‘We’re going to die’: Thousands demand Haiti’s PM step down as crime surges in the country
Hundreds of protesters in Haiti’s capital and different main cities blocked roads, shut down companies and marched by way of the streets Monday to demand that Prime Minister Ariel Henry step down and to name for a greater high quality of life.
Related Press journalists noticed an unidentified man fatally shoot a demonstrator in Port-au-Prince after which flee in a automotive as the group quickly scattered.
Demonstrator Lionel Jean-Pierre, who witnessed the taking pictures, mentioned issues in Haiti have gotten uncontrolled.
“Households do not know what to do,” he mentioned as the group round him chanted: “If Ariel does not depart, we’ll die!”
Violence and kidnappings have surged in Port-au-Prince and close by areas in current months, with warring gangs killing tons of of civilians of their struggle over territory. They’ve grown extra highly effective since final yr’s assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.
In some of the current killings denounced by the prime minister and Haiti’s Workplace of Citizen Safety, suspected gang members killed eight folks over the weekend in a single neighborhood, together with a mom and her two daughters who have been set on fireplace whereas nonetheless alive.
“This collective crime provides to the listing of victims … that has reached an alarming proportion,” the workplace mentioned.
Poverty additionally has deepened, with inflation reaching 29 per cent and a few costs of some primary items resembling rice greater than quadrupling. Gasoline additionally stays scarce and, if obtainable, prices $15 US a gallon.
“I want the fuel to work,” 28-year-old moto-taxi driver Garry Larose mentioned as he marched. “I’ve a household to feed, faculty to pay.”
In a single protest, folks wore black T-shirts, whereas at one other they wore purple T-shirts emblazoned with the phrases, “RISE UP.”
The protests come days after dozens of demonstrators staged a sit-in in entrance of Henry’s official residence and demanded that he resign.
On Monday, police clashed with demonstrators in some areas, firing tear fuel to interrupt up the group as burning tires blocked roads.
