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On the payroll? Debate on the accusations to Batay Ouvriyé

category central america / caribbean | the left | debate author Wednesday January 11, 2006 04:32author by Paddy Rua - WSM Report this post to the editors

What way for the Haitian left? Tactics and Strategy

Recently, Batay Ouvriyé, the Haitian workers' union has been under fire from Aristide supporters in relation to its politics before the coup and the source of its funding today. This debate has been marked by bitter accusations in both ways, and BO keeps rejecting the charges. In order to help to promote a healthy and constructive debate around the political issues at stake on the current denunciations on Batay Ouvriyé, we facilitate links to the articles so people can read the whole debate and make up their own minds on this particular issue. We hope this way, the debate is useful to clarify the practices of the organisation being questioned and to address fundamental issues concerning the development of a leftist line at the service of the Haitian people.
Batay Ouvriyé's logo
Batay Ouvriyé's logo

For the last couple of months, there has been a debate going on in the Haitian Left –mainly in the USA- in relation to the independent workers’ Union Batay Ouvriyé (BO). This debate relates to a number of important issues that should be dealt with by any leftist movement. Issues like economic independence, tactics, revolutionary strategy, oppositions from the left and how to deal with the contradictions in the popular movement, the nature of democracy, etc. are all issues that we believe should necessarily be discussed in depth, with an eye on the practical realisation of the politics discussed.


Unfortunately, this debate has been charged with slander, insults, theories built up over shaky ground and conclusions lacking solid proves. We believe this debate, carried responsibly, free of gossip and slander, with an in depth outlook, with solid arguments, not losing from sight the long term struggle and dealing with the real issues at stake, can be extremely fruitful to both the solidarity movement and the Haitian left in order to clarify positions and help re-build a left able to address the serious problems facing the Haitian people. We have always to keep that in mind and don’t let sectarianism become a hindrance to building such a left.


We want to help to facilitate that debate in the most constructive manner possible –therefore, we have decided to move all of the comments and articles related to the debate to a single article. This to make it easier to follow and to avoid situations in which, for instance, BO posts a statement against the bosses’ “strike” of January the 9th, and we receive a number of comments about BO’s funding sources, that have no relation, whatsoever, with the theme of the article itself. We welcome all of the sectors to participate in this discussion and give their arguments, to detail facts and positions as clear as possible. We would ask people to avoid launching sectarian accusations with no solid ground.


The relevant articles for the debate are:


1. The first, is Jeb Sprague’s “Supporting a Leftist Opposition to Lavalas: the AFL-CIO’s Solidarity Center and the Batay Ouvriyé” –in this article he details the disastrous effect of the AFL-CIO on the world of trade unionism, by financing reactionary movements, and criticises BO’s positions on Lavalas. Then accuses BO of receiving a sum of money from the AFL-CIO’s Solidarity Cener, as an open contradiction to its leftist talk and its activities in the Free Trade Zones, and states that this funding is part of a deeper relationship between them both. http://www.haitiaction.net/News/JS/11_17_5.html


2. The second, is the response of BO to the article of Sprague: “Response to Slander at the ‘Haiti International Tribunal’”. In this response they defend their right to oppose Aristide, state that this opposition cannot be at all confused with the G-184, that they are an independent worker’s organisation, not on the AFL-CIO’s payroll, explain the nature of the money given to the strike and impeached the moral authority of some people behind the accusations http://www.batayouvriye.org/English/Positions1/responseithp.html


3. The third one is BO’s “Clarification on the debate concerning working class and BO independence”, in which they develop a bit more their positions on class independence, why they opposed Aristide and on what grounds, about the problems in relations with the AFL-CIO, about the repression and occupation and it ends up in an addendum in which they deal again with Sprague’s article http://www.batayouvriye.org/English/Positions1/clarificationithp.html


4. The last relevant article on the debate, is Jeb Sprague’s one on the “Coup payoff in Haiti: BO’s smoking gun –the $100,000 NED grant”. Here, the author relates BO to the “democracy promotion” programmes of the USA in Haiti that served as a launching platform for the coup. He states that BO has receives a grant of U$100,000 from the NED, and that is why BO has failed to denounce effectively the repression of Lavalas militants in the slums. It concludes by summarising some of the reactions that supporters of BO had with his first article. http://www.haitiaction.net/News/JS/1_6_6.html

 #   Title   Author   Date 
   Batay Ouvriye Gets $100,000 From NED     Paul    Mon Jan 09, 2006 01:34 
   Responding to lies and gossip     Batay Ouvriyé    Mon Jan 09, 2006 02:46 
   Batay Ouvriye and $100,000 from the U.S. State Dept.     Haiti Action    Mon Jan 09, 2006 08:58 
   gossip?     batay are fake anarchists    Mon Jan 09, 2006 09:01 
   Clarity     Andrew    Mon Jan 09, 2006 18:31 
   Sectarianism     Paddy Rua    Mon Jan 09, 2006 19:41 
   More Haitai     mitch (personal capacity)    Mon Jan 09, 2006 23:07 
   a joke?     a joke?    Tue Jan 10, 2006 08:28 
   Solidarity Movement?     solidarity    Tue Jan 10, 2006 08:36 
 10   joke?     Paddy Rua    Tue Jan 10, 2006 21:07 
 11   On Sprague’s Alleged “Smoking Gun”     BO    Wed Jan 11, 2006 04:18 
 12   three letters NNNNNNN EEEEE DDDDD     NED eh??    Wed Jan 11, 2006 16:51 
 13   re: NED     Andrew    Wed Jan 11, 2006 18:35 
 14   Sprague: Barking up the wrong tree     Charles Arthur    Wed Jan 11, 2006 20:58 
 15   Sprague's "Smoking Gun"     Daniel Simidor    Thu Jan 12, 2006 21:21 
 16   ON OUR MEETING WITH PROGRESSIVE NEW YORKERS     Batay Ouvriye    Sat Jan 21, 2006 23:00 
 17   yes     yes    Mon Jan 23, 2006 05:47 
 18   an interesting debate     Jan Mackandal    Tue Jan 24, 2006 00:41 
 19   problematic issues     Paddy Rua    Tue Jan 24, 2006 02:30 
 20   On Aristide's CHAN delegation at the Caracas Social Forum     Ralph    Fri Feb 03, 2006 13:48 
 21   question     question    Sat Feb 04, 2006 03:36 
 22   taking money isn't the same thing as being an agent     Tom Wetzel    Sat Feb 04, 2006 03:58 
 23   Answering to "question"     Paddy Rua    Sun Feb 05, 2006 09:05 
 24   On the problematic raised by Paddy     Jan Makandal    Tue Feb 28, 2006 18:55 
 25   Closing NED is a major battle, legitimate and necessary!     BO    Sat Mar 11, 2006 03:22 
 26   Batay Ouvriye and its nearly Half a Million Dollars from the U.S. State Department     NED    Thu Apr 06, 2006 08:06 
 27   Strange Partnerships     Didier Philome    Thu Apr 06, 2006 10:18 
 28   hum     hum    Sat Apr 15, 2006 12:46 
 29   Batay Ouvriye still does not get it     Smitherz    Wed Sep 13, 2006 13:09 
 30   Smitherz does not get it!     M. Pierre    Mon Sep 18, 2006 19:13 
 31   Jeb Sprague lies with a vengeance!     M. Pierre    Mon Sep 18, 2006 19:27 
 32   Thank You Mario     Mario Pierre    Tue Sep 19, 2006 23:34 
 33   The NED & The State Department     JS    Wed Sep 20, 2006 11:09 
 34   Question for Sprague     Kdog    Wed Sep 20, 2006 13:05 
 35   questions in order to move forward     Paddy Rua    Thu Sep 21, 2006 00:15 
 36   Talk Left, Funded Right     Critiques on the Double Standard for Haiti    Thu Sep 21, 2006 02:32 
 37   For the record     For the record    Thu Sep 21, 2006 03:01 
 38   Two requests to Jeff     Andrew    Thu Sep 21, 2006 03:23 
 39   CALL     sock puppets?    Thu Sep 21, 2006 07:23 
 40   Good question, Kdog!     M. Pierre    Thu Sep 21, 2006 13:39 
 41   Let's cut through the chase     M. Pierre    Fri Sep 22, 2006 00:09 
 42   did anyone call?     call    Sun Sep 24, 2006 04:21 
 43   question     question    Mon Sep 25, 2006 08:57 
 44   Stop trying to hide!     M. Pierre    Mon Sep 25, 2006 13:15 
 45   Read, Read, Read...     M. Pierre    Mon Sep 25, 2006 13:24 
 46   Let's move forward!     M. Pierre    Mon Sep 25, 2006 15:21 
 47   Batay Ouvriye Responds     M. Pierre    Thu Sep 28, 2006 16:17 
 48   NED Grant Information     Anonymous    Sun Oct 01, 2006 02:17 
 49   KOPA denounces attack on BO     KOPA    Sun Oct 01, 2006 03:27 
 50   $449,965 in NED/State Department funding for ACILS 'Solidarity Center' Program with Batay Ouvriye     Z Magazine    Sun Oct 01, 2006 04:41 
 51   Jeb Sprague and Haiti Progres' Smoking Gun: Destroy the Haitian Working-Class Movement     M. Pierre    Thu Oct 05, 2006 16:57 
 52   To repeat the request     Andrew    Thu Oct 05, 2006 17:35 
 53   Batay Ouvriye catches Jeb Sprague lying about Haitian workers     Che    Mon Dec 25, 2006 21:56 
 54   on the debate     Michael Deibert    Wed Apr 11, 2007 03:24 
 55   Some further context.     Macho Philipovich    Fri Mar 07, 2008 20:19 
 56   Response to a provocation     Jan Makandal    Tue Mar 11, 2008 01:25 
 57   the truth     above poster is confused    Tue Jul 28, 2009 05:29 


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