Rising crude prices, a plumetting currency, and a lack of government planning have resulted in a huge spike in fuel prices in Haiti, which provoked a massive nationwide transport strike on Jan. 7.

Drivers affiliated with the CTH, OGITH, FNTS, SOS Transport, COH and six other unions effectively shut down Port-au-Prince and provincial cities to demand that the government reinstitute state gas subsidies which were cut on Jan. 1.

Schools, banks, and large businesses were closed. Only a few buses of the public transport company Service Plus circulated, and private vehicle traffic was light. Most motorists were reluctant to pass through the burning-tire barricades set up around the capital for fear of losing their windshields or even their lives.

Violence flared in several places. In the capital‚s Carrefour district, two people were wounded by gunfire, and a student was killed in nearby Martissant.

The Washington-backed Democratic Convergence front rushed to support the strike, as it does any action which will weaken and destabilize the government of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. "With the price they are putting on gas, the government is in effect assassinating the Haitian people," said Rosmond Pradel, a Convergence spokesman.

The unions took no distance from such hyperbole and, in a Jan. 6 statement, displayed even greater class unconsciousness than usual by needlessly appealing to Haiti‚s anti-Aristide bourgeoisie "to show their solidarity with the Haitian syndical movement by closing their commercial, industrial, and service enterprises on Tuesday Jan. 7, 2003."

The unions said that if the government does not meet their demands they will strike again on Friday, Jan. 10.

Gas shortages, price gouging, and black marketeering began in mid-December, but Haitian officials were slow to react to the crisis. By Dec. 24, it was practically impossible to find gas in Haiti‚s cities. Some gas stations closed altogether. Others were mobbed by people looking to buy diesel, gasoline, or kerosene. Black marketeers sprang up nearby the pumps. "The gas station owners and workers are just selling fuel on the side," said one driver in Gonaïves. On the black market, a gallon of gasoline or diesel was selling for up to 175 gourdes ($4.73) , and kerosene up to 100 gourdes ($2.70).

There was temporary relief on Dec. 29 when two gas tankers with 8 millions gallons of fuel arrived in Port-au-Prince. "There will be enough gas for everybody," said Commerce Minister Leslie Gouthier.

But the gas lines and high prices continued. Bus and taxi fares began to rise. Buses to Pétionville and taxis went from 7 to 10 gourdes (27 cents). Buses from Port-au-Prince to Carrefour went from 10 to 15 gourdes (40 cents) during the day, and 25 gourdes (68 cents) in the evening. Previously, the official bus fare for such trips was only 3.5 gourdes (10 cents).

Meanwhile, in the provinces, fares doubled. The arbitrary and anarchic price hikes caused huge yelling matches, and sometimes fist-fights, between drivers and passengers.

The Federation of Haitian Public Transporters (FTPH) did not support the strike call. Instead its leaders met with the Commerce Minister to fix official prices for various routes. For example, standard taxi service which had risen from 7 to as high as 15 gourdes was fixed at 13 gourdes (35 cents). The buses going from Bourdon and Delmas to Pétionville, which had spiked to 10 gourdes, were lowered to 8 gourdes (22 cents), as well as the bus from downtown Port-au-Prince to Carrefour.

Only eight years ago, fuel prices were less than half what they are today. Kerosene sold for 23.85 gourdes a gallon in 1995, then it rose during the term of President René Préval to 26 gourdes, but has now leapt 96% to 51 gourdes a gallon ($1.38). Gasoline went from 39.75 gourdes in 1995, to 56 gourdes under Préval, but has now had a 52% increase to 85 gourdes a gallon ($2.30). Diesel is now 55 gourdes a gallon ($1.49), up from 30.50 gourdes, an 80% increase.

With chaos mounting at the pumps, finally the government reacted on Jan. 3, when the Commerce Ministry issued a communique fixing new gas prices. The changes, according to the communique, took effect Jan. 1, 2003.

Since October, the Haitian government has spent some 500 million gourdes ($13.5 million) to subsidize fuel prices, Haitian economist Claude Beauboeuf told the Associated Press, which has helped deplete Haiti‚s dollar reserves to less that $50 million. Fuel is purchased with dollars but sold for gourdes. With the value of the gourde slipping to nearly 37 per $1, the subsidies have become untenable.

Not until Jan. 6 did Gouthier hold a press conference to try to explain to the Haitian people the factors contributing to the fuel price hikes. He cited the rising costs of world crude prices due to the protests in Venezuela, where Haiti previously got most of its fuel, as well as George W. Bush‚s impending war against Iraq. On the world market, a gallon of crude which sold for $25.50 in November 2002 rose to $32.68 a barrel at the end of December, up from $20.41 a barrel a year earlier.

"We don‚t have a crystal ball, so we can‚t foresee what will happen with fuel prices," Gouthier said. But, clearly, these crises could have been foreseen, or at least prepared for, by Haitian officials.

Gouthier pointed the finger at Haitian fuel distributors. He warned gas station owners that he knew some were hoarding gas to create a shortage and sell it on the black market. "It is your responsibility, if you have gas at your station, to give the service you should," Gouthier warned. "Pumps have hours to be open and hours to be closed." He threatened sanctions against owners caught hoarding. "We will be going to stations in provincial cities because the public must find the gas it needs," he said, pledging that inspectors would ferret out any "monkey business [magouy] in gas sales."

Gabriel Zéphyr, Commerce Ministry director, said at the press conference that the blockage of $500 million in multilateral loans was another factor which prevented the state from subsidizing gas prices.

The National Association of Petroleum Product Distributors (ANADIPP) sought to place all the blame for the rise in gas prices on the Lavalas regime. Max Romain, an ANADIPP spokesman, argued that only the government‚s refusal to subsidize gas was causing the price rise, while in the same breath asking"for us [ANADIPP] to get merely an additional 2 gourdes on each gallon."

But already ANADIPP and the oil multinationals it represents, like Shell, Exxon, and ELF, make tremendous profits off gas sales in Haiti, as illustrated by the gleaming gas stations which float like luxury islands on a sea of misery. On every gallon of gasoline, the oil company makes 8.47 gourdes and the distributor makes 7.31 gourdes. On each gallon of diesel, the company makes 6 gourdes and the distributor makes 4.29 gourdes profit. On kerosene, the company makes 4.96 gourdes, and the distributor 4.44 gourdes.

Haïti Progrès contacted the Commerce Ministry, Exxon, Shell, and ANADIPP for additional information and comments on the crisis, but found no one who could or would answer questions.

Already, fuel prices are pushing food prices higher. For example, a sack of corn rose from 400 to 420 gourdes ($11.34) and a sack of flour from 700 to 750 gourdes ($20.25).

Unfortunately the government has handled the situation badly, giving the Republican-backed Haitian opposition further ammunition for their destabilization campaign. Compounding its lack of foresight, the Haitian government continues to bow to pressure from institutions like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF). The latter has long pushed for the government to lift gas subsidies as a condition to release a $50 million loan, part of the $500 million being held up. Furthermore, the government could conserve its dwindling cash reserves by declaring a moratorium on the interest payments of nearly $5 million monthly for debts rung up by U.S.-backed dictatorships.



Demonstrate Jan. 18 in Washington to Stop the War in Iraq!

On Jan. 18, on the weekend commemorating Dr. Martin Luther King, in the tradition of the American civil rights movement, tens of thousands from around the U.S. and the world will converge at 11 a.m. on the west side of the Capitol in Washington, D.C. to say "NO" to George W. Bush's war on Iraq. The march is being organized by Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER), which organized the giant anti-war march on Washington on Oct. 26.

Buses will be departing from all over New York City. Following are several points where buses will be leaving in Brooklyn.

Grand Army Plaza (at Brooklyn Main Library) organized by ANSWER and Brooklyn Parents for Peace. Call 212-633-6646.

415 Atlantic Ave. (downtown, between Nevins and Bond) organized by House of the Lords Church. Call 718-596-1991.

North 12th St. and Bedford Ave. organized by Peace Williamsburg. Call 718-388-4974 for info

110 Schermerhorn St. (downtown Brooklyn). Call ANSWER at 212-633-6646.

For additional information about buses to the Jan. 18 protest, call the ANSWER office at 212-633-6646.

Furthermore, the Refugees & Exiles Radio Network in conjunction with the Independent Media Center of Washington, DC will transmit the demonstration live over the Internet on www.wbix.org and dc.indymedia.org. Also check those sites for archived copies of the demonstrations.

Finally, The Voices of Solidarity - Satellite Uplink Project will carry the full, 4 hour live coverage of the National March on Washington Against the War in Iraq, and will uplink that coverage to satellite for free distribution to media outlets and public access stations worldwide. This is organized by Multi-Media Group and Peace TV.

The 4-hour rally can be down linked FREE for immediate live broadcast or taped for later use.

The frequencies are listed below:

For U.S.A., Caribbean, Mexico, Canada

Satellite Telstar 6 K Dig, Orbital Slot 93* WL,

Transponder:07-Ch A, Bandwidth:9 MHz, Uplink Freq:

4017.5(H), Downlink Freq: 11858 (V)

For Middle East, Europe, Africa

Satellite NSS 7, ku dig, Orbital Slot 338* EL,

TransponderH8L/Ch 2, Bandwidth:9 MHz, Uplink

Freq:14447.5(V), Downlink Freq: 11657.5(H)

For Asia

Satellite PAS 2 c dig, Orbital Slot 191* WL,

Transponder:12-Ch A, Bandwidth: 9 MHz, Uplink Freq:

6242.5(V), Downlink Freq: 4017.5(H)

Please let ANSWER know if you will be pulling down or using this broadcast.