HAITI, October 17—Large cities and small villages alike were quiet today. Nothing moved, except millions of workers and students and their angry shouts against the corruption of the capitalist government in the Petrocaribe scandal (see box).In one small provincial town the leadership of progressove labor party (PLP) organized a mass response of between 1500, and 2000 people.
Today’s demonstrations were held on the anniversary of the assassination of Jean Jacques Dessalines, one of the leaders of the Haitian fight for independence from French colonialism and slavery. Workers and students, young and old, marched resolutely against the outrages of the profit system, which has reduced the working class here and around the world to unrelenting poverty and war.
Overflowing with red energy
Many were initially hesitant to participate because of outright threats made by the police, of violence against marchers. But little by little they gained confidence and the march began to swell; by the time it reached the main road, the crowd was huge and animated, overflowing with energy. We weren’t walking any more, we were running.This was the result of days of mobilization by comrades in the streets with megaphone in hand, on social networks, and talking to friends and acquaintances with every opportunity.
The fight against the corruption is part of our struggle, because corruption is the fruit of the capitalist system, and the corruptors are and have always been the ruling class and their bought-anpaid-for politicians. During the summer, the PLP here studied dialectical materialism. We learned that we must arm ourselves and the masses of workers and studentwith the tools to evaluate our reality, and what we can do to change that reality. We are committed to continuing to fight back against the abuses and exploitation of the capitalist system, to building a strong base in the working class, studying and implementing the line of PLP. Fight for communism, power to the working class!
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What is the PetroCaribe Scandal?
PetroCaribe is a Venezuelan-led oil alliance between countries,and Venezuela to purchase oil on preferential payment. It was a capitalist scheme created under the Hugo Chavez presidency in 2005 to gain imperialist influence in the U.S.’s backyard. The following is from Miami Herald (12/1/17):
Over a dozen former government officials and heads of private firms of were accused ofembezzling $2 billion in Venezuelan oil loans — money that could have helped the country rebuild after its devastating earthquake in 2010.The nearly $2 billion that was paid out came from the country’s Venezuelan oil largess, known as PetroCaribe. It provides Haiti and several other cash-strapped Caribbean countries with subsidized oil on favorable financing terms. The debt is stretched over a 25-year period with a 1 percent interest rate and a two- to three-year grace period allowing the countries to use the savings to finance social and economic projects.