Thousands of Haitians take to streets to protest surging gang violence

By Yves Pierre Surin

Thousands of Haitians took to the streets in Port-au-Prince on Wednesday to express their anger against armed gangs that control nearly all of the capital and surrounding areas and the government's failure to hold them off.

Violent armed groups have united behind a coalition known as Viv Ansanm and forced over 1 million people from their homes, which has contributed to a freezing of the economy and fueled mass hunger. They are also accused of extortion, mass rapes and killings.

The transitional government, a rotating body of presidential council members appointed nearly a year ago, alongside a long undermanned and underfunded U.N.-backed security mission, have done little to hold off the gangs' advances.

"Do you see what is happening?" protestor Joseph Mackendy told Reuters at the demonstration. "Today, Haitian people will fight to be free already. We are free. Those men today cannot frighten me."

Residents filled the streets of Port-au-Prince carrying banners and palm fronds, while some carried machetes and firearms. The protest began peacefully but gunfire erupted later in the day, causing a panic that caused crowds to flee.

"We, the residents of the Solino neighborhood, we want to return home, and we will go home," added Julien David, another protester.

Many critics alleged the government's poor performance against the gangs' advances is tied to state corruption and even collusion with the armed men and their financial backers.

The government rejects these accusations, but Haitian authorities have a long history of ingrained corruption, and its judicial system has been paralyzed amid the violence.

The protest comes days after a mass jailbreak in the central town of Mirebalais.

Separately on Wednesday, Haiti was among the countries slapped with 10% tariffs by the United States, a hard blow for the poor Caribbean nation that counts the U.S. as its top trade partner, exporting hundreds of millions of dollars in goods such as textiles, spirits and cosmetics.

"One more problem for a suffering country," said economist Enomy Germain, who heads consultancy ProEco Haiti, on social media. The U.S. recorded a $598 million surplus on trade with Haiti last year.