A report from Haiti: Building fightback amid super exploitation

For readers of CHALLENGE it is not uncommon to read reports of super exploitation and crisis in Haiti. Workers in Haiti have been faced with the daily violence of capitalism, mishandled natural disasters that keep them fighting for their lives, and mostly recently have been front page news as the latest target of racist border attacks. These reports, time and again, show a working class in Haiti and internationally amidst a continuous life-and-death struggle. Progressive Labor Party (PLP) is on the ground in Haiti and taking leadership from Black workers as we build class consciousness and a revolutionary spirit!
The government in Haiti is unable and unwilling to do anything to stop this current reign of terror. First,it is facing its own crisis: after the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, political parties are in dissaray, vying for power and control. Second, and perhaps most important, this is how they’ve designed the system - one in which workers are  suppressed by a limited job market and skyrocketing price of living. Gasoline prices are off the charts, the pumps go dry from time to time, and truck drivers stage intermittent strikes in protest, effectively shutting everything down.
The primary goal of the capitalist system is to extract as much value as possible from the workers and the natural resources. Today, one of Haiti’s primary resources is its workers. They are forced to flee untenable conditions and become low-wage workers in surrounding countries in the Caribbean, or further afield in  Latin America, the U.S., Canada, and Europe. They become part of the migrant journey, perhaps the greatest migration of workers from the global south to the global north, fleeing war between capitalist rivals. They are fleeing unsustainable economies from the ravages of climate change and political instability, as various capitalist leaders exploit the migrants for their own political benefit.
Our Party in Haiti is immersing itself in the daily struggles of workers and students to try to make ends meet in an increasingly fragile situation.  As revolutionary communists we understand more and more that liberation from the ravages of capitalist exploitation demands an international working class army, in which Black worker leadership is key! Through our daily interactions, study groups and struggles, our comrades discuss with fellow workers  why these conditions exist, why there is such widespread inequality not only in Haiti, but in the region and the world as a whole, and the role of racism and sexism in keeping our class divided and disarmed.
We know that this disgusting system can be smashed!   That workers and students, under the leadership of PLP can change the world. Not for the few, but for the many. Our comrades always talk about building the masses’ confidence in the Party, and the Party’s confidence in the working class. This is not idle thought, but the basis of struggle and advancement in our strength as a class.
Our comrades’ commitment to struggle and building the Party is exemplary. Not that we do everything correctly all the time, but we are willing to analyze our situation as a “noyau” (core) of revolutionary organizing, evaluate the successes and mistakes, and always try to move forward. Workers’  lives in Haiti are as difficult as their neighbors but we are determined to fight and win. As comrades always say, “Join us!”