Thousands demand ouster of PM in new protest

PORT-AU-PRINCE (AP):

Thousands of people in Haiti’s capital and other major cities organised new protests on Wednesday to demand safer streets, more affordable goods, and the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry.

The occasional crack of gunfire mixed with the shouting and clapping of protesters as they marched through streets blocked by rocks, trucks and burning tires.

“Ariel, you have to go! Go, Ariel! Go, Ariel!” a crowd in the capital, Port-au-Prince, yelled.

Other protests paralysed various coastal cities in Haiti’s northern and southern regions, including Port-de-Paix, Petit-Goave and Jeremie, with police firing tear gas to disburse the crowd.

Haitians have organised a growing number of protests amid an increase in gang-related kidnappings and killings, a spike in the prices of basic goods, a severe lack of fuel, and an inflation rate that has hit 30 per cent.

On Tuesday, the prime minister’s office issued a statement saying that it was “aware of the seriousness of the situation”, and that Henry would take several measures, including implementing social programmes, to alleviate extreme poverty and ensure that more fuel is available at gas stations. Henry called for calm, and urged people not to give in to political manipulation.

Haiti has grown increasingly unstable ever since the July 7, 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, with gangs growing more powerful as Henry’s administration keeps pushing back the date for general elections that were scheduled to be held last year.