebellion. Popular anger fueled the anti-Martelly rallies, which at times reached 100,000 or more. Many were protesting on behalf of a particular los­ ing candidate. “Martelly believes the country is for himself and his family. We want him to go!” said Dorval, 40, an unemployed protester. Nationwide, unemployment is about 70%.

As president, Martelly ignored man­ dated parliamentary elections and ruled by decree for four years. Facing the end of his term, Martelly called for new elections for parliament and a president in October. A joint report by the National Lawyers Guild and the In­ ternational Association of Democratic Lawyers, declared on Nov. 24, “Haiti’s Oct. 25, 2015 presidential and legisla­ tive elections fell far short of minimum standards for a fair election.”

Although they admitted election violence, Washington and the U.S.dominated Organization of American States (OAS) nevertheless deemed the election acceptable. A run-off election scheduled for Dec. 27 was rescheduled for Jan. 24, and finally cancelled follow­ ing weeks of massive protests.

The demonstrations included a de­ mand to end the hated U.S.-led United Nations military occupation of Haiti. U.S. imperialism militarily occupied Haiti 1915-1934, and was later joined by the United Nations, as its puppet, in the occupations of 1994, 2004, and 2010, after a massive earthquake. A cholera epidemic was introduced to Haiti by the disregard of health stan­ dards by UN forces, scientific studies showed. So far, some 9000 Haitians have died from this curable disease. The UN has denied all responsibility. Fraud and coup treaty Martelly’s chosen successor, banana exporter Jovenel Moise, placed first in the initial round of October voting. There were 54 presidential candidates! Running in Martelly’s PHTK Party, offi­ cial results gave him 32.8%. His near­ est challenger, Jude Celestin, a friend of former Aristide protégé and president, Rene Preval, received 25.3%. Facing a scheduled Dec. 27 presidential run­ off, Celestin opted out, declaring, “The election was a fraud” and added, “I want to go to an election, not a selection.”

Since many expected wholesale fraud, October’s voter participation was a mere 23%. Some 916,000 election ob­ servers for political parties were given ballots and voted multiple times, many engaging in a black-market in observer ballots. One legislative candidate, Ger­ ald Jean, actually produced receipts for bribes he paid election officials. With Marty Goodman / Socialist Action only one candidate running, Jouvenel Moise, and massive protests, the Pro­ visional Electoral Council (CEP) can­ celled the runoff election of Jan. 24.

Guy Philippe, a leader of a CIA-backed mercenary group that deposed Hai­ ti’s elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 2004, called for counterprotests and would not recognize any transitional government, unless it was representative of the provinces. De­ nouncing protesters as “anarchists,” Philippe declared, “We are ready for war. We will divide the country.”

On Feb. 5, anti-Martelly protesters were attacked by uniformed goons from the disbanded Haitian army, for­ mally dissolved by Aristide in 1995. Encouraged by Martelly’s vow to re­ instate the bloodthirsty killers, some 100 menacingly paraded in Port au Prince. Even so, a former army captain, Neroce R. Ciceron, was beaten to death by anti-government protesters in Portau-Prince.

The Feb. 7 exit of Martelly was part of a deal cut with the U.S.-dominated Or­ ganization of American States (OAS), under the watchful eye of the United States, Canada, France, Brazil, Spain, and the European Union.

The agreement calls for Prime Min­ ister Evans Paul, a long-time political chameleon, to run the country until a provisional president is chosen by par­ liament by Feb. 11.

The interim president will oversee the selection of a consensus prime minister, whose job will be to organize a legislative and presidential runoff vote on April 24. A new president will be sworn in on May 14.

Elections are no solution Martelly, a popular rap-singer and a friend of Duvalier-era thugs, became synonymous with corruption, crony­ ism, and repression. Martelly once de­ clared, with a beaming Bill and Hillary Clinton at his side during a ribbon cut­ ting ceremony at a sweatshop park in the North, “Haiti is open for business!” Some 2000 pages of Wikileaks docu­ ments partially revealed the role of U.S. imperialism in Haiti, particularly by the Clintons, in keeping down the $5-a-day minimum wage and strongarming the CEP to bump up Martelly’s position in the 2010 election, leading to his eventual victory.

Some candidates, as well as protest­ ers, denounced the US/OAS-brokered deal. They pointed to decisions to be carried out by parliament members who are, as one veteran Haitian activist in New York called them, “drug dealers and rapists.” What will truly change Haiti is a revolutionary struggle waged by the working class and peasants, not sham elections under capitalism and occupation. It is up to us to give solidarity to the Haitian struggle right here in the belly of the beast! n (continued from page 4: “Labor Briefing”)