The day before, 400 mainly Haitian protesters demonstrated at the Miami Beach Coast Guard station demanding, "Justice! Equal treatment!" On New Years Day the Coast Guard intercepted a 60-foot wooden vessel transporting 389 Haitians, 16 Dominicans, and 2 Chinese immigrants. The boat left Haiti with no radio, navigational lights, or lifejackets.

After the vessel ran aground on a reef a mile off the Florida coast, the Coast Guard sent cutters to take those on board into custody. U.S. immigration officials later decided to return all but four of the group of 406 to Haiti.

Leontes Joseph, a landscape worker in Miami, said he came to the action because "maybe I know some of them [on the boat]. I want to help." Like others there, Joseph first heard about the protest on Creole-language radio stations in Miami. The Haitian rights group Veye Yo organized rides to the Coast Guard station protest.

The January 2 protest began as other demonstrations for Haitian rights: Haitian and Haitian-American working people arrive first and spontaneously march and chant. People brought handmade signs reading, "Coast Guard - Free My People" and "Equal Treatment for Haitians."

A few people wore union T-shirts from the Union of Needletrades, Industrial, and Textile Employees and the Service Employees International Union.

About an hour after the protests began the entourage of speakers entered the fenced-in area. The speakers' platform was chaired by U.S. Rep. Carrie Meek, along with her son, state Sen. Kendrick Meek, both prominent Democrats who are African-Americans They have participated in other Haitian protests.

What was different from past actions in defense of immigrant rights was the character of the speakers' platform. Besides Meek, other speakers included Miami-Dade County Mayor Alex Penelas; Bishop Victor Currie, pastor of New Birth Baptist Church and now president of the Miami NAACP; and U.S. Rep. Lincoln Díaz-Balart. In particular Díaz-Balart, a Republican and one of three Cuban-Americans in Congress, is a bitter foe of the Cuban revolution.

These big business politicians were joined by two Cuban-American rightists: José Basulto, leader of the counterrevolutionary group "Brothers to the Rescue," and Ramón Sanchez of the Movimiento Democracia [Democracy Movement], another rightist Cuban outfit. Both groups are well known for staging provocations against Cuba's sovereignty. The Brothers to the Rescue banner was prominently displayed on the stage.  
 

'Works directly with the imperialists'

While previous protests championed the demand "Amnesty for All," most of the speakers at this protest raised fighting for "due process" and "the right to individual interviews." No Haitian spoke until a an hour and a half into the program, when a Haitian-American city councilwoman was allowed to address the rally. A leader of Veye Yo was given the last slot as many people were leaving.

Díaz-Balart called for "solidarity with our oppressed brothers and sisters," and led a chant "One South Florida." Basulto was introduced as a "great freedom fighter fighting against the reign of Castro the Terrible." Basulto said that his pirate outfit would begin aiding Haitians at sea.

Reginald Meteus, one of the protesters, was not impressed. "Everybody should stand up for justice", he said, "but he [Basulto] is a hypocrite. He works directly with the imperialists."

The appearance of anti-Castro politicians and organizations at a Haitian rights activity is a new development in this city. While an estimated 780,000 Cubans comprise 35 percent of the population of Miami-Dade County, Haitians number about 115,000, or 5 percent. But the Haitian population is growing, and a small middle class has emerged. For example, in El Portal, just north of the city line, the city council is now majority Haitian, the first in the United States.

In the absence of a rising labor movement, many Haitian small businessmen, elected officials, and religious figures see their interests tied to wealthy layers and the two-party system as the road to further social advances. For example, Rep. Carrie Meek, speaking to these aspirations, told the crowd, "You have the power now." Marleine Bastien, the main leader of the Haitian-American Grassroots Coalition, told the Miami Herald, "We're not saying that every one should be allowed in. We're just saying, give them the chance to make their case."

The super-wealthy rulers here have an interest in developing a "responsible" leadership that speaks in the name of all Haitians in the city. Various big business politicians, and even well-known Cuban-American rightist figures, are seeking to advance this course, as well as gain political advantage of their own.  
 

Socialist candidate offers another view

Rollande Girard, the Socialist Workers candidate for mayor of Miami, launched her campaign in the midst of these protests and discussions. Girard, an aerospace worker, is a member of the International Association of Machinists. A special election has been called for March.

Girard was interviewed by 610 AM NewsRadio at the January 2 protest. She also spoke in Creole to demonstrators at the January 3 rally.

"The U.S. government," Girard said, "does not need to interview Haitians to know why they are leaving. The U.S. is directly responsible for the exploitation and domination of the Haitian people, which is why people are forced to leave their homeland."

"We can't put our faith in the hands of the Democratic and Republican parties," the socialist candidate said. "We need to depend on ourselves and our allies, and to keep mobilizing. My campaign demands amnesty for all, end all deportations, and open the U.S. borders!"

Girard said in an interview that fighters against deportations and for immigrant rights "need to oppose Washington's attacks against the Cuban revolution. The U.S. government uses immigration as part of its 40-year drive to topple the revolutionary government there and take back the island for U.S. corporate interests.

"Those who attack Cuba and side with Washington are not friends of working people here standing up to the assaults on our rights, unions, and social gains," she said.

Bill Kalman is a member of United Transportation Union Local 1138.  
 
 
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