Haiti - Politic : Violent anti-Government demonstration, several gunshot wounds
Saturday, responding to the call of a new structure of the plural opposition called "Directorate of the opposition" composed of : "Ayiti an aksyon" (AAA), Fusion of the social democrats, Christian Movement for a new Haiti (MOCHRENAH), Organization of the People in Struggle (OPL), INIFÒS, INITE, Democratic and Popular Sector, Vérité and Veye yo, thousands of demonstrators at the national level, have taken the streets in Port-au-Prince and in some provincial towns (Cap-Haitien, Gonaïves, Saint-Marc and Jacmel) to demand for the umpteenth time, the departure of President Jovenel Moïse...
In the capital, the demonstrations began shortly before 10:00 a.m., barricades of burning rocks and tires were erected at the Champ de Mars and in several places in the metropolitan area. Numerous incidents were recorded on the route of the demonstrators, broken windows of vandalized cars, throwing of stones and bottles... Demonstrators attempted to set fire to a gas station (Delmas 63) and a house (Delmas 67). Barricades of flaming tires have been reported on, among others, avenue John Brown, Martin Luther King and on the road to Delmas...
The Haitian National Police (PNH) intervened several times, often under throwing stones to disperse demonstrators. On the road to Delmas where many barricades had been erected. The PNH made extensive use of tear gas canisters, in particular at Delmas 48 and 67 where numerous shots of uncertain origin would have injured several people according to witnesses (unconfirmed information from official sources). Unidentifiable and masked and heavily armed individuals were seen without being worried... Scattered by the police, the demonstrators were unable to reach Pétion-ville or downtown Port-au-Prince as planned.
Several opposition leaders including André Michel, leaders of the so-called "democratic and popular" movement, Paul Denis (INIFÒS), Edgar Leblanc Fils (OPL), Nenel Cassy (Fanmi Lavalas) the former opposition senators Ricard Pierre and Antonio Chéramy and among others were seen among the demonstrators
For André Michel, the mobilization was a success affirming "[...] We are on the way to the transition [...] There will be no elections with Jovenel Moïse in power, nor cohabitation. His constitutional mandate ends on February 7, 2021 [...]"
