PORT-AU-PRINCE, (Reuters) – Police in Haiti fired tear gas yesterday at thousands of protesters marching in the streets of the capital, Port-au-Prince, against Prime Minister Ariel Henry’s government and its handling of crippling fuel shortages and soaring prices.
Reuters footage showed a man being carried on a stretcher after suffering a leg injury and police firing teargas and guns into the air to disperse protesters.
A gang blockade of Haiti’s main fuel port over a fuel price increase Henry announced last month, and the resulting shortages have forced some hospitals, which are powered by diesel generators, to close, shut down transport and brought much daily life to a halt.
The protest took place on the day schools were meant to re-open after a one-month postponement of the resumption of classes after the summer break because of the economic crisis.
“If the prime minister solves insecurity and hunger, if he can solve the gang problems in the country and manage the crisis, there will be no problem in restarting classes,” a protester who identified himself as Wilgens told Reuters.
“If he has no answers to these questions, he must leave power and hand it to the right person.”
Another protester, Marckenson, called for Henry to step down. “Ariel does not have the dignity to open the schools. We will open the schools and Ariel must leave.”
In a statement to the United Nations the week after announcing the fuel price increase, Henry acknowledged the right of people to protest over rising prices but condemned the organisers of looting, vandalism and violence.
“Sooner or later they will have to answer for their crimes before history and the law,” he said.
The protest came a day after Haiti’s health minister said at least seven people had died of cholera, indicating more problems with access to clean drinking water in the poorest country in the Americas.
An outbreak of the disease killed some 10,000 people in 2010.
Trinidad cops kill four bandits during home invasion
(Trinidad Guardian) It was a traumatic morning for a Mayaro family on Monday, after armed bandits stormed their home. However, a quick response from police left four of seven gunmen dead.
Acting Police Commissioner McDonald Jacob confirmed last evening that Eastern Division police were searching for three other suspects who escaped through bushes after police killed four of their cohorts.
Police said one of the victims, the owner of a Chinese restaurant, left his home in the gated Krista Park community to drop his daughter to school but when he returned home around 9.30 am, he found his wife and 17-year-old son on the ground with their hands tied and tape over their mouths. The gunmen approached him within seconds and ordered him to the floor.
However, police had already received a tip-off about the home invasion and officers from the Mayaro Police Station, Eastern Division Task Force and Emergency Response Patrol entered the premises within minutes.
On approaching, the bandits shot at the officers, who retaliated with gunfire of their own, killing four of the men.
Three other bandits ran through the back and jumped over the fence at the back of the community. Police said the bandits entered the property by jumping over a wall on the eastern side.
Residents were said to be traumatised by the incident, as the bandits remained on the compound for hours before they were ordered removed by the DMO.
Jacob said none of the victims suffered injuries before or during the shootout. The bandits did not escape with any of the family’s belongings.
Jacob said police were using an Active Directed Grid Patrol method to secure their district. He said the responding officers were therefore already out on strategic patrols and were able to respond in quick time.
“This is what we are doing now. Every division will develop in such a way to handle situations on its own and we will give them the tools and resources to manage, and we will hold the divisional commanders accountable. Yes, other sections will come into support, but divisions will have the autonomy to manage themselves; simply meaning that we are moving away from sectionalisation to divisional work,” Jacob said.
Minister of National Security Fitzgerald Hinds commended the Police Service while contributing to the 2023 Budget yesterday, saying that everyone should note its success in its response to crime.
“You saw it in La Romain. You saw it again this morning in Mayaro. Everyone in this country must know the police are on high alert, highly trained, ready and responsive, and I want to commend the Police Service for the kind of work in standing in defence of the people of Trinidad & Tobago,” Hinds said.
Monday’s incident came less than two weeks after police killed Greg Dodough, 21, Kyle Ramdhan, 23, Keyon Ramdhan, 22 and Deaundre Montrose, 22, in a shootout on September 19. The shootout occurred minutes after the men murdered Allied Security Services’ estate constables Jerry Peters and Jeffrey Stuart outside Pennywise Plaza in La Romain.
The four bandits were among six who opened fire on the officers’ pick-up, after they collected cash at Pennywise Cosmetics. The shooting also left Estate Constable Peola Baptiste with life-threatening injuries.
