A group of activists supporting Haitian freedom are gathering in San Francisco today to call on the U.S. to alter its response to the devastating earthquake that rocked Haiti earlier this month.
The Haiti Action Committee is organizing a rally to ask the U.S. to have its earthquake aid effort be “humanitarian, not militarized,” Charlie Hinton, a member of the group, said.
A 7.0-magnitude earthquake rocked Haiti Jan. 12, collapsing numerous buildings and leaving hundreds of thousands of people dead, hurt or missing in the capital of Port-au-Prince and elsewhere in the country.
The group organizing today’s rally are also calling for the reinstatement of former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who was exiled from the country during a rebellion in 2004.
Hinton said the U.S. military has taken over the airport at Port-au-Prince, and is preventing food, water and medicine from reaching the earthquake victims as quickly as possible.
He said today’s event in San Francisco is one of 23 that will take place throughout the world in the coming week.
The San Francisco rally is scheduled for 5 p.m. and will take place near the intersection of Market and Powell streets.
