“We will break up any protest that comes, because no protests have been allowed,” said the national police spokesman. (Boston Globe, 06/21/09)

No, we’re not talking about Iran at the moment (although the current protests in Iran do warrant a great amount of illumination, discussion and support). Look much closer to home, in the Caribbean, Haiti specifically.

Shortly after the British colonies became the United States, a second nation clawed and fought its’ way into independence from a European overlord. In 1803 Haiti dragged itself out from under the thumb of a then crumbling Napolean inspired French empire.

Unfortunately for Haiti, its’ revolution was one of slaves against slave master, and that was directly counter to the prevailing national mood in The United States. As a result the French, with backing from Thomas Jefferson that was designed to facilitate the Louisiana Purchase that same 1803, were able to force a huge financial reparation from the newly freed slaves.

Since those days, we have been feeding Haiti a steady diet of dominance enforced by periodic invasion. Even the 2004 coup against Aritide was fueled by US supplied weapons and training provided to corporate backed thugs and murderous faux revolutionaries headquartered in neighboring Dominican Republic. And it provided a perfect excuse for another invasion of Haiti.

Some other examples: U.S. Invasion and Occupation of Haiti, 1915-34 as presented by the US State Department. CIA collusion with outside invaders as presented by the CIA.

We’re not even touching on the multiple pro-corporate, anti-people economic acts that have been perpetrated in our names against the good folk of Haiti.

And the Haitians are still there, still being violated by the United States … we who were the first nation in the western hemisphere to throw off European dominance in pursuit of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” standing on the necks of the second nation to do so.