Skip to content
October 4, 2023
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Reddit
  • Telegram
  • TikTok
  • LinkedIn
  • Discord
Orinoco Tribune – News and opinion pieces about Venezuela and beyond

Orinoco Tribune – News and opinion pieces about Venezuela and beyond

From Venezuela and made by Venezuelan Chavistas

Primary Menu
  • News
  • Opinion
  • About us
    • About us
    • Who we are – Becoming a Volunteer
    • Editorial guidelines for contributors
    • Our Sources
      • Venezuelan Sources
      • International Sources
    • Contact us
  • Categories
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Security and Defense
    • International
      • Africa
      • Asia
      • Europe
      • Oceania
      • US/Canada
    • Latin America and ALBA-TCP
      • South America
      • Central America and the Caribbean (+Mexico)
    • Ideology-Commune-Labor
    • Health-Education-Sport-Culture-Technology
    • Solidarity and Social Movements
    • OT Specials
  • Support Us
Light/Dark Button
YouTube Channel
  • Home
  • Opinion
  • Haiti Begins General Strike
  • Central America and the Caribbean (+Mexico)
  • Latin America and ALBA-TCP
  • Opinion

Haiti Begins General Strike

February 8, 2021

By Ezra Brain – Feb 1, 2021

In the midst of a devastating economic crisis and rising crime wave, unions across Haiti have called a general strike against both the spate of kidnappings and the corrupt regime of Jovenel Moïse.

Industries across Haiti are shut down today as workers in multiple sectors participate in a 48-hour general strike. The strike was called by the labor unions following years of strugglein Haiti against brutal austerity and government corruption. Part of the reason behind the general strike is that the current president of Haiti, Jovenel Moïse, is refusing to step down on February 7, when many believe that his term is up under the constitution. Moïse claims that his term isn’t up until February 7, 2022, as he was elected to a five year term in 2017.

Many fear that Moïse is taking the preparatory steps to rule as a dictator of Haiti. He failed to call parliamentary elections within the required period, and since January 2020, he has been ruling by decree without a sitting parliament. Moïse has also handpicked a committee to re-write Haiti’s constitution, sparking fears for many who remember the decades of dictatorship under the Duvalier family, which only ended in 1986. Even more concerningly for the working class of Haiti, Moïse (like the Duvaliers before him) is backed by the United States. This means that, if necessary, the U.S. will use all of their imperialist power to keep Moïse in power as long as he represents their imperial interests. Any cursory reading of history shows that the imperial interests of the United States’ empire mean devastation for the working class of Haiti and other imperialized countries.

RELATED CONTENT: Haitians Intensify Struggle Against President Jovenel Moïse

Another leading reason behind the strike is the soaring crime rate in Haiti, particularly the uptick in kidnappings. The shocking rate of kidnappings (some estimate that four people are kidnapped per day) previously led to strikes among health care workers in November, 2020. The kidnappings are being done for ransom and have begun to target working class people as well as the rich.

We should not, however, fall into the capitalist logic when discussing this surge of kidnappings. The capitalists, including President Moïse, want to play off crime as a moral failing of an individual. While we certainly should not support kidnappings, we must be clear that these kidnappings — like the vast majority of other crimes — are a symptom of poor material conditions for the working class and the oppressed. Given the growing capitalist crisis, it is no wonder that crime is going up. The economic despair that the United States and its imperialist allies have unleashed on Haiti has only deepened as the current crisis sweeps the globe. Sixty percent of Hatians live in poverty, and 25 percent are in extreme poverty. This poverty is not naturally occurring; rather, it is the result of decades of imperialist domination from the United States and other powers. It is little wonder that so many feel they have no other options than to turn to crime.

RELATED CONTENT: Stop the Massacres in Haiti! End US and UN Support for the Criminal Regime of Jovenel Moise

Indeed, worker-on-worker crime is one way that capitalism works to keep workers divided. They leave us fighting over scraps while they gorge themselves on feasts. The solution isn’t, as Moïse suggested, for workers to help the police hunt for potential criminals but, rather, to organize together strong, militant, and revolutionary worker organizations that can take on the state and the whole barbaric capitalist system.

It is also vital for socialists in imperialist countries like the United States to strongly fight against both capitalism and its imperial expressions abroad. Historically, imperialist countries use their ill-gotten gains to give concessions to workers at home, which can lead to these workers turning a blind eye to the imperialism of the state. This is a devil’s bargain, trading the conditions of workers abroad for the conditions of workers at home, and it must be resisted strongly and constantly.

The workers of Haiti are once again mobilizing to resist their corrupt government that is sinking them deeper into economic crisis. Solidarity with the striking workers of Haiti and all those who are fighting for better conditions worldwide! None of us are free until all of us are free!

 

 

Featured image: Photo: EN24 News

(Left Voice)

Don't want to be a victim of the Algorithm?

SIGN UP TO RECEIVE OUR WEEKLY DIGEST WITH ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT VENEZUELA AND BEYOND

We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.

Orinoco Tribune 2
+ posts
  • Orinoco Tribune 2
    https://orinocotribune.com/author/yullma/
    A person holding a literacy program book that says in Spanish "Yo, si puedo" and in English means "Yes, I can." Photo: Prensa Latina/File photo.
    October 3, 2023
    With Cuba's Help, Honduras is Eradicating Illiteracy
  • Orinoco Tribune 2
    https://orinocotribune.com/author/yullma/
    October 3, 2023
    How the KKE Uses Marxist Terminology To Cover Its Retreat From Marxism
  • Orinoco Tribune 2
    https://orinocotribune.com/author/yullma/
    Ricardo Salles was the commission's rapporteur. Photo: Vinicius Loures/Câmara dos Deputados.
    October 3, 2023
    Parliamentary Investigation of MST Ends With the Movement Strengthened and Failure of Far-Right
  • Orinoco Tribune 2
    https://orinocotribune.com/author/yullma/
    October 2, 2023
    British Government Funded a Plan for International Censorship of Critiques of NATO
Tags: Corruption dictatorship Haití Jovenel Moise Strike US Imperialism

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)

Continue Reading

Previous Previous post:

Ecuadorians in Venezuela Massively Exercise Their Right to Vote

Ecuadorians in Venezuela voted massively in 2021 Presidential Elections
Next Next post:

Assange Verdict, “Severe Blow to Press Freedom”: Chomsky (Interview)

Subscribe to Weekly Digest

We keep your data private and share your data only with third parties that make this service possible. Read our Privacy Policy.

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

NEWS: MOST POPULAR

Calendar

October 2023
M T W T F S S
 1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
3031  
« Sep    

Categories

OPINION: MOST POPULAR

We are on Telegram


Receive our news directly in your cell phone or PC, join us on our TELEGRAM channel.

 

We are on Discord


Join our Discord server to check our content without algorithms and to interact directly with our team.

The original content by Orinoco Tribune is free to share and it is licensed under CC BY 4.0

We are on Reddit

If you are more into REDDIT, join our Orinoco Tribune subreddit.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Reddit
  • Telegram
  • TikTok
  • LinkedIn
  • Discord
Copyleft, No rights reserved.

W E    N E E D    Y O U R    S U P P O R T

Orinoco Tribune operates without any advertising. We are not funded by any governments, think tanks, or large institutions. Our operations are entirely funded by readers like you. Our most generous donors have been targeted by the US for supporting socialist causes or are financially struggling. As a result, their accounts have been frozen, cutting off a significant revenue stream and severely threatening the sustainability of Orinoco Tribune.

We urge our readers and supporters, especially those not currently doing so, to help us with small donation (such as US $5 or $10/month) via Patreon, via Paypal/Credit-Card/crypto or via paper checks. Readers and supporters like you will allow us to continue bringing you progressive and hard-hitting news from Latin America, the Global South, and the world.

Help us reach our goal of $650 in monthly Patreon donations. We are counting on you as our only source of financial support!