Since the evening of the hurricane, our comrades were out to help people in danger. In one provincial town in the South that was hit hard by Matthew, we kept in phone contact until the networks went down. We warned against going out because of flying debris from roofs. During the night, the brother of a comrade, himself close to the Party, facilitated the evacuation of several disabled people.
During the storm, one of the comrades welcomed several people who had been flooded out into his already crowded house. Then, we organized several young people to help out at a local shelter. After the worst of the storm passed, we helped the family of a comrade to clean his flooded house. And we continued to meet with young people to see what needed to be done for the victims. We discussed the ideas and actions of the local bosses, who seemed incapable of providing leadership in this time of crisis. And we talked about why this storm was so violent and why we, as working people, had not been able to resist the ravages of the storm. Poverty and racism are “natural” under capitalism, and this storm was not a “natural disaster” but rather the capitalist disaster of a system that doesn’t deserve to exist.
Early the next day, under violent winds, heavy rains and flooding, we accompanied young people to patrol the area to see who needed help. We responded as best we could to appeals for food and water from both young and old. Another comrade, whose own house had been flooded, took in a dozen people who lost their home to flooding. Many others did the same, showing the solidarity of the working class in times of trouble, sharing food or some money. We also participated with a team in removing downed trees from the public square.
We spoke with our friends and neighbors about the bad decisions of the bosses and politicians, who had no “disaster plan” to protect the residents of this town or anywhere else in Haiti.
For now, one comrade is working with some who want to help in projects in the town, for example, in direct action for free drinking water (today you have to buy clean water in Haiti or risk cholera and other diseases).
We are in the process of building a base for PLP in this town, and building the confidence of the masses in us, and our confidence in them. People are seeing more clearly than ever how the system is the cause of this damage. Any help from the government and NGOs will not solve the problem of capitalism. Awareness continues in all our discussions and meetings. And that is part of winning.
Progressive Labor Party is a revolutionary party, not an NGO or a bourgeois political party that shows up in a crisis or wants to take advantage of disasters to be seen and buy votes. Our comrades are integral parts of the working class who try to fight capitalism every day.