Fanmi Lavalas

Infobox Political party
name_english = Lavalas Family
name_native = Fanmi Lavalas

leader = Jean-Bertrand Aristide
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foundation = 1996
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website = [http://www.hayti.net/tribune/ hayti.net/tribune]
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Fanmi Lavalas is a populist leftist political party in Haiti. Former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide, is the leader of the party, which has been a powerful force in Haitian politics since 1991. Its governments supported a policy of "growth with equity" based upon Caribbean and Western European socialist democratic principles. FL governments have invested in education and health care while refusing IMF austerity measures. Fanmi Lavalas was formed in 1996 as a split by Aristide and the poor masses from the smaller Struggling People's Party. Two main reasons for the creation of Fanmi Lavalas are known: (1) to allow the Lavalas movement to remain inclusive while opposing the neo-liberal policies of the foreign influenced OPL; (2) to prevent rival politicians from taking over the movement's leadership from Aristide and other more left-wing leaders. The Haitian military overthrew Aristide's first government, in 1991.

From 2001 to 2004 Aristide's second administration attempted to invest in social programs, raise the minimum wage, provide cheap rice to the poor, called for reparations from France, and opposed IMF privatization plans. But because of a lack of resources, political crisis, and increasing paramilitary attacks the government was instable and by early 2004 it was forced from power. US marines took Arsitide out of the country, while US agencies financed numerous elite political parties to take political control of Haiti from the majority Lavalas electorate. Following the 2004 Coup d'État, elections were set for 2006 by the Interim Government, which was put in place by foreign powers Canada, US, and France. Certain members of Fanmi Lavalas put forward that Marc Bazin was the Lavalas candidate. However, its grassroots supporters overwhelmingly supported Rene Preval in his campaign as president. Lavalas candidates boycotted the election for the most part but its voters supported the emergence of Preval's Lespwa party. The results of the election of the Chamber of Deputies are not available. Lavalas now forms part of the governing coalition under Jacques-Edouard Alexis. [http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/caribbean/sfl-ahaiti07jun07,0,1718057.story?coll=sfla-news-caribbean]

Following the 2004 coup, over ten thousand members of Lavalas were fired from government jobs, while some were clearly patronage jobs others were real workers fired because of political persecution. World Bank officials acknowledge that the layoffs caused a drop off in government public services. Some of these workers and thousands of Lavalas supporters were persecuted following the coup with over a thousand being placed in jail and thousands more killed by security and paramilitary forces of the interim government under Prime Minister Gerald Latortue.

"Fanmi Lavalas" may be roughly translated into English as "Avalanche Family" or "Waterfall Family" (referring to the Biblical flood), but the name is almost never completely translated from Kréyòl, although it is sometimes given as "Lavalas Family." In the 7 February and 21 April 2006 Chamber of Deputies elections, the party boycotted elections held under foreign occupation and a foreign installed unelected government.

The militant South African shack dwellers' movement Abahlali baseMjondolo has organized in solidarity with Fanmi Lavalas since 2006. [ [See various documents online at http://www.abahlali.org}]

ee also

* Lavalas

External links

* [http://www.hayti.net/tribune/ Official Site of the Fanmi Lavalas Commission of Communication]
* [http://www.haitisolidarity.net/ English Haiti Solidarity Website]
* [http://www.haitiaction.net English Site which documents violence and persecution against Lavalas supporters]
* [http://www.zmag.org/lam/haitiwatch.cfm Znet Haiti Watch]