Haiti is where Christopher Columbus landed. It is where the Native Arawak and Taino were killed by the violence and diseases Europeans brought with them.

Haiti is where slavery began in the Western Hemisphere. Haiti is where slaves first rebelled, resisted and overthrew their slave masters thereby establishing the first black republic.

Haiti is where France forced the new Haitian government to pay France today’s equivalent of $21 billion for property loss in the Haitian revolution. Unheard of previously imagine a repressive slave regime demanding payment for being overthrown. This ‘payment’ kept Haiti in debt for most of the 19th century.

The U.S. invaded in 1915 and changed the Haitian constitution. The most significant was allowing foreign ownership of land and property. When the U.S. left in 1934 they left behind a series of repressive neo-colonial dictators who would do the bidding for the imperialist. This formula would be later followed in Africa.

In 1990 Jean-Bertrand Aristide became the first democratically elected President of Haiti. The overwhelmingly poor people of Haiti secured his victory. He demanded higher wages and corporate responsibility in Haiti, which undoubtedly led to his ouster first in 1991 and later in 2004. He also began to make demands for the repayment of that $21 billion to France. Which also led to his removal from office.

Haiti is kept poor as an example. Haiti remains an example first to the imperialist of there defeat by black people uniting. Haiti is a threat a symbol in the U.S. it represented the worst fears of the white slave master being killed or forced to atone for the sins of slavery by other means. Haiti is kept poor and repressed and oppressed by the agents of the imperialist in individual form or intergovernmental forms such as the IMF and the World Bank

The Haitian revolution served as an example and inspiration to slaves and abolitionist in the United States who would try to overthrow the evil system such as John Brown’s raid in West Virginia and Nat Turner’s insurrection in Hampton, Virginia. Now people of color and oppressed people’s of the world owe the people of Haiti. We must defend the people of Haiti from the continued cycle of imperialist invasions and corrupted leaders who keep the poor oppressed.

Haiti is a microcosm for the planet earth, mostly poor, oppressed by corporate conglomerates and by governments who are owned by global corporate interests. This cycle must come to an end. This evil cycle, which began in 1492 in Haiti, must finally come to an end first in Haiti and then the globe. The 500 plus years of the pursuit of capital above that of humanity must come to an end. Real truth justice balance and order must be restored to this planet if humanity is to survive.