More than 200 collectives signed, on Sunday (2), an open letter to the Secretary-General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Albert Ramdin, expressing rejection of the tutelage the organization seeks to exercise over Haiti and recalling “the sacred right of peoples to self-determination and their sovereignty.”
The initiative emerged as a response to the Roadmap for Stability and Peace in Haiti, published in October by the OAS after months of work in collaboration with the Caribbean Community (Caricom), the United Nations (UN) and other organizations, yet without any dialogue with Haitian civil society.
The OAS document aims to create a governance structure with a Coordination Group (MGC), made up of the OAS, the UN and Caricom, in addition to the potential appointment of a Special Representative of the OAS to the country. The roadmap also includes the reorganization of security forces and the holding of elections, among other measures.
Popular movements point out that such an agenda does not reflect the true priorities of the people and is seen as a “unilateral agenda” by grassroots organizations.
The text emphasizes that Haiti was the first nation to break the chains of slavery and the first Black republic in the world, opening “the road to freedom for all the oppressed peoples of the earth.” According to the authors, this is one of the reasons why the country continues to suffer repression and retaliation from “former colonial, racist and slave-owning powers, which today have become imperialist powers.”
In this sense, they denounce the current grave situation as a “crisis manufactured with the aim of systematically weakening Haiti and reinforcing its political and economic dependence.” To confront this, the letter defends a Haitian-led solution, developed without any kind of interference and by the country’s own population.
The authors also denounce the forced isolation of Haiti within the current geopolitical context and, citing allied leaders such as Hugo Chávez, Fidel Castro, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Gustavo Petro and Nicolás Maduro, celebrate the spirit of international solidarity that has led other peoples, organizations and governments, free of imperialist interests, to support the Haitian struggle while respecting the country’s sovereignty.
