At Sydney Town Hall on January 28, 50 people rallied against the militarisation of Haiti and highlighted that Haiti is suffering from a human-made disaster as much as a natural one. The rally was organised by the Latin American Social Forum (LASF).
Juan Campos from the LASF, representing Farabundi Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) from El Salvador, said: "The FMLN condemns this US occupation. We demand that the US send doctors, food, help; not soldiers. We demand cancellation of the debt, and the return of President Aristide."
Stephen Markotony from Community Action Against Homophobia pointed out that, in comparison with the more than 200,000 deaths in Haiti, a similar sized earthquake in San Francisco caused only 63 deaths.
Rachel Evans from the Socialist Alliance said the reason was the cost of building earthquake-proof housing — beyond Haiti's population impoverished as a result of massive dating back to end of French colonial rule, as well as corrupt governance and US imperialism.
Speakers from Stop the War Coalition, the Communist League, Australia Venezuela Solidarity Network, Socialist Alternative, Resistance and others from LASF also addressed the crowd. $160 dollars was raised for the Haiti emergency relief fund during the rally.