STATEMENT | CARIBBEAN REGIONAL ASSEMBLY
We are participants in the Caribbean Regional Assembly of the Latin American Coordination of Rural Organizations (CLOC) and La Vía Campesina, with the participation of 40 delegates representing four countries in the region: Haiti, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic.
In addition, we also included invited delegates from the National Peasant Articulation of the Dominican Republic.
We firmly believe that the solution to the crisis imposed on Haiti must come from the people themselves and their social movements. We support their sovereignty and admire their peasant and social struggles, which have become the driving force of resistance and change for this heroic people.
From this space of unity, we express solidarity with the Haitian nation. We demand a solution to the crisis generated by the United Nations, and especially the United States.
We must ask them: Why do weapons of war continue to arrive for the paramilitary groups that continue to massacre this country?
We reaffirm that Haiti, which was the first country in Latin America to achieve its independence, abolish slavery, and declare the equality of all human beings, contributing to the emancipation of colonized peoples, continues to resist and influence with its struggle amidst this neoliberal and fascist interference.
The collective struggles that local organizations have continued demonstrate the tenacity of the Haitian people in the face of so much adversity. The achievements of peasant organizations, such as the continuation of the work of grassroots organizations such as the MPP, Tet Kolé, and MPNKP, among others, technical and political training, as well as alliances with the global peasantry and the empowerment of women and youth, exemplify the intrinsic capacities of the people and their history.
The state’s anti-peasant policies, insecurity and violence against women, land grabbing, lack of access to fundamental social services, and international interference backed by fascist governments are some of the problems identified by Haitian peasant, social, and union organizations.
The 12 organizations articulated in CLOC/Vía Campesina in the Caribbean region condemn these events and join the demands of the Haitian people.
We propose an agricultural plan adapted to their reality that guarantees a reduction in poverty and hunger among the people, a strengthening of peasant and grassroots feminism, peasant and Black agroecology, and the implementation of Food Sovereignty for peasant rights. We will continue international solidarity actions that contribute to overcoming the country’s political, democratic, social, economic, and environmental crisis.
Long live the Haitian people and their peasant organizations!