Police fire tear gas as hundreds protest government in Haiti

Avante

06/02/2024 03:28

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Hundreds of Haitians
took to the streets on Monday to protest the unelected
government of Prime Minister Ariel Henry, whose administration
has seen alliances of violent gangs expand control across most
of the capital and spread to nearby areas.
    National police used tear gas to disperse protesters, who
set fire to car tires, filling streets with clouds of gray
smoke.
    Henry assumed power shortly after the assassination of the
country's last president, Jovenel Moise, in 2021. Since then a
power vacuum has allowed the rise of powerful gangs who have
largely gathered around two main alliances, G9 and G-Pep.
    Clashes between rival gangs, police and civilian vigilante
groups have had devastating impacts on local residents, who face
indiscriminate killings, rampant sexual violence, lootings,
kidnaps-for-ransom and arson.
    "Henry has done absolutely nothing for the population;
insecurity is everywhere, the roads are destroyed, no one can
get on with their daily lives," protester Dominique Thelemaque
told Reuters. 
    "We are not here today to wage a war against Ariel Henry to
replace him with someone else. We are here today to wage a war
against the system." 
    The head of the Human Rights Watch earlier this year
estimated some 300,000 people are internally displaced due to
the violence.
     The United Nations estimates that 170,000 children are
internally displaced, and nearly half of the population is going
hungry as the conflict prevents food, aid and people from moving
across the country.

 (Reporting by Steven Aristil; Writing by Sarah Morland; Editing
by)
 ((sarah.morland@thomsonreuters.com;))