Orinoco Tribune - Special Interview with Dan Cohen - Haiti, a new Invasion and G9
Channel: Orinoco Tribune
Date: 2022-11-07

Caracas, Nov 1, 2022 (OrinocoTribune.com)—In an special show conducted by Orinoco Tribune's co-editor, Saheli Chowdhury, we had the chance of interviewing Washington based journalist and filmmaker Dan Cohen.

Dan Cohen is a US author, journalist, and blogger. He previously worked for RT America as a journalist based in Washington, D.C. He was also based in Israel-Palestine and produced widely distributed video reports and print dispatches for different outlets. 

During the interview we walked through the following issues:

1- Why is like the US wanting to invade Haiti when it already has control of the country through the Core Group?
Cohen explained that gang violence is an issue in Haiti, but the US is pointing its batteries only against Jimmy Cherizier (aka Barbecue), the head of the G9 vigilante group, because they are actually building an armed revolutionary movement that is not complacent with the comprador Haitian bourgeoisie and US interests in the island. The US drafted US Resolution call for direct sanctions against Cherizier, so that might give a sense of what is really happening in Haiti.

2- What is the situation on the ground in Haiti at this moment?
The US journalist explained that US and Core Group appointed de facto president, Ariel Hanry, recently lifted the subsidy on fuels causing the price of gasoline to double in matter of hours, creating a paralization of the country. This ignited street protest that move Cherizier to take control of the Varreux fuel terminal outside Port-au-Prince that processes about 70% of the fuel in Haiti and demand Ariel Henry resignation.

Cohen stressed that "the United States and its allies instead of saying well there's a legitimate reason for this protest, we need to repeal these fuel hikes and look at the conditions where people are living, instead they've said that this is the result of gangs, this terrible gangster Jimmy Cherizier and we have to go assassinate him. So the US has been looking for any way to use the United Nations to carry out a military operation alongside the Haitian National Police," to achieve this objective.


3- There is a possibility that Russia or China may veto the US drafted resolution to invade Haiti, so what would the US do in that case? 
"Right so if this resolution goes to a vote then it is likely that Russia and or China would veto it preventing UN so-called peacekeepers from once again being deployed to Haiti so the US is aware of that and it has proposed essentially deputizing a UN member state to carry out a military operation. Anthony Blinken the US Secretary of State was recently in Ottawa talking to  Justin Trudeau about getting the Canadians to to carry out this military operation," was the initial comment by Dan Cohen.

He added that they are trying to touch the door of the Organization of American States (OAS) and CARICOM but that seems to be failing also. In this scenario he pointed out that the Global Fragility Act, designed to bypass the United Nations under alleged extreme humanitarian circumstances in "fragile" states,is the tool that seems to be the option to launch a so called "small footprint" US military operation to keep Haiti under their control.

4- In reference to Latin American countries mistakes on approaching the Haitian issue, with Brazil and Mexico at the front seat, but also with progressive governments like those of Ecuador, Bolivia, Argentina and even UNASUR, that in 2010 supported the peacekeeping initiative, Dr Gemma Pierre, said that "leftism of the Americas collapses at the door of Haitian sovereignty." So like why does this happen why do you think this happens every time in Haiti?
"I think Dr Pierre makes an important point, you know, we see just the election of Lula Da Silva in Brazil that just happened and many progressives are are celebrating and understandably, I mean the specter of another Bolsonaro term is quite terrifying for Brazilians, I think that is definitely a win but if you look at what Lula did in the 2004 occupation of Haiti, he joined in with the Bush Administration in sending these so-called peacekeepers that carried out horrific crimes against the Haitian masses, this has to be looked at and examined when Lula's record is talked about," was Cohen first reaction to the question.

He added that currently Mexico is the co-sponsor of the UN Resolution with the United States calling for sanctions against Jimmy Cherizier but also Mexico is also the co-sponsor of another UN Resolution that the US is drafting calling for military action in Haiti. The journalist wondered why Mexico is part of this US stratagema, similar to making a deal with the devil. He believes that Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) and his Foreign Minister Ebrard are committing a calculation error that contradicts their recent progressive moves like the rescue of Evo Morales during the 2019 coup d'etat in Bolivia.