With all the recent news about the US’s desire to invade Haiti and prop up Ariel Henry’s dictatorship, I thought it would be good to shine a spotlight on a figure that I haven’t seen discussed here yet. Just yesterday, the UN approved targeted sanctions on Jimmy Cherizier, the leader of the G9 family of Revolutionaries, who is leading the takeover of the Varreux gas terminal in Port-au-Prince due to the government’s decision to cease fuel subsidies (he also recently released a proposal for Ariel Henry’s government to cede power and give increased representation for community leaders). He and the G9 are the primary targets of the US/UN’s proposed invasion and the reason they have already given the Haitian police armored vehicles. Cherizier is a former police officer who now leads what Western media has universally declared to be a gang. Alongside this portrayal, he has been accused of involvement in the La Saline massacre, which even some Western news acknowledges as being orchestrated by the Haitian government who sent uniformed police officers to murder members of his community both then and at Delmas 6 more recently.

Rather than a gang leader, I am increasingly convinced that Jimmy Cherizier could be one of the most promising and exciting revolutionary leaders of our times. He has taken an active political stand against the Haitian bourgeoisie and American imperialism. He has called for a complete social revolution for Haiti and just watching footage of him shows the affection that his community members have for him. I believe the US will try to kill him for this, and rather than just advocating against intervention in Haiti, I think it’s going to be increasingly necessary to support Cherizier in his struggle and combat the smear campaign that’s being prepared for him.

If you want to learn more about Cherizier, I included some links below but I would first encourage reading his recent remarks from Haiti Liberte:

“The terminal is closed,” Cherizier continued. “It is barricaded by huge trenches we dug and empty containers. If one wanted to take the gas, how would one get it out? The huge amount of gas they’re talking about, how many recipients would we need to have to get this gas and transport it? They say that we overcame the facility’s security guards; let’s hear the testimony of the terminal’s security agents. The terminal has 70% of the nation’s gas; such a terminal undoubtedly has cameras. Let them show the footage that proves their accusations against the G9. What is sure: the gas will not leave unless, and only unless, Ariel backs down from his decision to hike the gas price, and returns it to what it was before. As long as he sets it at the IMF’s price, the gas will not leave. Unless he uses imperialism’s military force to retake the terminal.

“It is not by chance that every day the U.S. talks about the G9, but the G9 has never kidnapped or raped anyone,” Cherizier went on. “We have not blocked Martissant, which for a year and four months has cut off the capital from four [southern] departments. The G9 did not block Croix-des-Bouquets. But the U.S. target, the beast to be slaughtered, is the G9 because we, like the popular masses, are demanding real change, so that the living conditions of people living in working-class neighborhoods improve so they live decently.

“The foreigners will land,” Cherizier said. “Let them come! However, they will not only face Jimmy Chérizier but all the angry people of the ghettoes, seething in their working-class neighborhoods, who have nothing to lose and are ready to fight and die for their country.

“We have threatened the interests of the oligarchs, the wheeler-dealers, who destroyed our industries,” Cherizier said. “They only buy to sell. They closed [the state sugar mill] HASCO, which had more than 30,000 workers, the cement plant, and the flour mill, and kept the population in misery. Certainly the interests of imperialism are threatened! Let it happen! When imperialism arrives, we will stand up to fight politically and defend our lives.” From this article: https://haitiliberte.com/u-s-tries-to-bend-un-charter-to-bless-illegal-unwanted-invasion/

Trailer for an upcoming documentary about Cherizier: https://youtu.be/G17GRfaDSNM

Footage from Al Jazeera: https://youtu.be/nHlNJXcBOFg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZI_SHO4tKNg

Further Reading about Cherizier: https://haitiliberte.com/washington-using-gang-bogeyman-to-justify-widely-rejected-military-intervention/ https://haitiliberte.com/is-a-new-revolutionary-period-taking-shape-in-haiti/

(Also here’s Cherizier talking about the mural of Che Guevara from the picture of him): "Referring to a mural in his Delmas 6 neighborhood depicting Che Guevara, Cherizier declared, ‘we made that mural, and we intend to make murals of other figures like … Thomas Sankara and … Fidel Castro, to depict people who have engaged in struggle.’”