Many of Haiti’s popular organizations trace their
roots back to the Ti Kominote
Legliz (TKL), for it was in these
ecclesiastical base
communities that
activists found
cover during the
repressive Duva-
lier era. Springing from the current
of liberation the-
ology, the Ti
Legliz movement Father Willy Romelus, a leader of the Ti
took off in the Leglizmovement, speaks at the funeral
mid-1970s, pro- of a victim of military violence.
viding a common thread to link catechists, peasants, students and workers. The use of church-based train- ing programs and the emergence of the church-fund- ed popular radio station Radyo Soley further politicized
and fortified the Ti Legliz sector.
After Baby Doc’s downfall, the movement sought to
formally structure itself. A National Coordinating Com- mittee was established with representatives from diocesan TKLs throughout the country. Other religious- ly based groups cropped up, including Solidarite Ant
Jen and Veye Yo. The political opening allowed activists to spin off and build peasant, student, and other popular organizations.
Peasant Groups
The seeds of Haiti’s peasant movement were plant- ed in the late 1960s in the form of farming coopera-
tives, or gwoupman. Consisting of ten to 15 members, gwoupman gave peasants a collective base of resis- tance against the rural structures of exploitation and repression.
By 1986, gwoupman had become widespread and
extremely politicized. After Duvalier’s fall, they devel-
32NACL4 REPORT ON THE AMERICAS NACIA REPORT ON THE AMERICAS 32REPORT ON HAITI
CNG to play fair. “Rache manybk”-literally “pull out
your roots”-became the order of the day as the junta
was urged to exit the political scene. The July mas-
sacre in Jean Rabel of over 300 peasants advocating
land reform reinforced this mistrust of the electoral
process and fueled calls by militants for a total boy-
cott. Port-au-Prince’s Ti Legliz Coordinating Commit-
tee urged the people to “remain mobilized against
these elections, whose results-no matter what-will
not resolve the fundamental problems of the people.” 4
As election day neared, however, “rache manybk” was
modified to encourage the masses to shift their ener-
gies from street mobilization to an “electoral clean-
up”-voting Duvalierists out of office.
The army responded with a “clean-up” of its own,
massacring voters as they turned out to cast their bal-
lots. While temporarily forcing the movement to
retreat, the aborted elections paradoxically advanced
the popular movement’s long-term struggle by high-
lighting the limitations of the reformist strategy in
confronting the Duvalierists. The reformists “need the
popular mobilization when they are under fire,” said
“Fritz,” “but once they get the Macoutes off their
backs, they make an alliance with the bourgeoisie to
Currents
oped into a myriad of local and regional peasant organi-
zations. Relying on tactics such as marches and land
takeovers, peasant groups demanded agrarian reform,
elimination of the repressive section chiefs, repopulation
of Creole pigs eradicated by U.S.AID between 1981 and
1983, tax reform, and promotion of Haitian Creole.
Founded in the early 1970s and operating in semi-
clandestinity until 1986, the Peasant Movement of Papay
(MPP) is Haiti’s oldest peasant organization. In March,
1987, the MPP formed the National Peasant Movement
of the Papay Congress (MPNKP), which reported
100,000 members before the 1991 coup d’etat. Another
national movement is Tht Kole Ti Peyizan (Heads Togeth-
er Little Peasants), which has its roots in meetings held
by peasant delegates starting in September, 1986. Tet
Kole has gwoupman in each of Haiti’s nine departments,
and is strongest in the northwest town of Jean Rabel.
Student Movement
Although Haitian students have been active since the
U.S. occupation in 1915, Frangois “Papa Doc” Duvalier
dealt a serious blow to the movement by eliminating the
leadership of the National Union of Haitian Students
(UNEH) in the late 1960s. Although student participation
in the ouster of Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier was
massive, it was largely unorganized. Not until late 1986 did the movement begin to restructure itself.
UNEH’s successor is the National Federation of Haitian
Students (FENEH), formed in March, 1987, and based in
Port-au-Prince. Calling for university autonomy and the
removal of Duvalierists from the educational system,
FENEH’s methods of organizing include boycotts,
demonstrations and building takeovers. A variety of high school and youth organizations have also emerged, key
among them Zafb Elev Lek6l (ZEL). Founded in Novem-
ber, 1986, ZEL has campaigned to demand free basic
education for all.
Labor Unions
Haiti has a rich tradition of cooperative and union
organizing. Yet, until Duvalier’s downfall, virtually all
unions-with the exception of the U.S.-backed Federa-
tion of Workers Union (FOS)-operated underground.
The Autonomous Central of Haitian Workers (CATH)
emerged out of clandestinity in 1986 to become the
most powerful federation of unions in the country. How-
ever, a series of internal crises, compounded by a
stepped-up U.S. destabilization campaign, split CATH
into various factions.
Today, the Central Workers Union (CGT), founded in
October, 1986, is the most militant of Haiti’s three fed-
erations of unions. The other two-FOS and OGITH-
both receive funding from the National Endowment for
Democracy (NED), and toe a more moderate line.
Neighborhood Committees
Primarily organized in poor urban areas, neighborhood
committees emerged as marginalized residents sought
to improve the lot of their communities. Committees
organize to demand potable water and electricity, to
protest the high cost of living, and to defend themselves
against crime and extortion.
Committees often formed “vigilance brigades” which
erected barricades, and interrogated and searched suspi-
cious individuals in an effort to provide security to resi-
dents. The brigades also served as dynamic networks of
information sharing and political organizing.
Today various neighborhood committees are loosely
linked under the umbrella of the Federation of Neigh-
borhood Committees (FEDKKA).
Other
Not all of Haiti’s popular organizations can be easily
classified into categories. Many have broad-based con-
stituencies which include workers, peasants, students
and others. One such example is the National Popular
Assembly (APN). Founded in March, 1987 as a popular
alternative to KONAKOM, the APN is represented
throughout the country in the form of local popular
assemblies. One of the more militant organizations with-
in the popular movement, the APN was the first to pro-
pose Aristide as a national leader. More recently, the
organization has been a vocal critic of the reformist sec-
tor within the Lavalas camp.
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