Batay Ouvriye and Brazilian Trade Unionists Attacked in Haiti

BATAY OUVRIYE - Port-au-Prince, Friday July 6, 2007.

Batay Ouvriye informs the population that right after the visit of a delegation of Brazilian unionists invited by us to Haiti to share their position against the occupation, exploitation and domination here, we received threats and intimidations formulated against our organization.

Indeed, even before this delegation left the country on July third, in Cap-Haitian, the day after a workers’ assembly greeted these comrades and friends from Brazil in this city of the North, a group of some ten thugs, undoubtedly at the service of others and armed with machetes, sticks and guns, arrived, late at night, yelling threats against us and even tried to enter within our meeting house, in what clearly appeared to be a an outright attack against our members who were inside. Having failed to enter, they shouted insults and made a scandal destined to intimidate us, indicating they would come back after us.

In Port-au-Prince, the day after a meeting held in the same objective in Cité Soleil, two MINUSTAH vehicules, one civilian and one military, decided to park right in front of our meeting house!

We hold for responsible the authorities of this occupation force, the MINUSTAH, as well as the Haitian authorities, both in close coordination with these obscure forces, and who, having met with us, were fully aware of our activities with the Brazilian delegation.

For Batay Ouvriye,

Yannick Etienne