Canadians Reject Intervention in Haiti
No to Foreign Military Intervention in Haiti!, No to the Core Group!, Freedom, Freedom, Freedom for Haitians! chanted an organizer of the march on October 22 in Montreal. Gathered in front of the office of Mélanie Joly, Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, the demonstrators denounced the plan hatched by foreign countries, including Canada and the U.S., to invade Haiti under the pretext of bringing aid.
One after another in quick succession, for close to an hour, speakers recalled their bitter experience with the presence of foreign military forces in their country. The crimes committed by them under the dictate of the U.S., Canada, France and the UN against the Haitian people under military occupation are fresh in their memory: the rape of women, young girls and children, human trafficking, MINUSTAH which introduced cholera which has returned today, the looting of houses and so many other crimes.
The speakers denounced the fraudulence of the claims promoted by the Trudeau government that they stand for human rights, which Haitians who have come to live in Quebec and Canada have come to know. The fraud is seen in the fact that Canada denies these rights to the Haitian people in Haiti. Haitians are full human beings like Canadians, they said. They paid tribute to their ancestors and to national hero Dessalines who established a free Haiti where human beings are equal, ending slavery.
They also denounced corruption and the financing of street gangs by wealthy Haitian families and others who maintain chaos in the country. They reiterated their demand for an end to all military intervention, with or without the UN, and affirmed the inalienable right of the Haitian people to defend their sovereignty and their right to decide their destiny.
The demonstration continued for almost two hours, marching through the streets of Montreal chanting slogans in support of the just resistance struggle of the Haitian people: No to Corruption! No to the Core Group! No to any Foreign Intervention! No to Occupation! Enough Is Enough! and many others denouncing the dirty role of the Canadian government. They marched to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office where they reported that similar protests had taken place in the U.S., Martinique, Benin and Haiti. They then returned to Mélanie Joly’s office where organizers announced they would continue their actions in the coming weeks.
A demonstration was held in Ottawa on Friday afternoon, October 21, in front of the French embassy in Canada where distinctly anti-imperialist and anti-colonialist demands were heard. The rally was called to support the struggles of the peoples, particularly the peoples of Africa, against French neo-colonialism and foreign interference in Haiti. The people present chanted their opposition to the French presence in Africa and demanded that French military forces leave their countries, that the plundering of their natural resources and the maintenance of mercenaries and terrorist groups cease.
The sentiment expressed for both Africa and Haiti was that it is the people who are sovereign, that they must be the decision-makers, that they must and will take control of their destiny.
The demonstrators denounced recent developments in Haiti, where international forces, including Canada and the United States, are again interfering under the pretext that they have been invited by Ariel Henry and that the purpose is to fight the gangs in Haiti, when the primary purpose is to suppress the movement of the Haitian people who have been demonstrating en masse for several weeks against poverty, food insecurity, rampant inflation, fuel shortages, kidnappings and killings.
It was pointed out that if gangs and weapons exist in Haiti, it is thanks to the United States. There was an upsurge in the popular movement on October 10, following the government’s call for foreign intervention, as the people demanded the resignation of the foreign imposed Prime Minister Ariel Henry and opposed any foreign intervention. Concrete proposals that are favourable to the people are being put forward, including the formation of a transitional government, to find solutions to the political crisis shaking the country.
After demonstrating in front of the French embassy for two hours, everyone made their way to Parliament Hill, passing by the U.S. embassy.