By Ana Silva
Juliana Torres is from Haiti and part of the Papay Peasant Movement (MPP). “The MPP is a peasant movement that has been around for 50 years. We have around 60,000 members spread across three sectors: women, male farmers, and young people. Our main axes are agroecology, popular education, the fight for environmental protection and management, and the issue of women is at the center of the MPP as a transversal theme,” she explains.
The MPP is present in 13 communes and 37 communal sessions across the country. As Juliana explains, the organization works intensively to improve the living conditions of peasant women and men, who have been victims of repression by other sectors of the population for a long time. She says: “Our work in the field is based on popular education with Paulo Freire’s method. We educate and sensitize peasant women, men, and young people so that they can play an active role in the social change we defend. And the MPP’s vision is to defend the interests and demands of farmers.”
During this interview, the militant spoke about the peasant struggle in Haiti and the struggle against US imperialism in the current context. The interview was conducted during the Congress Rising Majority [Growing Majority], held in Saint Louis (USA) in June 2024, which brought together 700 people representing various popular organizations, parties, unions, and human rights movements from that country. Juliana was part of the delegation of international observers invited by the Grassroots Global Justice Alliance (GGJ).
We are here in the US for the Rising Majority conference and know the role that this country played in the colonization of Haiti and all the problems related to transnational companies in the Caribbean country. What do you think about the organization for the liberation of Haiti from the US and the role of international solidarity towards your country?
Our participation in Rising Majority comes to bring all our demands about the interference of international actors, especially the US, in Haiti’s particular and national issues. Here we meet with many people who are fighting for social transformation at the global level. And this is also our struggle. We are in a space where we learn collectively, where we strengthen ourselves collectively, where we defend mutual respect, human dignity, and collective well-being. For me, being here in the US today to participate in RM means taking a step forward in our vision. A long-term vision, but with the hope of achieving a social and global transformation.
A single organization, a single country, a single people cannot fight against all the obstacles of the world we know. That’s why we need many organizations to form alliances, define and pursue a common vision, so that we can face the forces of death. The forces we face every day in our actions, in our activities, in our lives, to achieve a more just and equitable world, where all people can live with dignity.
One of the experiences you shared during these days was the importation of poisoned rice from the US to Haiti, under the pretext of humanitarian aid by companies. Could you comment a bit more on this case?
Imports, or the invasion of local and national markets, is a characteristic of the capitalist system under which most countries operate. Since the 1980s, Haiti, which used to be a sovereign country in terms of food self-sufficiency, has faced a massive invasion of imported products. Specifically, rice from the US and Asian countries invades our market and crushes our local and national rice production. According to a study published by the University of Michigan in February 2024, the rice we import and consume a lot in Haiti contains two carcinogenic elements; cadmium and arsenic.
We see how the system is poisoning us while crushing our rice production. Not to mention that three or four years ago we imported a variety of rice from an Asian country that attracted many rats that are starting to eat and destroy our rice varieties, especially in the Artibonito region. Imported products not only harm and poison us, but also destroy our varieties. Our governments do not consider the succession and multiplication of our seed varieties, and accept, or at least respond positively, to all the orders given by their masters to destroy the Haitian people.
What is the role of peasant and women’s organizations in the construction and recovery of food sovereignty in Haiti?
Peasant organizations have a fundamental role in the recovery of food sovereignty in Haiti. We defend agroecology and disseminate agroecological principles. We transmit technical knowledge and support farmers. We have the role of bringing their demands to the government. We are a force capable of pressuring the government to change its agenda regarding the population and the peasantry.
This is a long struggle and we have to face multiple obstacles because the system is right in front of us. It works through the media, religion, and almost all other institutions, such as the state and the armed forces, to force us to submission. But we say “no”. The Haitian peasant sector is grouping together as an organized force to face the system and the government, which does not respect our laws. And that’s why we are waging an incesant struggle from agroecology and popular education to recover our food sovereignty and national sovereignty.
Haiti is going through a period of conflicts and hard crises that affect all sectors of society, but the struggle continues. For you, what would be the best future for the Haitian people?
A better life for Haiti, even in the distant future, means being able to live in solidarity, as before… Because, traditionally, the Haitian people are a solidary people. A people who culturally believe in trust, solidarity, and mutual aid. What we are living through at this moment comes from outside/that other side, from international actors, from political actors, and I would say, from anyone who lacks consciousness or sensitivity. When you give guns to young people to live in gangs –or destroy them humanly and socially, because you put them in jail or kill them–, well, that’s barbarism…
Haiti does not produce weapons. Haiti does not produce ammunition. And those who bring weapons to Haiti are not the population, but the bourgeoisie, the politicians, and even, I would say, the authorities. Because they always want to gain power, and to do that, they use weapons and money. Well, our goal is to have a prosperous and free Haiti. Free from all interference, free from all barbarism, free from all obstacles that prevent us from living the best possible life, with dignity. That is our vision, and we fight and commit to it.
Translated from Portuguese by Luiza Mançano
