Natasha Pitts, Adital
July 17, 2012
Haití es un país con mayoría campesina, sin embargo, esto no quiere decir que haya tierra para que todos y todas cultiven y vivan dignamente. El gobierno de este país estima que el 65% de la población vive en el campo, y Chavannes Jean-Baptiste del Movimiento de Papaye (MPP) y de Vía Campesina, asegura que por lo menos el 80% está en el área rural.
Antes del terremoto del 12 de enero de 2010 la situación ya era delicada por la falta de tierras que, como en otros países, están en manos de grandes propietarios. Actualmente las circunstancias son aún más graves. Con la llegada de familias desde la ciudad, que perdieron sus viviendas durante el terremoto, el campo se infló y cada día ofrece menos condiciones dignas de vida para hombres y mujeres. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.adital.com.br/site/noticia.asp?idioma=ES&cod=68818
Watch the video (in Spanish):
www.youtube.com/watch?v=msE9YrE6dRU
Showing posts with label MPP. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MPP. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Why Haiti Wasn’t “Built Back Better”
By David L. Wilson, Upside Down World
April 17, 2012
Tectonic Shifts: Haiti Since the Earthquake. Mark Schuller and Pablo Morales, editors. Kumarian Press, 2012. Paperback, 288 pages, $24.95.
Earthquakes may be hard to predict, but it should have been easy to foresee the disaster that would result from the sort of quake that hit Haiti in January 2010. Haiti’s failure to recover in the two years since was just as predictable.
The structural problems that turned a bad earthquake into a cataclysm go all the way back to Haiti’s colonial history, but the immediate causes are much more recent. [...]
Read the full article:
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/haiti-archives-51/3582--why-haiti-wasnt-built-back-better
April 17, 2012
Tectonic Shifts: Haiti Since the Earthquake. Mark Schuller and Pablo Morales, editors. Kumarian Press, 2012. Paperback, 288 pages, $24.95.
Earthquakes may be hard to predict, but it should have been easy to foresee the disaster that would result from the sort of quake that hit Haiti in January 2010. Haiti’s failure to recover in the two years since was just as predictable.
The structural problems that turned a bad earthquake into a cataclysm go all the way back to Haiti’s colonial history, but the immediate causes are much more recent. [...]
Read the full article:
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/haiti-archives-51/3582--why-haiti-wasnt-built-back-better
Friday, July 1, 2011
Haiti 1994: The Forgotten Intervention
Lessons for Libya?
One thing that was striking about the run-up to the invasion is how rarely we heard from the many Haitians who struggled for Aristide's return but opposed any US military action.
by David L. Wilson, World War 4 Report
July 1, 2011
On the night of September 29, 1991, Haitian army officers launched a coup d'état against the country's elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide. By the next afternoon, soldiers had arrested Aristide and had started gunning down coup opponents in the street. The toll would reach more than 3,000 over the next three years.
US liberals didn't take long to see that the Haitian crisis could provide a good test case for the newly fashionable doctrine of "humanitarian intervention." [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.ww4report.com/node/10053
One thing that was striking about the run-up to the invasion is how rarely we heard from the many Haitians who struggled for Aristide's return but opposed any US military action.
by David L. Wilson, World War 4 Report
July 1, 2011
On the night of September 29, 1991, Haitian army officers launched a coup d'état against the country's elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide. By the next afternoon, soldiers had arrested Aristide and had started gunning down coup opponents in the street. The toll would reach more than 3,000 over the next three years.
US liberals didn't take long to see that the Haitian crisis could provide a good test case for the newly fashionable doctrine of "humanitarian intervention." [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.ww4report.com/node/10053
Friday, June 3, 2011
Haiti: July 2011 Delegation with the Mouvman Peyizan Papay
From: bazelaisjb@bassinzim.org
Subject: A 5-day delegation to Haiti from July 15 to 19
Greetings everyone,
Bassin Zim Education and Development Fund / Seeds for Haiti Program invites all to a 5-day delegation to Haiti to visit the Papay Peasant Movement (MPP) and its projects, peasants' farms, farmers' market, several other sites and institutions. You will meet and have the opportunity discuss with MPP leaders, a women's group, a youth group, displaced people, etc. You will be staying at the MPP training center.
The delegation meets in Port-au-Prince on July 15th and travels to Hinche in the Central Plateau, where the whole time will be spent. The return date to Port-au-Prince is July 19th in the morning. All participants are to arrange for their air travel (we urge all to book their flights in advance to find the best rates). Room, board and transport will cost $300.00 altogether and a deposit of $50.00 should be paid to Bassin Zim EDF no later than June 30th. The balance should be received by July 7th.
Please contact us at (917) 378-2192 or at info@bassinzim.org.
Sincerely,
Bazelais Jean-Baptiste
President of Bassin Zim EDF
===============
The Mouvman Peyizan Papay (MPP) is a large movement of peasant cooperatives based in the small town of Papaye near Hinche in Haiti's Central Plateau. It is affiliated with Via Campesina, the international campesino movement, and it has been a leading force for sustainable agriculture and food sovereignty in Haiti. The MPP organized a large demonstration in June 2010 to reject the "poisoned gift" of hybrid seeds from the giant US corporation Monsanto; in contrast, the Seeds for Haiti program, which MPP supporters started in response to the hurricanes and tropical storms in 2008, supplies peasant families with locally produced seeds that are appropriate to Haitian farming conditions.
For more information on the MPP and the Seeds for Haiti, go to these English-language websites (which may be slightly out of date):
http://www.mpphaiti.org/
http://www.seedsforhaiti.org/
For information on the campaign against Monsanto seeds, go to:
Haitian Farmers Commit to Burning Monsanto Hybrid Seeds
http://www.otherworldsarepossible.org/another-haiti-possible/haitian-farmers-commit-burning-monsanto-hybrid-seeds
For a slide show on an earlier delegation and the Monsanto demonstration, go to:
MPP Delegation, January 2010, and Monsanto Protest, June 2010
http://grassrootssolidarity.blogspot.com/2010/07/mpp-delegation-january-2010-and.html
Subject: A 5-day delegation to Haiti from July 15 to 19
Greetings everyone,
Bassin Zim Education and Development Fund / Seeds for Haiti Program invites all to a 5-day delegation to Haiti to visit the Papay Peasant Movement (MPP) and its projects, peasants' farms, farmers' market, several other sites and institutions. You will meet and have the opportunity discuss with MPP leaders, a women's group, a youth group, displaced people, etc. You will be staying at the MPP training center.
The delegation meets in Port-au-Prince on July 15th and travels to Hinche in the Central Plateau, where the whole time will be spent. The return date to Port-au-Prince is July 19th in the morning. All participants are to arrange for their air travel (we urge all to book their flights in advance to find the best rates). Room, board and transport will cost $300.00 altogether and a deposit of $50.00 should be paid to Bassin Zim EDF no later than June 30th. The balance should be received by July 7th.
Please contact us at (917) 378-2192 or at info@bassinzim.org.
Sincerely,
Bazelais Jean-Baptiste
President of Bassin Zim EDF
===============
The Mouvman Peyizan Papay (MPP) is a large movement of peasant cooperatives based in the small town of Papaye near Hinche in Haiti's Central Plateau. It is affiliated with Via Campesina, the international campesino movement, and it has been a leading force for sustainable agriculture and food sovereignty in Haiti. The MPP organized a large demonstration in June 2010 to reject the "poisoned gift" of hybrid seeds from the giant US corporation Monsanto; in contrast, the Seeds for Haiti program, which MPP supporters started in response to the hurricanes and tropical storms in 2008, supplies peasant families with locally produced seeds that are appropriate to Haitian farming conditions.
For more information on the MPP and the Seeds for Haiti, go to these English-language websites (which may be slightly out of date):
http://www.mpphaiti.org/
http://www.seedsforhaiti.org/
For information on the campaign against Monsanto seeds, go to:
Haitian Farmers Commit to Burning Monsanto Hybrid Seeds
http://www.otherworldsarepossible.org/another-haiti-possible/haitian-farmers-commit-burning-monsanto-hybrid-seeds
For a slide show on an earlier delegation and the Monsanto demonstration, go to:
MPP Delegation, January 2010, and Monsanto Protest, June 2010
http://grassrootssolidarity.blogspot.com/2010/07/mpp-delegation-january-2010-and.html
Monday, October 25, 2010
Beyond Wyclef: What Haitians Want From Elections
“I see the elections of November 28 as an injustice to the population who are victims of the earthquake of January 12. This money [from the campaign] could be used to help people who are in difficulty."
Beverly Bell, Toward Freedom
October 18, 2010
We asked dozens of Haitians from different social sectors how they felt about the November 28 elections, and what they want or expect from a new government. Here are some of their responses. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.towardfreedom.com/home/americas/2147-beyond-wyclef-what-haitians-want-from-electio
Beverly Bell, Toward Freedom
October 18, 2010
We asked dozens of Haitians from different social sectors how they felt about the November 28 elections, and what they want or expect from a new government. Here are some of their responses. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.towardfreedom.com/home/americas/2147-beyond-wyclef-what-haitians-want-from-electio
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Food Shortage in Haiti
CNN
August 16, 2010
TV Link's Claire Doole visits Haiti's drought-stricken Central Plateau, where farmers struggle to feed more mouths.
Watch the video:
http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/international/2010/08/16/wv.haiti.food.security.cnn
August 16, 2010
TV Link's Claire Doole visits Haiti's drought-stricken Central Plateau, where farmers struggle to feed more mouths.
Watch the video:
http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/international/2010/08/16/wv.haiti.food.security.cnn
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
MPP Delegation, January 2010, and Monsanto Protest, June 2010
This is a slideshow of photos independent photojournalist Tequila Minsky took while on a delegation to the Mouvman Peyizan Papay (Papaye Peasant Movement) center near Hinche in Haiti's Central Plateau in January 2010, and then a protest against Monsanto in Hinche in June .
The first part shows various projects at the center: an artificial lake (with aid from the European Union), recycling, a nursery, cassava production, a community radio station, buildings constructed with bricks made out of local clay. There are also a few pictures of refugees from the January earthquake who were temporarily housed at the MPP center and with local peasant families.
The second part shows the huge demonstration rejecting Monsanto's hybrid seeds. The mural in the background of the stage commemorates Hinche-born resistance Charlemagne Peralte, who died fighting the 1915 U.S. occupation.
The music is by Boukman Esperyans .
Watch the slideshow:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJF0ev1Xxtk
The first part shows various projects at the center: an artificial lake (with aid from the European Union), recycling, a nursery, cassava production, a community radio station, buildings constructed with bricks made out of local clay. There are also a few pictures of refugees from the January earthquake who were temporarily housed at the MPP center and with local peasant families.
The second part shows the huge demonstration rejecting Monsanto's hybrid seeds. The mural in the background of the stage commemorates Hinche-born resistance Charlemagne Peralte, who died fighting the 1915 U.S. occupation.
The music is by Boukman Esperyans .
Watch the slideshow:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJF0ev1Xxtk
Monday, July 26, 2010
Petition to Monsanto Corporation to stop shipping contaminated seeds to Haiti
Mr. Hugh Grant
Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer
Monsanto Corporation
Dear Mr. Grant,
In mid May of 2010, it was announced in Haiti that your company, Monsanto Corporation, decided to give 475 tons of seeds to Haiti. In fact, 60 tons had already been distributed in some areas. Perhaps you have been surprised at the criticism of this donation and at the protests against your company and the Haitian government for accepting what many people call a “poisonous gift.” On behalf of thousands of local farmers in Haiti, we demand that you halt further shipments of hybrid seeds to Haiti. [...]
Read and sign the online petition:
http://seedsforhaiti.org/admin/thePetition.html
Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer
Monsanto Corporation
Dear Mr. Grant,
In mid May of 2010, it was announced in Haiti that your company, Monsanto Corporation, decided to give 475 tons of seeds to Haiti. In fact, 60 tons had already been distributed in some areas. Perhaps you have been surprised at the criticism of this donation and at the protests against your company and the Haitian government for accepting what many people call a “poisonous gift.” On behalf of thousands of local farmers in Haiti, we demand that you halt further shipments of hybrid seeds to Haiti. [...]
Read and sign the online petition:
http://seedsforhaiti.org/admin/thePetition.html
Sunday, July 18, 2010
An Open Letter on Haitian Agriculture to the CEO of Monsanto
By Peter Costantini, Huffington Post
July 5, 2010
To: Hugh Grant, President and CEO, Monsanto
As you are no doubt aware, your offer to donate hybrid corn and vegetable seeds has stirred up quite a controversy in Haiti.
I'd like to call your attention to an article I wrote on this issue recently for Inter Press Service. While I was in Haiti for the month of May, I had a conversation with Chavannes Jean-Baptiste, the head of a major Haitian peasant organization and a leader of the international confederation La Via Campesina. He criticized your donation from a perspective on seeds and agriculture based on a very different world view that might be worth your time to understand. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/crossover-dreams/an-open-letter-on-haitian_b_635751.html
July 5, 2010
To: Hugh Grant, President and CEO, Monsanto
As you are no doubt aware, your offer to donate hybrid corn and vegetable seeds has stirred up quite a controversy in Haiti.
I'd like to call your attention to an article I wrote on this issue recently for Inter Press Service. While I was in Haiti for the month of May, I had a conversation with Chavannes Jean-Baptiste, the head of a major Haitian peasant organization and a leader of the international confederation La Via Campesina. He criticized your donation from a perspective on seeds and agriculture based on a very different world view that might be worth your time to understand. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/crossover-dreams/an-open-letter-on-haitian_b_635751.html
Friday, July 9, 2010
NYC & New Orleans: Haiti Events 7/10 and 7/15
Author Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts intended to spend most of 2010 traveling in Haiti to start research on her second book. With that project postponed but her mind and heart very much on Haiti, Sharifa is organizing fundraisers in New Orleans and New York City for two grassroots organizations working in the environmental sector.
The events will feature a French-English bilingual reading of Martinican Negritude poet Aimé Césaire’s epic poem “Cahier d’un retour au pays natal” (“Notebook of a Return to My Native Land”).
NEW ORLEANS
When: Saturday, July 10, 7pm
Where: GRIS GRIS LAB, 2245 Brainard Street, Central City
NEW YORK CITY
When: Thursday, July 15, 7pm
Where: THE SHRINE, 2271 Adam Clayton Powell Blvd, Harlem
Suggested donation $10-$25. No one will be turned away.
The beneficiary organizations are:
Seeds for Haiti ( www.seedsforhaiti.org ) works in concert with Mouvman Peyizan Papay (Peasant Movement of Papay), to support farmers in Haiti’s Central Plateau in achieving social justice and asserting food sovereignty. With the reverse migration from the city back to the countryside since the earthquake, their work is even more urgent. Recently farmers of MPP made headlines when they promised to burn any seeds donated by Monsanto, a gift-horse of seeds that will not reproduce and are laced with pesticides, thus subjecting farmers already facing a state of emergency to the vicious cycle of industrial agriculture.
&
SOIL Haiti ( www.oursoil.org ) focuses on ecological sanitation, working alongside communities to create composting toilets that remove dangerous pathogens from the water supply and provide nutrient rich compost to farmers. Since the earthquake, SOIL Haiti has been working in Port-au-Prince along with OXFAM and the Haitian government to implement environmentally sound sanitation strategies urgently needed to serve the 1 million+ people living in tent cities since the disaster.
Come raise voices, spirits and funds at this liberatory literary gathering in the name of rebuilding Haiti!
Stay tuned for updates on Facebook at:
www.Facebook.com/TheFreedwomensBureau
The events will feature a French-English bilingual reading of Martinican Negritude poet Aimé Césaire’s epic poem “Cahier d’un retour au pays natal” (“Notebook of a Return to My Native Land”).
NEW ORLEANS
When: Saturday, July 10, 7pm
Where: GRIS GRIS LAB, 2245 Brainard Street, Central City
NEW YORK CITY
When: Thursday, July 15, 7pm
Where: THE SHRINE, 2271 Adam Clayton Powell Blvd, Harlem
Suggested donation $10-$25. No one will be turned away.
The beneficiary organizations are:
Seeds for Haiti ( www.seedsforhaiti.org ) works in concert with Mouvman Peyizan Papay (Peasant Movement of Papay), to support farmers in Haiti’s Central Plateau in achieving social justice and asserting food sovereignty. With the reverse migration from the city back to the countryside since the earthquake, their work is even more urgent. Recently farmers of MPP made headlines when they promised to burn any seeds donated by Monsanto, a gift-horse of seeds that will not reproduce and are laced with pesticides, thus subjecting farmers already facing a state of emergency to the vicious cycle of industrial agriculture.
&
SOIL Haiti ( www.oursoil.org ) focuses on ecological sanitation, working alongside communities to create composting toilets that remove dangerous pathogens from the water supply and provide nutrient rich compost to farmers. Since the earthquake, SOIL Haiti has been working in Port-au-Prince along with OXFAM and the Haitian government to implement environmentally sound sanitation strategies urgently needed to serve the 1 million+ people living in tent cities since the disaster.
Come raise voices, spirits and funds at this liberatory literary gathering in the name of rebuilding Haiti!
Stay tuned for updates on Facebook at:
www.Facebook.com/TheFreedwomensBureau
Friday, June 25, 2010
Haitian Farmers Leery of Monsanto's Largesse
By Peter Costantini, Inter Press Service
June 21, 2010
PÉTIONVILLE, Jun 21, 2010 (IPS) - Haitian farmers are worried that giant transnational corporations like Monsanto are attempting to gain a larger foothold in the local economy under the guise of earthquake relief and rebuilding.
"Seeds represent a kind of right to life," peasant leader Chavannes Jean-Baptiste told IPS. "That's why we have a problem today with Monsanto and all the multinationals who sell seeds. Seeds and water are the common patrimony of humanity." [...]
Read the full article:
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=51894
June 21, 2010
PÉTIONVILLE, Jun 21, 2010 (IPS) - Haitian farmers are worried that giant transnational corporations like Monsanto are attempting to gain a larger foothold in the local economy under the guise of earthquake relief and rebuilding.
"Seeds represent a kind of right to life," peasant leader Chavannes Jean-Baptiste told IPS. "That's why we have a problem today with Monsanto and all the multinationals who sell seeds. Seeds and water are the common patrimony of humanity." [...]
Read the full article:
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=51894
Friday, June 11, 2010
NYC, 6/12 and 6/14: "Fighting Monsanto in Haiti"
Chavannes Jean-Baptiste will be in New York this week speaking about the campaign against the Monsanto seeds in Haiti. Jean-Baptiste is the coordinator of the Mouvman Peyizan Papay (MPP), the Papaye Peasant Movement; a leader in the international Via Campesina movement, he was one of the winners of the 2005 Goldman prize for environmental activism.
Saturday, June 12, 2010 - 5:00 pm
Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church, 85 South Oxford Street in Brooklyn
http://nycal.mayfirst.org/node/622
Monday, June 14, 2010 - 6:00-8:00 pm
Martin Luther King, Jr. Labor Center, 310 West 43rd Street in Manhattan, between 8th & 9th Avenues
http://nycal.mayfirst.org/node/671
Contact: Seeds for Haiti, http://seedsforhaiti.org/ , seeds@seedsforhaiti.org , (917) 378-2192
For more information on Monsanto in Haiti:
Haiti: Thousands of Farmers Reject Monsanto Seeds
http://weeklynewsupdate.blogspot.com/2010/06/wnu-1036-haitian-farmers-reject.html
Groups Around the U.S. Join Haitian Farmers in Protesting "Donation" of Monsanto Seeds
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/beverly-bell/groups-around-the-us-join_b_600941.html
Saturday, June 12, 2010 - 5:00 pm
Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church, 85 South Oxford Street in Brooklyn
http://nycal.mayfirst.org/node/622
Monday, June 14, 2010 - 6:00-8:00 pm
Martin Luther King, Jr. Labor Center, 310 West 43rd Street in Manhattan, between 8th & 9th Avenues
http://nycal.mayfirst.org/node/671
Contact: Seeds for Haiti, http://seedsforhaiti.org/ , seeds@seedsforhaiti.org , (917) 378-2192
For more information on Monsanto in Haiti:
Haiti: Thousands of Farmers Reject Monsanto Seeds
http://weeklynewsupdate.blogspot.com/2010/06/wnu-1036-haitian-farmers-reject.html
Groups Around the U.S. Join Haitian Farmers in Protesting "Donation" of Monsanto Seeds
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/beverly-bell/groups-around-the-us-join_b_600941.html
Friday, June 4, 2010
Groups Around the U.S. Join Haitian Farmers in Protesting "Donation" of Monsanto Seeds
By Beverly Bell, Huffington Post
June 4, 2010
"We're for seeds that have never been touched by multinationals. In our advocacy, we say that seeds are the patrimony of humanity. No one can control them," said Doudou Pierre, national coordinating committee member of the National Haitian Network for Food Sovereignty and Food Security (RENHASSA), in a recent interview. "We reject Monsanto and their GMOs. GMOs would be the extermination of our people."
A march is being held in Haiti today for World Environment Day, called by at least four major national peasant organizations and one international one. The march's purpose is to protest the new arrival of Monsanto seeds. The day's slogans include, "Long live native seeds" and "Down with Monsanto. Down with GMO and hybrid seeds." [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/beverly-bell/groups-around-the-us-join_b_600941.html
June 4, 2010
"We're for seeds that have never been touched by multinationals. In our advocacy, we say that seeds are the patrimony of humanity. No one can control them," said Doudou Pierre, national coordinating committee member of the National Haitian Network for Food Sovereignty and Food Security (RENHASSA), in a recent interview. "We reject Monsanto and their GMOs. GMOs would be the extermination of our people."
A march is being held in Haiti today for World Environment Day, called by at least four major national peasant organizations and one international one. The march's purpose is to protest the new arrival of Monsanto seeds. The day's slogans include, "Long live native seeds" and "Down with Monsanto. Down with GMO and hybrid seeds." [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/beverly-bell/groups-around-the-us-join_b_600941.html
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Monsanto: "A Dangerous New Earthquake"
Open letter from Chavannes Jean-Baptiste
Mouvman Peyizan Papay (MPP, Papaye Peasant Movement)
May 14, 2010
Comrades,
There is a dangerous new earthquake more dangerous for the long-term than than which occurred on January 12. It is not a threat but a very strong attack on peasant agriculture, on the farmers, on biodiversity, on native seeds that we are defending, on what remains of our environment in Haiti.
The Haitian government is using the earthquake to sell or give away the country to the imperialist forces and their principal instruments which are the multinationals. La Via Campesina identified the transnationals as one of the most powerful enemies of the people, and the pesticide businesses as principal enemies of peasant agriculture, the environment in general and the climate in particular.
I remember at the last meeting of the CCI, I said that in Haiti, our campaign against the transnationals begins with the struggle against the agrofuels businesses because the people do not know much about Monsanto, which still doesn't have operations in Haiti. The news of Monsanto's presence through WINNER and USAID arrived about 15 days after COCHABAMBA.
Monsanto is using the earthquake with the anti-national criminal complicity of the government of Rene Preval to enter Haiti to enter through a "gift of death," which is 475 tons of GMO maize. This gift of death has as its objective: to open the door of the country to this powerful company that is destroying the planet, which is destroying peasant agriculture, with the farmers.
We cannot accept that. We must begin to mobilize against this project, against Monsanto in Haiti. We need a strong unit in Haiti and a strong international solidarity to confront Monsanto and all the forces of death that want to end the full sovereignty of this small country that took its independence in the blood of its sons and daughters since 1804.
The MPP gave the sign of the struggle with a statement on RADIO (VWA Peyizan) VOICE OF THE PEASANTS and other Radios asking farmers to bury and burn all the maize seeds given by the Ministry of Agriculture. We are planning a big march from the CEDE of the MPP of Papaye to the city of Hinche on the occasion of International Environment Day on June 5. We will make the march on Friday June 4th. We will invite the the organizations of the LVC and others to be present. It's one step among many that we must take.
We will contact all the peasant organizations and allied organizations to design the strategy of struggle. We ask now for the solidarity of sister organizations and international allies.
LONG LIVE HAITI'S SOVEREIGNTY, LONG LIVE FOOD SOVEREIGNTY, LONG LIVE THE RIGHTS OF THE MOTHER LAND, LONG LIVE THE PEOPLE'S SOLIDARITY!
ORGANIZATION OR DEATH.
Chavannes Jean-Baptiste
Spokesman for the MPP and MPNKP
Member of the CCI of LVC
Mouvman Peyizan Papay (MPP, Papaye Peasant Movement)
May 14, 2010
Comrades,
There is a dangerous new earthquake more dangerous for the long-term than than which occurred on January 12. It is not a threat but a very strong attack on peasant agriculture, on the farmers, on biodiversity, on native seeds that we are defending, on what remains of our environment in Haiti.
The Haitian government is using the earthquake to sell or give away the country to the imperialist forces and their principal instruments which are the multinationals. La Via Campesina identified the transnationals as one of the most powerful enemies of the people, and the pesticide businesses as principal enemies of peasant agriculture, the environment in general and the climate in particular.
I remember at the last meeting of the CCI, I said that in Haiti, our campaign against the transnationals begins with the struggle against the agrofuels businesses because the people do not know much about Monsanto, which still doesn't have operations in Haiti. The news of Monsanto's presence through WINNER and USAID arrived about 15 days after COCHABAMBA.
Monsanto is using the earthquake with the anti-national criminal complicity of the government of Rene Preval to enter Haiti to enter through a "gift of death," which is 475 tons of GMO maize. This gift of death has as its objective: to open the door of the country to this powerful company that is destroying the planet, which is destroying peasant agriculture, with the farmers.
We cannot accept that. We must begin to mobilize against this project, against Monsanto in Haiti. We need a strong unit in Haiti and a strong international solidarity to confront Monsanto and all the forces of death that want to end the full sovereignty of this small country that took its independence in the blood of its sons and daughters since 1804.
The MPP gave the sign of the struggle with a statement on RADIO (VWA Peyizan) VOICE OF THE PEASANTS and other Radios asking farmers to bury and burn all the maize seeds given by the Ministry of Agriculture. We are planning a big march from the CEDE of the MPP of Papaye to the city of Hinche on the occasion of International Environment Day on June 5. We will make the march on Friday June 4th. We will invite the the organizations of the LVC and others to be present. It's one step among many that we must take.
We will contact all the peasant organizations and allied organizations to design the strategy of struggle. We ask now for the solidarity of sister organizations and international allies.
LONG LIVE HAITI'S SOVEREIGNTY, LONG LIVE FOOD SOVEREIGNTY, LONG LIVE THE RIGHTS OF THE MOTHER LAND, LONG LIVE THE PEOPLE'S SOLIDARITY!
ORGANIZATION OR DEATH.
Chavannes Jean-Baptiste
Spokesman for the MPP and MPNKP
Member of the CCI of LVC
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Haitian Farmers Commit to Burning Monsanto Hybrid Seeds
By Beverly Bell, Huffington Post
May 17, 2010
"A new earthquake" is what peasant farmer leader Chavannes Jean-Baptiste of the Peasant Movement of Papay (MPP) called the news that Monsanto will be donating 60,000 seed sacks (475 tons) of hybrid corn seeds and vegetable seeds, some of them treated with highly toxic pesticides. The MPP has committed to burning Monsanto's seeds, and has called for a march to protest the corporation's presence in Haiti on June 4, for World Environment Day.
In an open letter sent of May 14, Chavannes Jean-Baptiste, the Executive Director of MPP and the spokesperson for the National Peasant Movement of the Congress of Papay (MPNKP), called the entry of Monsanto seeds into Haiti "a very strong attack on small agriculture, on farmers, on biodiversity, on Creole seeds..., and on what is left our environment in Haiti."[1] Haitian social movements have been vocal in their opposition to agribusiness imports of seeds and food, which undermines local production with local seed stocks. They have expressed special concern about the import of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/beverly-bell/haitian-farmers-commit-to_b_578807.html
May 17, 2010
"A new earthquake" is what peasant farmer leader Chavannes Jean-Baptiste of the Peasant Movement of Papay (MPP) called the news that Monsanto will be donating 60,000 seed sacks (475 tons) of hybrid corn seeds and vegetable seeds, some of them treated with highly toxic pesticides. The MPP has committed to burning Monsanto's seeds, and has called for a march to protest the corporation's presence in Haiti on June 4, for World Environment Day.
In an open letter sent of May 14, Chavannes Jean-Baptiste, the Executive Director of MPP and the spokesperson for the National Peasant Movement of the Congress of Papay (MPNKP), called the entry of Monsanto seeds into Haiti "a very strong attack on small agriculture, on farmers, on biodiversity, on Creole seeds..., and on what is left our environment in Haiti."[1] Haitian social movements have been vocal in their opposition to agribusiness imports of seeds and food, which undermines local production with local seed stocks. They have expressed special concern about the import of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/beverly-bell/haitian-farmers-commit-to_b_578807.html
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Brooklyn, 4/15: Forum on Haiti
Discuss how the progressive community can express solidarity with the Haitian people.
Thursday, April 15th, 6:30 to 9:30 pm
Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture
53 Prospect Park West at 2nd Street
Park Slope, Brooklyn
(#2 or #3 train to Grand Army Plaza)
Contributions appreciated
"Images of the Earthquake"
Tequila Minsky, photo-journalist who was in Port-au-Prince when the earthquake struck
"The Latin American Response"
Dr. Luther Castillo, Honduran graduate of the Latin America Medical School in Havana who is in the coordination of the Cuban medical team in Haiti
"The U.S. Response"
David L. Wilson, co-editor of Weekly News Update on the Americas and co-author of The Politics of Immigration
"The Haitian Response"
Bazelais Jean-Baptiste, Seeds for Haiti and Mouvman Peyizan Papay (Papaye Peasant Movement), and
Marie Yoleine Gateau of NEGES Foundation, a community project to rebuild Léogane, the epicenter of the earthquake
Organized by the Latin America Committee of Brooklyn For Peace
For more information: bfp@brooklynpeace.org
Thursday, April 15th, 6:30 to 9:30 pm
Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture
53 Prospect Park West at 2nd Street
Park Slope, Brooklyn
(#2 or #3 train to Grand Army Plaza)
Contributions appreciated
"Images of the Earthquake"
Tequila Minsky, photo-journalist who was in Port-au-Prince when the earthquake struck
"The Latin American Response"
Dr. Luther Castillo, Honduran graduate of the Latin America Medical School in Havana who is in the coordination of the Cuban medical team in Haiti
"The U.S. Response"
David L. Wilson, co-editor of Weekly News Update on the Americas and co-author of The Politics of Immigration
"The Haitian Response"
Bazelais Jean-Baptiste, Seeds for Haiti and Mouvman Peyizan Papay (Papaye Peasant Movement), and
Marie Yoleine Gateau of NEGES Foundation, a community project to rebuild Léogane, the epicenter of the earthquake
Organized by the Latin America Committee of Brooklyn For Peace
For more information: bfp@brooklynpeace.org
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Aid and Reconstruction for Haiti: The Grassroots Perspective
Three articles by Beverly Bell.
Raising Up Another Haiti
Common Dreams, February 23, 2010
As Haiti moves forward from the current point of devastation of its population, capital city, and economy, what could a different nation look like?
Who knows better than the Haitian majority? Why not ask them what they need and want?
Their perspectives have been sorely lost from the post-earthquake plans of some of the world's strongest powers. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/02/23-5
Haiti: Peasant Organizations Provide Humanitarian Aid
Daily Kos, February 24, 2010
“Yon sèl dwèt pa manje kalalou,” says Christroi Petit-homme, a member of a peasant farmer organization. You can’t eat gumbo with one finger. Peasant groups throughout rural Haiti form the fingers of the hand, reaching out with humanitarian aid for those left bereft after the earthquake.
U.S. Ambassador Ken Merten said at a February 12 State Department briefing, "In terms of humanitarian aid delivery, frankly, it's working really well, and I believe that this will be something that people will be able to look back on in the future as a model for how we've been able to sort ourselves out as donors on the ground and responding to an earthquake." Judging from hundreds of interviews, that impression is not shared by survivors of the earthquake. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/2/24/840201/-Country-Hospitality:-Haitian-Peasant-Organizations-Provide-Humanitarian-Aid
A Future for Agriculture, A Future for Haiti
Upside Down World, March 2, 2010
"We plant but we can’t produce or market. We plant but we have no food to eat. We want agriculture to improve so our country can live and so we peasants can live, too."
- Rilo Petit-homme, peasant organizer from St. Marc, Haiti
What would it take to transform Haiti’s economy such that its role in the global economy is no longer that of providing cheap labor for sweatshops? What would it take for hunger to no longer be the norm, for the country no longer to depend on imports and hand-outs, and for Port-au-Prince’s slums no longer to contain 85% of the city’s residents? What would it take for the hundreds of thousands left homeless by the earthquake to have a secure life, with income? [...]
Read the full article:
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/haiti-archives-51/2383-a-future-for-agriculture-a-future-for-haiti
Beverly Bell coordinates Other Worlds, http://www.otherworldsarepossible.org/ , which promotes social and economic alternatives. She is also associate fellow of the Institute for Policy Studies.
=============
Reminder: People in the New York metropolitan area can learn more about grassroots perpectives at "Haiti Beyond Disaster: Planting Seeds of Change," a discussion about Haiti's Mouvman Peyizan Papay (Papaye Peasant Movement, MPP) and the Seeds for Haiti campaign, with special guests Joanne Veillard and Bastien Jean-Baptiste, Haitian-American New Yorkers who visited Haiti's Central Plateau with a Seeds for Haiti delegation January 7-11, then survived the earthquake in Port-au-Prince.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
6:30pm-8:30pm
More information:
http://grassrootssolidarity.blogspot.com/2010/02/haiti-beyond-disaster-planting-seeds-of.html
Raising Up Another Haiti
Common Dreams, February 23, 2010
As Haiti moves forward from the current point of devastation of its population, capital city, and economy, what could a different nation look like?
Who knows better than the Haitian majority? Why not ask them what they need and want?
Their perspectives have been sorely lost from the post-earthquake plans of some of the world's strongest powers. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/02/23-5
Haiti: Peasant Organizations Provide Humanitarian Aid
Daily Kos, February 24, 2010
“Yon sèl dwèt pa manje kalalou,” says Christroi Petit-homme, a member of a peasant farmer organization. You can’t eat gumbo with one finger. Peasant groups throughout rural Haiti form the fingers of the hand, reaching out with humanitarian aid for those left bereft after the earthquake.
U.S. Ambassador Ken Merten said at a February 12 State Department briefing, "In terms of humanitarian aid delivery, frankly, it's working really well, and I believe that this will be something that people will be able to look back on in the future as a model for how we've been able to sort ourselves out as donors on the ground and responding to an earthquake." Judging from hundreds of interviews, that impression is not shared by survivors of the earthquake. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/2/24/840201/-Country-Hospitality:-Haitian-Peasant-Organizations-Provide-Humanitarian-Aid
A Future for Agriculture, A Future for Haiti
Upside Down World, March 2, 2010
"We plant but we can’t produce or market. We plant but we have no food to eat. We want agriculture to improve so our country can live and so we peasants can live, too."
- Rilo Petit-homme, peasant organizer from St. Marc, Haiti
What would it take to transform Haiti’s economy such that its role in the global economy is no longer that of providing cheap labor for sweatshops? What would it take for hunger to no longer be the norm, for the country no longer to depend on imports and hand-outs, and for Port-au-Prince’s slums no longer to contain 85% of the city’s residents? What would it take for the hundreds of thousands left homeless by the earthquake to have a secure life, with income? [...]
Read the full article:
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/haiti-archives-51/2383-a-future-for-agriculture-a-future-for-haiti
Beverly Bell coordinates Other Worlds, http://www.otherworldsarepossible.org/ , which promotes social and economic alternatives. She is also associate fellow of the Institute for Policy Studies.
=============
Reminder: People in the New York metropolitan area can learn more about grassroots perpectives at "Haiti Beyond Disaster: Planting Seeds of Change," a discussion about Haiti's Mouvman Peyizan Papay (Papaye Peasant Movement, MPP) and the Seeds for Haiti campaign, with special guests Joanne Veillard and Bastien Jean-Baptiste, Haitian-American New Yorkers who visited Haiti's Central Plateau with a Seeds for Haiti delegation January 7-11, then survived the earthquake in Port-au-Prince.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
6:30pm-8:30pm
More information:
http://grassrootssolidarity.blogspot.com/2010/02/haiti-beyond-disaster-planting-seeds-of.html
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Haiti Beyond Disaster: Planting Seeds of Change
A discussion about Haiti's Mouvman Peyizan Papay (Papaye Peasant Movement, MPP) and the Seeds for Haiti campaign, with special guests Joanne Veillard and Bastien Jean-Baptiste, Haitian-American New Yorkers who visited Haiti's Central Plateau with a Seeds for Haiti delegation January 7-11, then survived the earthquake in Port-au-Prince.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
6:30pm-8:30pm
Free and open to the public
(in English with whisper translation to Spanish available; vea anuncio en español abajo)
at the A.J. Muste Memorial Institute, Buzzer #11
339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012 (corner of Bleecker St)
6 train to Bleecker or F/V/B/D trains to Broadway/Lafayette
The “Seeds for Haiti” program, launched by Bassin Zim Education and Development Fund in late 2008, seeks to support the MPP and its more than 50,000 members in the Central Plateau region who are working to build food security and economic self-sufficiency through collectively-organized sustainable agriculture.
Event information: http://grassrootssolidarity.blogspot.com/2010/02/haiti-beyond-disaster-planting-seeds-of.html
or write to grassrootssolidaritynyc@gmail.com (in English or Spanish)
Seeds for Haiti: http://seedsforhaiti.org
MPP: http://mpphaiti.org/
***
Haití Más Allá del Desastre: Sembrando las Semillas del Cambio
Una charla sobre el Mouvman Peyizan Papay (Movimiento Campesino Papay, MPP) de Haití y la campaña Semillas para Haití, con invitados especiales Joanne Veillard y Bastien Jean-Baptiste, neoyorquinos haitiano-americanos quienes visitaron a la Mesa Central de Haití con una delegación de Semillas para Haití del 7 al 11 de enero, y sobrevivieron el terremoto en Puerto Príncipe.
Miércoles, 17 de marzo, 2010
6:30pm-8:30pm
Gratis y abierto al público
(en inglés con traducción simultanea al español disponible)
en el A.J. Muste Memorial Institute, Timbre #11
339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012 (esquina de Bleecker St)
tren 6 a Bleecker o trenes F/V/B/D a Broadway/Lafayette
El programa “Semillas para Haití”, lanzado por Bassin Zim Education and Development Fund a finales de 2008, busca apoyar al MPP y sus más de 50,000 integrantes en la región Mesa Central quienes trabajan para obtener seguridad alimentaria y autosuficiencia económica mediante agricultura sostenible organizada colectivamente.
Información sobre el evento: http://grassrootssolidarity.blogspot.com/2010/02/haiti-beyond-disaster-planting-seeds-of.html
o escribir al grassrootssolidaritynyc@gmail.com (en inglés o español)
Semillas para Haiti (Seeds for Haiti): http://seedsforhaiti.org
Movimiento Campesino Papay (MPP): http://mpphaiti.org/
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
6:30pm-8:30pm
Free and open to the public
(in English with whisper translation to Spanish available; vea anuncio en español abajo)
at the A.J. Muste Memorial Institute, Buzzer #11
339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012 (corner of Bleecker St)
6 train to Bleecker or F/V/B/D trains to Broadway/Lafayette
The “Seeds for Haiti” program, launched by Bassin Zim Education and Development Fund in late 2008, seeks to support the MPP and its more than 50,000 members in the Central Plateau region who are working to build food security and economic self-sufficiency through collectively-organized sustainable agriculture.
Event information: http://grassrootssolidarity.blogspot.com/2010/02/haiti-beyond-disaster-planting-seeds-of.html
or write to grassrootssolidaritynyc@gmail.com (in English or Spanish)
Seeds for Haiti: http://seedsforhaiti.org
MPP: http://mpphaiti.org/
***
Haití Más Allá del Desastre: Sembrando las Semillas del Cambio
Una charla sobre el Mouvman Peyizan Papay (Movimiento Campesino Papay, MPP) de Haití y la campaña Semillas para Haití, con invitados especiales Joanne Veillard y Bastien Jean-Baptiste, neoyorquinos haitiano-americanos quienes visitaron a la Mesa Central de Haití con una delegación de Semillas para Haití del 7 al 11 de enero, y sobrevivieron el terremoto en Puerto Príncipe.
Miércoles, 17 de marzo, 2010
6:30pm-8:30pm
Gratis y abierto al público
(en inglés con traducción simultanea al español disponible)
en el A.J. Muste Memorial Institute, Timbre #11
339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012 (esquina de Bleecker St)
tren 6 a Bleecker o trenes F/V/B/D a Broadway/Lafayette
El programa “Semillas para Haití”, lanzado por Bassin Zim Education and Development Fund a finales de 2008, busca apoyar al MPP y sus más de 50,000 integrantes en la región Mesa Central quienes trabajan para obtener seguridad alimentaria y autosuficiencia económica mediante agricultura sostenible organizada colectivamente.
Información sobre el evento: http://grassrootssolidarity.blogspot.com/2010/02/haiti-beyond-disaster-planting-seeds-of.html
o escribir al grassrootssolidaritynyc@gmail.com (en inglés o español)
Semillas para Haiti (Seeds for Haiti): http://seedsforhaiti.org
Movimiento Campesino Papay (MPP): http://mpphaiti.org/
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