GUEST: Leslie Mullin, social justice activist, member of the San Francisco-Bay Area based Haiti Action Committee and author of "How the U.S. Crippled Haiti’s Domestic Rice Industry," talks about the struggle against US imperialism in Central America and the implications of race and neoliberalism.
Remember Haiti? Not the earthquake, but the overthrow of Aristide, the first democratically elected president in a hundred years. Of course, the US was behind the coup. Aristide wanted to raise the minimum wage in his country and all the major US corporations that make a killing on Haiti's sweatshops demanded his head. Aristide was overthrown twice, and even removed by US special forces the second time.
Look in any clothing store like Target to see the labels from Haiti. That is how our particularly vicious form of neoliberalism works; mostly black and brown people in Central America are being exploited for profit. I loved the fact that Bill and Hillary went to Haiti on their honeymoon, while it was under the bloodthirsty dictatorship of Papa Doc Duvalier. Their "special relationship" to Haiti is all about exploitation, two grifters set loose on the oppressed masses of Black people.
Haiti is a mirror of US imperialism. The closer you look, the more you understand the suffering of oppressed people around the world.
Thanks to Sharon for joining me on this interview.
