HAITI—African people of Ayiti (Haiti) have been involved in a struggle against the neocolonial regime of the puppet president Jovenel Moïse for almost two years straight, beginning in August of 2018.

This mass resistance period was only interrupted by the lockdown that came as a result of the colonial virus known as coronavirus in February 2020.

Africans took what measures possible they could to stay at home and remain socially distanced, but the everyday conditions of our people in Ayiti made it quite unrealistic to continue that way.

By the month of June, we began to see signs of the country opening back up and by August the people went back to “life as usual.”

“Life as usual” for Africans in Ayiti not only means finding different ways to earn enough money to survive, but also having to face the ongoing terror of the neocolonial State and its paid goons.

This terror is inflicted not only by the forces known as the Police Nationale d’Haiti (PNH), or Haitian National Police (HNP), but also by the many “gang” formations being created to carry out the work of the police and other government officials.

These gangs, generally referred to as “bandits,” are not like the gang formations that exist in the United States, where members of rival communities fall victim to the U.S. government’s horizontal violence trap and fight over the nonexistent resources in the black community.

These “bandits” are people who are armed directly by the State to act against the people, especially those identified to be a part of the mass resistances and other mobilizations.

They are not usually your everyday “street dudes,” generally referred to as “bad men,” who have also fallen victim to the trap of horizontal violence due to the lack of wealth and competition for resources.

Although a few “bad men” can be recruited to become bandits, the bandits are often former cops themselves, such as Jimmy Chérizier who goes by the alias “Barbecue.”

“Barbecue” is the leader of the infamous G9 formation, which has been reported to have strong ties to the government of Jovenel Moïse. The G9 formation claims to “keep the peace” in the neighborhoods they terrorize.

The “peace” they are keeping in these neighborhoods is peace as defined by the oppressor—where the oppressed does not resist our oppression. What is peace for them is death for us.

Jovenel’s regime implements “bandits” and kidnappings as tactics of counterinsurgency

In attempts to quell the mass resistance of 2018 and 2019, the neocolonial State armed poor and working class individuals with AK-47s and endless bullets to kill the masses. Reports from 2019 say 500,000 illegal firearms were brought into the country.

These treacherous forces went through La Saline, Matisan and Bel Air, three of the most impoverished neighborhoods of Port-au-Prince, Haiti (Ayiti’s capital) to rape and murder women, men and children.

In September 2020, we saw a resurgence of these same attacks along with the burning down of whole neighborhoods in broad daylight.

Hundreds of people were left in the streets with absolutely nothing and those who dared to fight back or even simply tried to run away were shot at by both the gangs and police.

By October 2020, these same bandits began kidnapping African women, men, students and professionals.

The October 29, 2020 kidnapping, rape and murder of 22-year old student Evelyne Sincère, whose body was found discarded on a pile of garbage, broke the hearts of the masses.

To add insult to injury, the kidnappers were turned in to the PNH by none other than Barbecue, who was supposed to be in a hideout away from the police up until that time.

Barbecue was let go after turning in the kidnappers, confirming that despite the minor conflicts they may have, the police and bandits are united in their terror against the people of Ayiti.

Memorials, marches and mobilizations were held in Evelyne Sincère’s honor and the majority of the people accurately placed blame on Jovenel Moïse’s government and his non-condemnation of the bandits.

In a November 1, 2020 tweet, neocolonial puppet president Jovenel Moïse said:

“As the father of a family, I am deeply shocked by the kidnapping and following murder of the young schoolgirl Evelyne Sincère. Such atrocities are unacceptable. Police and judicial authorities have only one choice: to put the bandits out of harm’s way.”

This was the last statement needed for Africans in Ayiti to understand that we are at war for our lives!

The African world must stand up with the people of Ayiti!

January 1, 1804 is celebrated as Ayiti’s Independence Day, making January 1, 2021 the 217th year anniversary of the first Worker’s Revolution of the world and the first and only successful revolution of enslaved (African) people against colonial slavery.

The revolutionary history of Ayiti remains a beacon of hope for the African world, a symbol of freedom and a lesson of what can be achieved when colonized and oppressed people unite against white power imperialism.

Ayiti continues to be punished to this very day for its citizens daring to be a free and independent people.

The white power imperialists have sworn to never “forgive” Ayiti for being the greatest threat against parasitic capitalism, the social system born from colonial slavery. Now, they use people from Ayiti to push their colonial agenda to keep us from being free or independent.

We recognize that Jovenel Moïse and all of those under his leadership are neocolonial, “white power in black face,” puppets of the imperialist system we are organizing day and night to completely overthrow.

The theory of African Internationalism, developed by Chairman Omali Yeshitela of the African Socialist International (ASI), the manifestation of African People’s Socialist Party (APSP) organizations around the world, informs us that our fight cannot be held in isolation by ourselves.

African people of Ayiti must join the international African Revolution being built by the ASI and its APSP organizations to overthrow this social system for all time.

African people from around the world must express solidarity and unity with the people of Ayiti.

Uhuru!

Viv Ayiti! (Long live Ayiti!)

Koupe Tèt! Boulé Kay! (Cut Heads! Burn Houses!)

Join the African People’s Socialist Party at APSPUhuru.org