Category Archives: Cuba Haiti

Cuba, Haiti, the Helms-Burton and the crime of insubordination

Cuba, Haiti, the Helms-Burton and the crime of insubordination
Empires never forgive rebels; an insubordinate rebel plants a seed that can sprout many generations later

Author: Raúl Antonio Capote | informacion@granmai.cu
june 23, 2022 09:06:21

It took Haiti 122 years to pay off its debt of independence, a neocolonial strategy that remains in place and leads to chronic underdevelopment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo: Juvenal Balán

Haiti was the first free nation in Latin America and the Caribbean, the first nation in the modern world emerging from a slave revolt, and the second most long-standing republic in the Western Hemisphere. The Haitian people overthrew the French colonialists in 1804, abolished slavery, and declared independence.
Their revolution was worse nightmare of colonial powers with possessions in the Caribbean – the ghost of Saint-Domingue disturbed the sleep of slave holders for years.
The imperial powers imposed a rigorous cultural, economic and political blockade on the new Haiti, to prevent the extension of its example.
Two decades after independence was proclaimed, in 1825, French warships returned, blockaded the young nation and issued an ultimatum: pay compensation or prepare for war.
An emissary from King Charles X delivered the message. France demanded payment for properties confiscated by the Haitian Revolution: 150 million gold francs, some 21 billion dollars today, payable in five installments.
According to the colonial empire, the young nation was obliged to compensate French planters for the property and slaves they had lost.
On April 17, 1825, Haitian President Jean-Pierre Boyer signed the Royal Decree presented by Charles X, who promised French diplomatic recognition in exchange for a 50% reduction of tariffs on French imports and the outrageous compensation.
For Haiti the figure was impossible to pay, given the conditions of its economy, ravaged by the French naval blockade and a devastating war, but the “generous” colonialists made a proposal “they couldn’t turn down.”
A group of French banks offered Haiti a loan to cover the compensation, resulting in a double debt that, along with the interest, bled the small country to death, over the course of the 122 years required to pay off its “independence debt.”
What’s more, The New York Times recounts in a recent five-part series of articles, when the U.S. army invaded Haiti in the summer of 1915, a group of Marines entered the national bank and stole some 500,000 dollars in gold, that days later made its way to a Wall Street bank vault.
The United States, using the financial and political chaos the island was experiencing as a pretext, occupied the country militarily, continuing its longstanding policy in the region. Haiti was to be governed by a U.S. military proconsul.
For more than ten years, a quarter of all Haitian income went to pay off debts to the National City Bank, incurred by the country to cover the expense of “assistance from the U.S. government,” according to The Times.
ANOTHER ISLAND DARES TO CHALLENGE THE EMPIRE

In January 1959, another small Caribbean island, Cuba, defying U.S. imperial power, declared itself the first free territory of the Americas and dared to announce its decision to build the first socialist nation in the hemisphere.

Continue reading Cuba, Haiti, the Helms-Burton and the crime of insubordination

Cuba reitera su solidaridad a Haití y ofrece sus condolencias

Cuba reitera su solidaridad a Haití y ofrece sus condolencias

Solidaridad eterna hacia el noble pueblo haitiano. En estos duros momentos, como en otros durante muchos años, nuestro personal de Salud está salvando vidas allí, escribió en Twitter el Primer Secretario del Comité Central del Partido y Presidente de Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel

Autor: Yisel González Fuentes | yisefuentes@gmail.com
14 de agosto de 2021 20:08:33
Los cubanos junto al personal haitiano, asisten en las afueras de las instalaciones.
Los cubanos junto al personal haitiano, asisten en las afueras de las instalaciones.

Foto: Tomada de Twitter
Tras el terremoto de magnitud 7.5 vivido en tierra haitiana este sábado, el Primer Secretario del Comité Central del Partido Comunista de Cuba y Presidente de la República, Miguel Díaz-Canel, escribió en Twitter:

«Solidaridad eterna hacia el noble pueblo haitiano. En estos duros momentos, como en otros durante muchos años, nuestro personal de Salud está salvando vidas allí. Los colaboradores cubanos se encuentran bien y ayudan en todo lo posible. ¡Cuente #Haiti siempre con #Cuba!».

Solidaridad eterna hacia el noble pueblo haitiano. En estos duros momentos, como en otros durante muchos años, nuestro personal de Salud está salvando vidas allí. Los colaboradores cubanos se encuentran bien y ayudan en todo lo posible. ¡Cuente #Haiti siempre con #Cuba! pic.twitter.com/fU43SF0xJs

— Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez (@DiazCanelB) August 15, 2021
También el miembro del Buró Político y ministro de Relaciones Exteriores de Cuba, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla reiteró el apoyo de nuestro país y envió sus condolencias al pueblo y gobierno haitiano tras el sismo.

El titular del Minrex expresó además que «nuestros colaboradores de la salud atienden a heridos, incluso fuera de las instalaciones hospitalarias afectadas por el sismo».

Reiteramos nuestra solidaridad con Haití y trasladamos condolencias a su pueblo y gobierno, en especial a familiares de fallecidos.

Desde temprano hoy nuestros colaboradores de la salud atienden a heridos, incluso fuera de las instalaciones hospitalarias afectadas por el sismo. pic.twitter.com/BO7XXp1F5u

— Bruno Rodríguez P (@BrunoRguezP) August 14, 2021
Más de medio millar de pacientes afectados por el terremoto, han sido atendidos por los colaboradores cubanos, informó Eugenio Martinez, Director General de América Latina y el Caribe del Minrex, a través de Facebook.

«En las instituciones hospitalarias afectadas, los cubanos junto al personal haitiano, asisten en las afueras de las instalaciones. La verdadera solidaridad Sin estridencia. Ninguno se ha tomado una foto. Están salvando vidas. No posando ni dando discursos bonitos para galerías. Esa es la estirpe de los cubanos», escribió el diplomático.



Por su parte, Luis Orlando Olivero, coordinador de la Brigada Médica Cubana en Haití, declaró a la prensa que hasta el momento ningún colaborador resultó herido durante el movimiento telúrico e informó que se alista en Puerto Príncipe un hospital de traumatología.

Hasta la noche del sábado, el informe de la Protección Civil de Haití detallaba que la cifra de fallecidos ascendía a 304 personas y se registraban más de 1 800 heridos.

El mayor número de muertes corresponde al departamento Sur, le siguen los departamentos de Grand’Anse, Nippes y el Noroeste.

Bilan partiel: le séisme a provoqué la mort de 304 personnes :

✅ 160 dans le Sud
✅ 42 dans les Nippes
✅ 100 dans la Grand’Anse
✅ 2 dans le Nord-Ouest#Haïti#Séisme#MiseàJour

PAYING HUMANITY’S DEBT: Cuba, AFRICA, AND THE CARIBBEAN

A US-CUBA NORMALIZATION TEACH IN WEBINAR

TUESDAY, MAY 19

8:00 PM (Eastern), 5:00 PM (Pacific)

Co-Chairs:
August Nimtz

August Nimtz — Co-coordinator of the Minnesota Cuba Committee; Professor of Political Science and African American and African Studies, University of Minnesota; Co-Author (with Esteban Morales), The Dynamics of Racial Discrimination in Cuba, Past and Present; Author, Marxism vs Liberalism: Comparative Real-Time Political  Analysis.

Kennedee Geffinger

Kennedee Geffinger — Universal Zulu Nation Hip Hop for Humanity Committee; Children’s Programs Director, JCC Harlem; Founder, Keys to Ubuntu


Guest Speakers:

Ana Silvia RodriguezAna Silvia Rodriguez — Permanent Representative of Cuba to the United Nations


Julia Imene-ChanduruJulia Imene-Chanduru — Deputy Permanent Representative of Namibia to the United Nations (FOCUS)


Fernando Gonzalez Llort

Fernando Gonzalez Llort — President of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP); Cuban internationalist fighter in Angola 1987-1989; Cuban Five hero


Chris “Che” Matlhako

Chris “Che” Matlhako — Second Deputy General Secretary of the South African Communist Party; leading member of Friends of Cuba in South Africa (FOCUS)


Dr. Rosemari Mealy

Dr. Rosemari Mealy — Educator and long-standing activist for peace, social, and economic justice. Dr. Mealy’s work has involved years of solidarity with the Cuban Revolution, including living and working in Cuba; Awarded “Friendship Medal” by the Council of State of the Republic of Cuba; Author, Fidel and Malcolm X: Memories of A Meeting; Rosemari is a member of the Board of Directors of IFCO/Pastors for Peace, the New York-New Jersey Cuba Si Coalition; and National Conference of Black Lawyers.


Mwalimu KeitaMwalimu Keita —  Organizer, All-African People’s Revolutionary Party (GC).


Don Rojas

Don Rojas — Press Secretary for the martyred Prime Minister of Grenada Maurice Bishop (1981-1983); Executive Political Editor, The Real News Network; Director of Communications and International Relations, Institute of the Black World; Founder of the award-winning The Black World Today


Dr. Isaac Saney

Dr. Isaac Saney — Co-Chair, Canadian Network on Cuba; Professor, Dalhousie University; author of the forthcoming book, Africa’s Children Return! Cuba, Africa, and Apartheid’s End. 


Frantz Voltaire

Frantz Voltaire — Haitian scholar and activist living in Montreal, Québec; Author, Black Power in Haiti and A Brief History of Blacks in Canada; Founder and Chairperson of Le Center International de Documentation et d’Information Haitienne, Caribéenne, et Afro-Canadienne (CIDICHCA).


Obi Egbuna Jr

Obi Egbuna Jr — “Stay Out of Cuba’s Way Campaign”; Zimbabwe Cuba Friendship Association; Author, Cuba’s Greatest Army: A Tribute To The Cuban Doctors (Children’s Play)


Presentation followed by Q&A

In Solidarity, Organizing Committee, International Conference for the Normalization of US-Cuba Relations

Diaz-Canel receives President of Haiti

Diaz-Canel receives President of Haiti
The President of Cuba’s Councils of State and Ministers, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, on Monday received the President of the Republic of Haiti, His Excellency Mr. Jovenel Moïse, on an official visit to Cuba
Author: Granma | internet@granma.cu
december 4, 2018 10:12:19

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Photo: Estudio Revolución
The President of Cuba’s Councils of State and Ministers, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, yesterday received the President of the Republic of Haiti, His Excellency Mr. Jovenel Moïse, on an official visit to Cuba.
In a cordial atmosphere, the two leaders reviewed the progress of the positive bilateral relations shared by their countries, highlighting the importance of the 20 years of uninterrupted cooperation, which began on December 4, 1998, and agreeing to continue developing these ties for the benefit of the two peoples. They also discussed various topics on the international agenda.
Accompanying the distinguished visitor were Bocchit Edmond, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cults; Grèta Clement Roy, Minister of Public Health and Population; Ardouin Zepherin, Special Adviser; Lesly David, Ambassador of Haiti in Venezuela; Jude Piquant, director of the Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cults; Guito Edouard, head of the Potable Water and Sanitation Directorate; and Elvire Beauchard, interim chargé d’affaires at the Haitian Embassy in Cuba.
On the Cuban side, participating were Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla; Rodrigo Malmierca Díaz and José Ángel Portal Miranda, Ministers of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment and Public Health, respectively; Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Rogelio Sierra Díaz, and the Ambassador of Cuba in Haiti, Luis Castillo Campos.