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Haiti Police Fire on Protesters Blocking National Palace Entrance

Sandra Lemaire

   WASHINGTON/PORT-AU-PRINCE - Haitian National Police fired on protesters
   who attempted to keep them from removing a makeshift roadblock made of
   large tree branches and metal fences blocking two entrances leading
   into the National Palace.
   "Keep your distance," a masked officer from the national palace guard
   unit shouted at a group of protesters, gun in hand. "Stay back!"

   But the protesters refused to back down. The shooting began after they
   pelted the officers with rocks as they began dismantling the barricade.
   It is unclear if anyone was wounded or killed.

     [1]#Haiti police [2]@pnh_officiel did fire on protesters near the
     National Palace after they pelted them with rocks for dismantling
     their barricades. Here's the video. Reporters had to lay down on the
     ground, protesters shouted Jovenel must go! ð¹Matiado Vilme
     [3]pic.twitter.com/bPj7sao5Dl
     -- Sandra Lemaire (@SandraDVOA) [4]October 31, 2019

   Non-stop protests
   Haiti has seen daily protests for weeks, with most sectors of society
   -- including some members of the national police force -- hitting the
   streets nationwide to demand President Jovenel Moise's resignation. As
   a result, businesses have shuttered, schools remain closed and basic
   necessities are running out.
   The mobilization was originally sparked by a fuel price hike last
   summer. But a corruption report implicating the president's businesses,
   high inflation, double-digit unemployment and the president's seeming
   inability to put order to chaos has stoked anger.
   On Wednesday, the country's medical sector added its voice to the call
   for his resignation.

     Today it's [5]#Haiti's health sector that is protesting in the
     streets of Port au Prince to demand the president resign. Video by
     Matiado Vilme [6]@VOAKreyol [7]pic.twitter.com/9WRr2bZgPD
     -- Sandra Lemaire (@SandraDVOA) [8]October 30, 2019

   But Moise, who is on year two of a five-year term, has refused to
   resign and called instead for reforms and a national dialogue to
   discuss forming a new government. The opposition flatly rejected the
   offer.
   In an exclusive interview with VOA Creole on Tuesday, Jon Piechowski,
   deputy assistant secretary of state overseeing public diplomacy in the
   Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, reiterated that the United States
   backs Haiti's democratic institutions and is "urging all political
   stakeholders to sit down together as soon as possible and enter into
   dialogue to discuss forming a government."

   WATCH: VOA Creole interview with Jon Piechowski (in Creole)

References

   1. https://twitter.com/hashtag/Haiti?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   2. https://twitter.com/pnh_officiel?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   3. https://t.co/bPj7sao5Dl
   4. https://twitter.com/SandraDVOA/status/1190035526461599745?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   5. https://twitter.com/hashtag/Haiti?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   6. https://twitter.com/VOAKreyol?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   7. https://t.co/9WRr2bZgPD
   8. https://twitter.com/SandraDVOA/status/1189570867300319232?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

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