Un syndicaliste haitien assasine:Jefaisant Laguerre, age 64

piporiko Dim 19 Oct 2008 - 12:05

Dear Sisters and Brothers,
We received word earlier this week that Haitian unionist and activist Jefaisant Laguerre, age 64, was assassinated on Friday, October 10 outside Cité Soleil, a shantytown in Haiti's capital city of Port au Prince. Jefaisant was the older brother of Manique Laguerre, a member of the Executive Board of the Autonomous Confederation of Haitian Workers (CATH).
The CATH was one of 20 organizations in Haiti that mobilized on October 10 as part of a Continental Day of Action to demand the immediate withdrawal from Haiti of United Nations-MINUSTAH occupation troops and their replacement with doctors, firefighters, engineers, nurses, masons, and civilian security personnel. The CATH and the newly formed Socialist Workers Party of Haiti (POS), which also mobilized its members on October 10, are supporters of the International Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples (ILC).
Hundreds of Haitian activists defied the police and local authorities and marched through the city streets to the National Palace, where they delivered a statement demanding that President René Preval not submit a request for the one-year renewal of the MINUSTAH occupation mandate.
[This request went unheeded. On Tuesday, October 14, the UN re-authorized the deployment of 9,121 "peacekeeping" -- i.e., occupation -- troops, and rejected the call for economic aid and development funding.]
Brother Jefaisant proudly participated in this rally to demand true international assistance and sovereignty for Haiti. On his way home after the rally, he was carrying a picket-sign demanding self-determination for the Haitian people when he was accosted and then stabbed to death.
His union comrades and family are convinced that this was a political assassination. They are demanding a full investigation into his death and are insisting that those responsible for this assassination be brought to justice.
We are reprinting below the statement sent by Daniel Gluckstein, coordinator of the ILC, to the Memorial Meeting that will be held tomorrow, October 19, in Haiti to pay homage to this brother who fell in the struggle for justice.
We call upon all supporters of Haitian sovereignty and self-determination to please sign onto the brief statement which we would like to forward first thing tomorrow morning to the family and comrades of Brother Jefaisant. [This statement can be found immediately below.]
We thank you in advance for your interest and support for this statement,
In solidarity,
Eduardo Rosario and Alan BenjaminCo-Conveners,Continuations Committee, Open World Conference
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SIGN-ON STATEMENT
We, the undersigned, join you in paying tribute to the life and struggle of Brother Jefaisant Laguerre, who was assassinated on October 10 as he was returning home from a rally to demand the immediate withdrawal from Haiti of United Nations-MINUSTAH occupation troops and their replacement with doctors, firefighters, engineers, nurses, masons, and civilian security personnel.
We honor Brother Jefaisant's commitment to his people, to his nation, and to the struggle for justice.
We join you in calling for a full investigation into his death, and that those responsible for this assassination be brought to justice.
In solidarity,
[follows list of endorsers; please add your name to the list of signatories]
NAME
UNION OR ORG (for id. only)
CITY
STATE
COUNTRY
EMAIL
(please sent your statement to <cath372002@yahoo.fr> and to <ilcinfo@earthlink.net>)
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piporiko Dim 19 Oct 2008 - 12:05

INTERNATIONAL LIAISON COMMITTEE
OF WORKERS AND PEOPLES (ILC)

Message from Daniel GlucksteinCoordinator of the ILC
To the Memorial Meeting and Funeral for Jefaisant Laguerre
Dear Sisters and Brothers; Dear Comrades,
In the name of the organizations and militants that participate in the activities of the ILC, I salute the memory of Jefaisant Laguerre, victim of a vicious assassination last Friday, October 10. His entire family, his children, brother Manique, and his friends and comrades in the CATH [Autonomous Confederation of Haitian Workers] should be assured of our steadfast support and solidarity, more than ever.
As coordinator of the ILC, I did not personally know Brother Jefaisant, a father of a family and a militant activist. What I do know is that he was killed by a cowardly stabbing just outside his residence upon his return from a demonstration with hundreds of other militants that was organized by the CATH, POS [Socialist Workers Party of Haiti], and numerous other labor and grassroots organizations, for the withdrawal of MINUSTAH foreign occupation troops and for the respect of the sovereignty of the nation of Haiti and its people.
The ILC, in whose campaigns the CATH and POS participate actively in Haiti, contributed to the organization of this day's demonstrations and protests in Haiti, as well in six other countries in the Americas
Jefaisant Laguerre was stabbed while returning from this demonstration in Port au Prince and was carrying with him as a souvenir the sign he had proudly displayed at this demonstration, a sign which read "MINUSTAH Must Go!" How can we not see a link between this crime and the well-known commitment of Brother Jefaisant Laguerre to the struggle for the withdrawal of the occupation army?
The mandate for this occupation force, the MINUSTAH, has just been renewed for a year. The UN Security Council, the heads of government of the world's great powers, decided on this issue last Tuesday, October 14. They decided that Haiti must remain under military occupation, that the Haitian people, heirs to the legacy of Toussaint Louverture and Jean-Jacques Dessalines, cannot be a free people in a free nation.
But the Haitian people, as all peoples around the world, have the right to fight for their national sovereignty, without which they will never have peace and democracy, or the ability to live better lives. The Haitian people, as all peoples, have the right to lift themselves up against the oppression and capitalist exploitation that create famine and wars. I believe this brother we are burying shared these convictions and defended them. For this reason he is one of ours, and we will not forget him. We know that the battle we are undertaking is and will always be difficult. Your friend, brother and comrade Jefaisant, is one of the latest victims of this battle. But whatever may be the obstacles and vicious crimes we face, all the militants and organizations linked to the ILC are committed to fighting until the very end, together with the working class and all oppressed peoples, to free ourselves from this barbaric capitalist system, to win the right to live in a society of true solidarity, free from famine, wars, and the system of profit and exploitation - and we are convinced of our final victory.
With and before all of you here today, the ILC commits itself to do everything it can so that those responsible for this assassination, as well as any accomplices, are found and brought to justice with as little delay as possible.
Jefaisant Laguerre, we salute your memory and pledge again to all of you gathered here, to his family, friends and comrades, the support of all the militant activists of the ILC.
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Un syndicaliste haitien assasine:Jefaisant Laguerre, age 64

Un syndicaliste haitien assasine:Jefaisant Laguerre, age 64

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