PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AFP) — Sporadic gunfire echoed through the deserted streets of Port-au-Prince yesterday as the Government remained silent in the face of protests that have paralysed the Haitian capital and triggered rising violence.
The normally traffic-clogged streets were largely empty as schools, shops and municipal offices were shuttered for fear of more violence that has already left several people dead and an air of uncertainty hanging over the Government of President Jovenel Moise.
Barricades have sprung up in some areas of the capital and other cities, as protesters have taken to the streets demanding the president step down over reports of mismanagement and possible embezzlement of development funds in the impoverished Caribbean nation.
After a quiet but tense start to the day, hundreds of youths from the capital’s poorer quarters marched towards Petionville, the wealthiest neighbourhood in Port-au-Prince, throwing stones at houses until police opened fire with tear gas rounds to break up the march.
Police also thwarted an attempt to attack a bank during the demonstration, dragging away several blood-stained suspects and making five arrests, an AFP reporter on the scene said.
Since the Opposition organised widespread demonstrations last week to mark two years of Moise’s presidency, smaller and more spontaneous protests have broken out in key urban centres.
In some places, young men have erected barricades and begun seizing bypassers to hold for ransom, while vehicles have been torched, and shops damaged and looted, creating a climate of fear and intimidation alongside the Opposition protests.
Demonstrators are demanding Moise quits over a scandal centering on the Petrocaribe fund, under which Venezuela supplied Haiti and other Caribbean and Central American countries with oil at cut-rate prices and on easy credit terms for years.
Investigations have shown that nearly US$2 billion from the programme were misused.
A report released in January on the misuse of the money also named a company that was then headed by Moise as a beneficiary of funds from a road construction project that never had a signed contract.
During his election campaign, Moise promised “food on every plate and money in every pocket”, yet most Haitians still struggle to make ends meet and face inflation that has risen 15 per cent since his election.
“We call on the police to arrest Jovenel Moise because he represents a danger and a threat to the life of every Haitian,” said Andre Michel, one of the main Opposition leaders.
“He no longer has any legitimacy: the country will remain deadlocked until Jovenel Moise resigns,” he said.
A mediation group composed of a senior UN official, the ambassadors of France, Germany, Brazil, Canada, and the United States, and representatives of Spain, the EU and the Organization of American States, has called on Haiti’s politicians to enter dialogue over the crisis, lamenting the loss of life and damage caused by the protests. Continue reading