Balistrad Blog
All activities were paralyzed in Port-au-Prince, this Thursday, October 21, due to protests by motorcyclists against the fuel shortage. This protest movement coincides with the strike by truckers against insecurity.
In Delmas, the roads were blocked by burning tires, billboards and rocks. Banks, gas stations and supermarkets were closed all day. Schools that opened before the protests had to release children in the middle of the day. “We cannot work without gasoline when we have families to take care of”, say the bikers.
In Delmas 32, some bikers from this neighborhood have left their motorcycles in the middle of the streets to block traffic. At Delmas 47, the tires were burning. “The cops just attacked us with tear gas. Yet they are in the same situation as us,” said one protester. Truckers who risk their lives on a daily basis in Martissant, one of Haiti’s most dangerous roads where several gangs rule the law, are stopping work to push the authorities to remedy this situation, according to their press release.
In the afternoon, the director of the Haitian police, Léon Charles resigned in a context of kidnappings and gang violence. 16 American missionaries and 1 Canadian were kidnapped in Croix-des-Bouquets with their families, Saturday, October 16, near the Haitian capital by a notorious gang called « 400 Mawozo ». The Haitian police, accused of corruption and complicity with powerful gang members, are unable to deal with armed groups more present and better equipped than the police.
Joubert Joseph
