Haiti 1930
Written: 1930;
First Published: January 4, 1930;
Source: The Militant, Vol. 3, No. 1, 1930, p.1;
Transcribed: by Amaury Rodriguez, 2014.
Transcriber’s note: This appeared in The Militant, weekly organ of the Communist League of America (Opposition), [1] the US section of the International Left Opposition. Grammar corrected for clarity.
NEW YORK. – Not five but hundreds of Haitians were killed in the uprising of Haitian peasants at Aux Cayes [2] recently, states the Amsterdam News, Harlem Negro weekly on the authority of a letter smuggled out of Haiti to Capt. N. P. Marshall, head of the Save Haiti League. The writer of the letter said he did not dare sign his name for fear of reprisals from the marine-controlled Haitian government.
‘Hundreds of Haitian peasants,” reads the letter, “who were coming into Aux Cayes [3] to protest, without arms, simply with their usual small canes, against the way alcohol, tobacco and coffee are taxed, have been slaughtered. Women and children were killed. Officially they acknowledge 12 dead and 40 wounded but there were hundreds.
1. For more on the Communist League of America (Opposition), see wikipedia.org
2. Les Cayes or Aux Cayes is a southwestern region of Haiti.
3. Aux Cayes appears as “Aux Cayse” in the original text.