Alan Benjamin / Forum Haiti – 2008-08-30 21:14:57
http://www.forumhaiti.com/actualite-internationale-f5/haitian-activist-david-josue-s-brazil-tour-to-demand-troops-out-of-haiti-t4476.htm
Haitian Activist David Josue
Begins Brazil Tour to Demand
UN/Brazil Troops Out of Haiti
Alan Benjamin / Forum Haiti
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 18, 2008 — Haitian human rights activist David Josue initiated today a week-long tour to Brazil, where he will speak before mass rallies and official governmental bodies in four cities to demand the immediate withdrawal of UN troops, which are under Brazilian command, from Haiti.
Brother Josue issued an Open Letter to Brazilian President Inacio “Lula” da Silva earlier this year at the Second Continental Conference Against Free Trade, Privatizations and War in Mexico City. The Brazilian delegation to this conference subsequently distributed this Open Letter widely across Brazil, winning many supporters for this stance among federal deputies in the Brazilian National Assembly and among the leadership of the main trade union federation: the CUT.
UN troops in Brazil — known as the MINUSTAH forces (or UN Mission for the Stabilization of Haiti) — have occupied Haiti since 2004. Brazil is in command of these occupation forces and also has the largest contingent of troops in Haiti — 1,210 troops, according to the UN figures released for June 2008.
Brother Josue’s letter to Lula states, in part:
“Something untoward is going on with your soldiers in Haiti. Brazilian soldiers are conducting terrifying raids on residents of poor and defenseless communities throughout Haiti, leaving in their wake a trail of blood, tears, and death. The buck stops with you, President da Silva. You are their commander in chief. … This cannot possibly be the best that the Brazilian people have to offer. How can this happen when you are the President of Brazil? Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. reminded us that there comes a time when silence is betrayal. Will you and your Administration remain silent on these atrocities?”
[See full text of Brother Josue’s Open Letter below.]
Brother Josue will also mobilize support for the demand for the safe return of Haitian human activist Lovinsky Pierre Antoine, who disappeared in Haiti on August 12, 2007.
Brother Josue’s tour has been endorsed very broadly by trade unionists, federal and state deputies of Lula’s own party (the Workers Party), and by the country’s main Black and community organizations.
On Tuesday, August 19, Brother Josue will speak at a hearing of the Sao Paulo State Legislative Assembly, followed by a mass public rally that includes the following speakers: Federal PT Deputies Luis Couto and Fernando Ferro; Gegé, leader of the Union of Popular Movements; Milton Barbosa, a central leader of the Unified Black Movement; Gilberto Orlandi, representative of Revolution Youth; Markos Sokol, member of the National Directorate of the Workers Party for the O Trabalho Current; Renato Simoes, representative of the National Secretariat of the Popular Movements Coalition of the Workers Party; Rafael Pinto, representative of the National Secretariat of the Workers Party’s Struggle Against Racism Committee; and Claudinho, of the state committee of Struggle Against Racism.
On Wednesday, August 20, Brother Josue will speak at a Hearing at the Brazilian National Assembly’s Human Rights Commission in Brasilia, followed by a public rally and press conference. A press release by the Parliamentary Fraction of the Workers Party titled, “PT Leaders Wish To Debate Violation of Rights in Haiti” announces the hearing and rally with David Josue. The press release quotes PT Federal Deputy Luis Couto who, together with PT Federal Deputy Fernando Ferro, obtained the agreement of the Brazilian Human Rights Commission to host the Hearing.
The release goes on to refer to the letter sent from David Josue to President da Silva and then mentions that on April 30 this letter was presented by a PT leadership delegation to Lula’s Chief of Staff Gilberto Carvalho, who told the delegation that “Haiti is going through a very complicated situation, where the troops end up getting caught up in terrible situations.” Carvalho went on to state that “Josue’s letter could help the quest to establish other measures that could solve the problem.”
Brother Josue’s Open Letter, however, has still received no reply from Lula — which is one of the reasons for this week-long tour to Brazil: Lula must reply to this letter; he must commit to withdrawing Brazilian troops from Haiti!
On Thursday, August 21, Brother Josue will travel to Recife, in the northern state of Pernambuco, where he will address a meeting of the Pernambuco United Trade Union Confederation (CUT), followed by a labor-community rally and press conference.
On Friday, August 22, Brother Josue will be in Salvador, Bahia, the heart of the Black movement and struggle in Brazil. He will address various events sponsored by the unions and main Black organizations.
In a press statement issued on the eve of his departure for Sao Paulo, Brazil, Brother Josue noted the following:
“The occupation of Haiti, meaning the loss of Haitian sovereignty, is presented to the world as ‘humanitarian aid.’ But the Haitian government has no control over the Brazilian-led UN MINUSTAH troops. The UN troops are in charge of the Haitian police (PNH), prisons, courts and jails. This is dictatorship — not aid.
“Thousands of Haitians have been arbitrarily held in prisons without trial or hearings. The UN peacekeepers have, in their armored vehicles, created instability and enforced injustice. They mow down market women, shoot children, intimidate pedestrians, humiliate any lawful citizen they wish at will and on any whim with routine stop and searches, commit rapes and generally betray, violate and prey on the very population they were sent to protect. This cannot be called ‘humanitarian aid’ by any stretch.
“The Brazilian-led UN military presence has hurt, used unnecessary force and violence, abused and made Haiti more unsafe for the ordinary Haitian than ever before. This occupation must come to an end. I remain convinced that if the young citizens of Brazil who are living in the streets were subject to these atrocities, one would expect someone to speak up in their defense.”
Haitian Activist David Josue Concludes Successful 4-City Tour in Brazil to Demand Immediate Withdrawal of UN/Brazilian Troops from Haiti
Report by Alan Benjamin / Forum Haiti
• (Report compiled from correspondence/documents from Brother David Josue and from official tour report from Brazilian tour organizers; photos from the tour can be accessed online.)
On Saturday, August 24, Haitian human rights activist David Josue, a member of the Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network (HLLN), completed his one-week trip of Brazil. His tour, which was sponsored by leaders of the Workers Party (PT) and Central Workers Federation (CUT) of Brazil, was organized to promote the widest possible support for the call to withdraw all UN troops, which are under Brazilian command, from Haiti — so that the Haitian people can determine their own fate, without foreign intervention.
UN troops in Brazil — known as the MINUSTAH forces (or UN Mission for the Stabilization of Haiti) — have occupied Haiti since 2004. Brazil is in command of these occupation forces and also has the largest contingent of troops in Haiti — 1,210 troops, according to the UN figures released for June 2008.
On April 4, 2008, from the platform of the Second Continental Conference Against “Free Trade” and Privatizations at the hall of the Mexican Electrical Workers Union (SME) in Mexico City, Brother Josue had issued his Open Letter to Brazilian President Luis Inacio “Lula” da Silva.
In this letter, Brother Josue mentioned the heinous crimes by the UN-MINUSTAH occupation forces in Haiti and demanded that Lula take immediate action to put a halt to this situation, beginning with the withdrawal of Brazilian troops from Haiti. [See Appendix No. 1 for copy of Open Letter.]
On April 30, Gilberto de Carvalho, chief of staff of President Lula received a delegation in Brasilia led by PT Federal Deputy Fernando Ferro of Pernambuco and Markus Sokol, a member of the National Executive Committee of the Workers Party. The delegation delivered Brother Josue’s letter to Lula. Carvalho pledged that the delegation would receive a reply from Lula within one week.
But that reply never came. A campaign was then launched across Brazil in support of Brother Josue’s Open Letter and its main demand to withdraw Brazilian troops from Haiti. In a short period of time, 14,342 endorsers were gathered, about half from youth activists.
During his tour, Brother Josue also demanded that the Brazilian authorities press for an immediate investigation into the disappearance on August 12, 2007, of Haitian activist Lovinsky Pierre Antoine. For over one year now, an international campaign has been waged to demand the safe return of Brother Pierre Antoine.
The tour organizers have since issued a comprehensive day-by-day report on the tour. The following is an abridged and translated version of their report:
Monday, April 18:
Brother Josue’s tour was an overwhelming success.
It began with a meeting with the top leaders of the CUT trade union federation in Sao Paulo. Earlier, the CUT had adopted a resolution affirming that the “presence of Brazilian troops in Haiti does not create the conditions for rebuilding a country that has been destroyed,” reaffirming the need to safeguard the right of the Haitian people to self-determination, and calling on the Brazilian labor movement to discuss the proposal to withdraw Brazilian troops from Haiti.
Following this meeting, Brother Josue then spoke to journalists and elected officials, including PT Deputy Adriano Diago, at the Legislative Assembly in Sao Paulo. He also showed Haitian filmmaker Kevin Pina’s video “What’s Going On in Haiti,” which includes the images of the massacre by MINUSTAH troops of civilians in Cité Soleil, a shantytown in the capital city Port au Prince.
Brother Josue filed a report after his first day in Brazil that states, in part:
“A couple of hours after I arrived, I went straight to work with my host Markus Sokol and other members of the Workers Party. I brought with me the copies of the dvd that Brother Pierre Labossiere sent to me. I showed it ten minutes after my arrival. I was told by a member of the press that the Brazilian public has never been told of the atrocities committed by their soldiers in Haiti.
“They are all under the impression that Brazil is busy in Haiti building hospitals and caring for the population. Then I showed them Kevin Pina’s dvd. The dvd was very helpful, and it will be shown to a joint session of the Congress in Brasilia before my speech.
“I just finished a TV interview with the government television station. It went very well. There is a copy of Mrs. Lovinski’s letter in every press kit, and I will deliver one to the senators as well.
“I also met with the leadership of the CUT union federation. A resolution to ask for the withdrawal of the troops in Haiti was discussed. 600 delegates will sign the resolution, and I will sign as a delegate of Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network. I told the Brazilian press that we owe it to Kevin Pina who risked the ultimate price to bring us the true story of what occurred in Cite Soleil that day.”
Tuesday, August 19
The following day took Brother Josue to the capital city of Brasilia, where he met with Magali Naves, Secretary for the Promotion of Racial Equality in the Lula government. Mrs. Naves viewed the Pina video and pledged to work with Minister Edson Santos to put an end to this “Haitian drama.” [See Photo No. 4 in photo link site below.]
Brother Josue was then received by Senator Eduardo Suplicy in his congressional office. Senator Suplicy heard the message from Haiti, viewed the video and pledged to show the video to a session of the Senate the following day. Brother Josue also met with Valter Pomar, Director of International Relations of the Workers Party (PT).
The day ended with a public meeting for the Withdrawal of UN/Brazilian Troops from Haiti in the hall of the SINDSEP [public sector] trade union. Also addressing the gathering of 50 unionists and activists were Lucia Reis, of the executive committee of the CUT; Ismael César, representing the CUT in Brasilia; Oton Pereira, secretary-treasurer of SINDSEP; Edison Cardoni of the CONDSEF union, and Markus Sokol.
Wednesday, August 20
The day began with a meeting with Dr. Fermino Fechio, Coordinator of the National Human Rights Commission of Brazil, who received the 14,443 signatures in support of Brother Josue’s Open Letter to Lula.
Mr. Fechio pledged to study the full dossier presented by Brother Josue and said he would propose that the Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network participate in the December 2008 conference organized by the Brazilian Human Rights Commission. But he also stated, based on the grave accusations and images from the Kevin Pina’s video to address the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and National Defense to demand “clarifications.” [See photo nos 6 and 7. in linked photo gallery.]
Brother Josue then presented his remarks and video to the Commission of Foreign Affairs of the Brazilian Senate. The major Brazilian newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo reported as follows on this important session:
“‘The peace mission in Haiti, coordinated by Brazil, has witnessed the use of troops, tanks and helicopters to bombard the Cité Soleil neighborhood, where innocent children were killed,’ stated Senator Suplicy. … Senator Marina Silva echoed these remarks: ‘The images speak for themselves. The child who died at the hands of the UN troops is the child of every one of us. If no one has been brought to justice for these actions, it us up to us to push for an inquiry. Nothing can justify such atrocities.” (Folha Online, August 20)
In response to the testimony and video showing, the Senate Commission voted to communicate all this documentation to the Ministers of Foreign Relations and National Defense, and to summon Defense Minister Nelson Jobim to appear before the committee to respond to this evidence. The vote was reported widely around the world, and was reported even in Haiti by Radio Kiskeya.
The official Senate website and Senate Daily Journal reported on the meeting as follows:
“Yesterday Senator Eduardo Suplicy (PT-Sao Paulo) presented denunciations of human rights abuses committed by United Nations troops in Haiti under Brazilian command at a meeting of the Commission of Foreign Affairs and National Defense. The denunciations were made by David Josué, a Haitian residing in the United States, in the name of the Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network, and by Markus Sokol, a member of the National Executive Committee of the Workers Party (PT).
“Parliamentarians watched a video about events that occurred in 2007. According to David Josué, abuses continue to occur. In the video, troops with tanks and helicopters are bombing the slum quarter of Cité Soleil, in Port-au-Prince, leaving multiple residents dead, including children. ‘The authorities say that those killed were “outlaws or drug traffickers,’ Suplicy explained.
“The president of the commission, Heráclito Fortes (DEM-PI), considered the denunciations to be serious and reported that the Commission will set a meeting with the Minister of Defense, Nelson Jobim, to deal with the issue. Marina Silva (Workers Party-AC) said that the assassinated children represent “the children of all of us.” Parliamentarians will ask for clarification from the Ministries of Defense and Foreign Affairs.” [See photo No. 11, which is reprinted from the Senate Daily Journal. Also from Brasilia, see photo no. 5 and 10.]
Following the session in the Senate, Brother Josue spoke before the Commission on Human Rights of the House of Representatives, at a session also attended by elected officials, human rights organizations and Deputy Attorney General of Brazil Gilda Pereira de Carvalho.
Federal Deputy Luis Couto was so moved by the information on the real situation in Haiti that he announced he would propose that the Commission summon President Lula to appear before the committee to answer for these atrocities committed in the name of the people of Brazil.
At the same time, the Deputy Attorney General announced that she would initiate a lawsuit based on the Statute on Children and Adolescents, given the evidence of sexual trafficking and rapes committed by MINUSTAH troops in Haiti, under Brazilian command.
Later in the afternoon, the delegation returned to Sao Paulo, where Brother Josue spoke before a gathering of more than 200 people in the Franco Montoro auditorium of the Sao Paulo State Legislative Assembly. The event began with the presentation of the Kevin Pina video denouncing the criminal actions of the UN troops in Cité Soleil, in 2006 and 2007.
The event was sponsored by Federal Deputies Jose Candido and Adriano Diogo (Workers Party – Sao Paulo). The main speaker was David Josué, of the Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network, whose full presentation to the gathering is included as Appendix No. 2 below.
Other speakers included Federal PT Deputies Jose Candido and Adriano Diago; Gegé, leader of the Union of Popular Movements; Milton Barbosa, a central leader of the Unified Black Movement; Marcelo Buzzeto of the Landless Peasants Movement )MST); Gilberto Malukinho, representative of Revolution Youth; Renato Simoes, representative of the National Secretariat of the Popular Movements Coalition of the Workers Party; Rafael Pinto, representative of the National Secretariat of the Workers Party’s Struggle Against Racism Committee; and Claudinho, of the state committee of Struggle Against Racism, as well as Haitian activists Roosevelt Jean Felix, Kathia Ridore and Jean Milus Rocheman.
The closing speech was delivered by Markus Sokol, who reported on all the meetings held earlier that day in Brasilia and who concluded his remarks with the call to continue and deepen the campaign across Brazil to demand the withdrawal of all MINUSTAH troops from Brazil as well as the punishment of all those responsible for the criminal actions perpetrated against the civilian population.
Sokol also announced that the Third Caribbean Conference Against “Free Trade” and Privatizations, and in Defense of National Sovereignty would be held on December 12-13 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, with the theme “By Defending Haiti, We Defend Ourselves!” [See photos nos. 2,3, 12 and 13 in linked photo gallery.]
Thursday, August 21
A meeting of 50 trade unionists of the CUT-Pernambuco union federation was held in the state’s capital city of Recife in northern Brazil to hear the presentation of Brother Josue. Leading trade unionists and community activists participated in the discussion. Jacqueline Albuquerque was one of the speakers.
She had met Brother Josue at the Second Continental Conference in Mexico City, where she was a delegate from Fenajufe workers’ union. Marta, a leader of the National Black Unified Movement, also spoke and joined the call for the immediate withdrawal of Brazilian/UN troops from Haiti. [See photo no. 1 in linked photo gallery.]
Friday, August 22
The final day of the tour took Brother Josue to Salvador, the capital of the state of Bahia. More than 70 people participated in this event, which was hosted by members of the City Council, trade union and community leaders, and by Juventude Revoluçao (Revolution Youth).
Among the many passionate speakers was Carmen Sacramento, a founding leader of the Workers Party, who underscored the fact that “what is occurring at the hands of the MINUSTAH troops in Haiti is occurring every day in the favelas of Brazil’s cities against poor Blacks and youth.” [See photos 8 and 9 in linked photo gallery]
Appendix No. 1
Presentation by David Josue to Second Continental Conference Against Free Trade, Privatizations and War (Mexico City — April 5, 2008)
Dear Sisters and Brothers:
I want to thank the organizers of this important Segundo Encuentro for providing me an opportunity to address this body and to put the issue of Brazilian conduct in Haiti on the table for discussion.
My comments are directed at President da Silva, and I ask the delegates here from Brazil to please relay my concerns to the government in Brasilia.
President Lula da Silva:
Something untoward is going on with your soldiers in Haiti. Brazilian soldiers are conducting terrifying raids on residents of poor and defenseless communities throughout Haiti, leaving in their wake a trail of blood, tears, and death.
The buck stops with you, President da Silva. You are their commander in chief.
What your soldiers are doing to the innocent people of Haiti is worse than what the armed forces of Haiti were accused of doing.
No one will attempt to mitigate the utmost importance of living in a state of law. No one objects to getting a proper warrant before the proper court seeks an arrest of the accused and brings him or her to justice. But a collective warrant that declares an entire community criminal is, in itself, criminal.
President Lula da Silva, what would you say to Fredi Romelus for the terrible loss of his one-year-old son, Nelson Romelus. What was his crime?
Why was he executed by your soldiers? His four-year-old brother Stanley, who died of a high-powered gunshot wound to the head, what was his crime?
Their mother, Sonia Romelus, who died still clutching her baby, Nelson, what was her crime?
Lelene Mertina, 24 years old, was six months pregnant when a bullet ripped through her abdomen, instantly killing her unborn fetus. What was she guilty of to deserve this?
President Lula da Silva, according to a U.N. after-action report, your soldiers spent seven hours shooting at an unarmed population. They expended over 22,000 rounds of ammunition, knowing they were striking unintended targets. This cannot possibly be the best that the Brazilian people have to offer. How can this happen when you are the President of Brazil?
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. reminded us that there comes a time when silence is betrayal. Will you and your Administration remain silent on these atrocities?
Appendix No. 2
Presentation by David Josue to
Public Rally in Sao Paulo on August 20
Honorable President of the Senate,
Distinguished Members of the Brazilian Congress, and citizens of the Federative Republic of Brazil; I am grateful, humbled and honored to speak before you on behalf of those in Haiti who are no longer alive to speak and all Haitians and friends of Haiti who desire a non military and peaceful solution to the situation in Haiti.
We all would like to turn the page and start anew with a New Haiti; a New Haiti where all Haitians everywhere, and people of Haitian descent everywhere can constitutionally participate in the Renaissance of Haiti.
It is time to silence the guns. It is time for lasting peace. For Haiti’s sake, it is time for a Truce in Haiti an end to the fratricidal strife. It is time for the current military presence in Haiti to end. Maintaining law and order in an urban area is a police matter, not one for military troops.
Haiti needs the assistance of police forces, financial aid, humanitarian workers and the assistance of Haitians from all over to participate in Haiti’s development. It is time for Haitians to pro-actively prepare to assume the responsibility that awaits them after the departure of MINUSTAH. Today, MINUSTAH represents Stabilization in principle but occupation in practice.
It is time for the soldiers to know when they will return home to their beloved Brazil, and the others, to their respective homelands. Too often, the deployment of Brazilian soldiers and other foreign speaking soldiers in the already impoverished neighborhoods of Haiti, for the arrest of one or two lawbreakers results in the unfortunate death of children, women and unarmed bystanders.
What Brazilian led UN soldiers have done to the innocent people of Haiti is worse than what the Armed Forces of Haiti were accused of doing. Imagine the already frightened and traumatized Creole speaking unarmed civilians trying to react to soldiers shouting orders in Portuguese, Arabic, Sinhalese, Tamil, or Spanish.
It has been four years now since families in Haiti are living in fear of foreign troops and also are being forced to pay large sums for the return of their kidnapped loved ones by the emergence of kidnappers, only to find their lifeless and mutilated bodies. Eyewitnesses and survivors reported that during a soccer match organized for peace in Martissant, many were methodically executed in the stadium while the troops stood by like in Rwanda and did nothing. What will it take to investigate what went wrong that day?
All that went to the tune of $535,372,800.00 a year, $44,614,400.00 a month, $1,593,371. a day, yes, that is $66,390 an hour to keep soldiers in Haiti; and it’s has been going on for four years. Yet, insecurity, hunger, political stratification have the upper hand and the deaths of innocent civilians are numerous.
Given the flimsy constructions in Cite Soleil and the powerful arms with projectiles that can penetrate the tin, wood and concrete shacks, how many targets were the troops expected to hit when they expended 22,000 rounds of ammunition in a populous civilian neighborhood?
That was scandalous, and excessive in light of the clear overall military advantage of the troops and the loss and damage to the civilian population that could have been avoided. On July 3, 2008, the world learned that 15 hostages were rescued from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia and not one shot was fired. General Freddy Padilla said” we wanted to have it happen as it did today, without a single shot, without anyone wounded, absolutely safe, sound and without a scratch. In contrast, the Brazilian led UN troops, entered Cite Soleil to arrest one man, who they claimed held the population hostage by intimidation and other allegations. 1
0,000 shots were fired from heavy automatic weapons and 30mm cannon in that populous seaside slum. The suspect they were looking for was not found. Yet, they left behind a trail of disaster and a terrible precedent. How can it be asked of us to put our trust in these soldiers when the world learned from Save the Children that UN soldiers are involved in rape, sexual trafficking and exploitation of women and children as young as 6 years old in Haiti and Sudan?
All the babies, children, unarmed men and women who met their untimely death from the Brazilian led mission will be remembered. They cannot be dismissed simply as Collateral Civilian Damages; Haiti is not at war.
But I would like Brazil to be remembered as the one that made peacemaking possible in Haiti without a military solution.
The stance of the soldiers does not instill faith in the civilian population that it is a peace Mission, but instill in the population the belief that the Mission has turned against unarmed civilians they swore to protect. Stabilization in name, but occupation in practice is a problem.
The Haitian solution is not a military one. I am not going to take an unreliably nationalist stance; we will need the assistance of our friends in various projects. We will need tractors for agriculture but we will not need tanks and other weapons of war.
We need to experience the implementation of people centered policies that will remake the Plaine du Sud and the valley of Artibonite the bread baskets of Haiti once again. According to an Associated Press article published in the Miami Herald on July 20,2008, that quoted a U.S Agency of International Development report “_of the outpouring of international pledges that included more than 40,000 tons of food intended to quell the emergency, as of early July of 2008, less than 2 percent of that had been distributed”.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said that he did not want a repeat of the Rwanda killings and chaos in Haiti after the departure of MINUSTAH. These words are proof that he is a man of compassion and compassion is not only a virtue, it is a duty. History will thank his Excellency for leaving a legacy of moral courage for ordering the orderly withdrawal of the troops in Haiti and avoid the lost of lives he mentioned. Distinguished members of the Brazilian Congress, your country has accepted the role of Lead Nation in Haiti, and you must have reason for having done so.
I therefore ask you to please listen to your voters and support an Agenda for Peace and Reconciliation and end the military operations in Haiti. I ask the Churches not to remain silent in light of our trouble and the pulpits not to remain inept. Please end the occupation in memory of the innocent children who died and the orphans that are struggling to survive against all odds.
When Brazilian families talk about Haiti, it should be about vacations or business opportunities, but not where their loved ones lost their lives. When Haitian families think of Brazil, it should be about emulating the success story of this republic, but not of Brazilian soldiers who fired the weapons of war that killed their loved ones. No life should be written off. Not the life of any Brazilian soldiers and not the life of any citizens of Haiti.
We the peoples of Latin, South, Central America and the Caribbean Islands, must live in peace. Hunger, sickness, and death have been our burden for a long time, but nothing hurts more than the total indifference of others.
The new leaders will boast of the lives saved but not of the lives taken to earn their ranks. To all among you who support an immediate withdrawal of the troops in Haiti, I thank you in behalf of those who lives weren’t spared in Haiti. The Haitian people have many friends inside Brazil and around the world; we will always remember your generosity of heart. The Progressive communities around the world will remain vigilant in their support for a peaceful Haiti.
My warmest gratitude to the Workers Party of Brazil, Juventud Revolucao, L’Union General des Travailleurs de Guadeloupe, Association des Travailleurs et Peuples de la Caraibe, Travaye e Peyizan, Movimento Negro Unificado, elected officials of the Federative Republic of Brazil, students all over Brazil, to you and all others I say thank you for standing up for peace in Haiti.
My brothers and sisters in Haiti are starving for peace, order and union, and Haitians have not lost their resilience and determination to succeed. Our leverage is within us and we will draw strength from our past achievements and with the help of our friends, peacefully forge a way of this impasse.
Obrigado por convidar-me e viva a amizade brasileira-haitiano.
