[olympiaworkers] Call for Solidarity and Funds for the Working People of Haiti!

Libcom.org Jan 14 2010

Miami Autonomy & Solidarity (MAS) and Batay Ouvriye Haiti Solidarity
Network seek help and solidarity funds to aid Haitian working class.

01/14/09- A natural disaster has descended upon Haiti whose scope we only
are seeing the surface of at this time. The Haitian people will be
struggling to rebuild their lives and their home possibly for decades in
light of unprecedented collapse, both physical and social. Yet despite the
unpredictability of earthquakes, this disaster is unnatural, a monstrosity
of our time. The extent of the damage of the earthquake is part of the
cost of unrestrained exploitation which at every step put profit above the
health, safety, and well being of the Haitian people. While the world
watches on ready to help, power is being dealt an opportunity. The Haitian
workers and peasants have been fighting for their rights to even the most
basic level of existence for decades, while the UN-occupying force, the
state, and the ruling elites maintain the social misery without relenting.
Now as Port-Au-Prince is in rubble, new opportunities arise for rulers to
rebuild Haiti in their own interests, and likewise for the Haitian workers
and peasants to assert their right to their own Haiti, one where they will
be not be forced to live in dangerous buildings, and work merely to fill
the pockets of elites, foreign or domestic.

As we move from watching in horror to taking decisive action, progressives
can offer an alternative. There is a strong and beautiful desire to do
something, to help others in this time of need. Our actions are strongest
when we organize ourselves, and make a concerted effort in unity. Right
now we can have the deepest impact by committing ourselves to act in
solidarity with the autonomous social movements of Haiti directly. They
present the best possible option for the Haitian people, and are in the
greatest need. At the same time, we are in the best position to help them
out our common interest as people engaged in struggling against a system
that works to exploit us all. We are calling for solidarity
people-to-people engaged in common struggle. It is not only a question of
money for AID but also an autonomous and independent act of international
solidarity that illuminates the bankruptcy of the occupying forces,
multinational corporations, and Haitian elites that are primarily
responsible for the decayed state of Haiti. There will be aid flowing and
money given as a form of charity until the next disaster. Our act of
solidarity should, in no shape or form, be solely an act of humanitarian
aid. It should not be an apolitical act, and we shouldn't give the green
light to those that wish to capitalize on the suffering of others. It
should be an act of solidarity to the struggling people of Haiti and their
organizations while at the same time rejecting the totally inept Haitian
elites and their state apparatus for bankrupting Haiti. The earthquake is
a natural disaster, but the state of Haiti, the abject poverty of the
masses and the vile injustice of the social order, are unnatural.

We have a relationship with one organization, Batay Ouvriye, and are
putting our resources and time into helping Batay Ouvriye to help rebuild
from the catastrophe and maintain the struggle for a better Haiti and a
better world. Batay Ouvriye is a combative grassroots worker and peasant's
organization in Haiti with workers organized all over Haiti, especially in
the Industrial sweatshops and Free Trade Zones.

We have set up a means to send money to Batay Ourviye. If others wish to
send money to Batay Ouvriye, please email
miamiautonomyandsolidarity@yahoo.com.

Miami Autonomy & Solidarity and Batay Ouvriye Haiti Solidarity Network