By Danica Coto
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti
(AP) — Thousands of demonstrators
set fires Monday and
chanted calls for Haiti’s president
to resign as the opposition
to Jovenel Moise tried to
increase pressure for him to
leave office. Protesters said several
people were hit by gunfire,
including a local journalist.
Schools, businesses and government
offices were closed as
protesters gathered chanting,
“Down with Jovenel!”
“We can’t continue to live
like this,” said 34-year-old Lestin
Abelo as he poured gasoline
on a pile of debris that quickly
caught fire. “We have a government
that’s not doing anything
for the people.”
Opposition leaders and supporters
say they are angry
about public corruption, spiraling
inflation and a dwindling
supply of gasoline that
has forced many gas stations in
the capital to close. Suppliers
have demanded that the cashstrapped
government pay them
more than $100 million owed.
Protesters also are demanding
a more in-depth investigation
into allegations that
top officials in the previous
government misused billions
of dollars in proceeds from a
Venezuela-subsidized oil plan
meant to fund urgent social
programs. Critics accuse Moise
of trying to protect his ally,
former President Michel Martelly,
and of participating in
the corruption himself before
becoming president.
Blood spattered the concrete
floor near the Bernard Mevs
Hospital as the protest grew
violent.
Under heavy rain, a group
of men rushed into the emergency
room carrying a friend
they said was shot in the left
leg by police. Jean-Pierre Finfin,
34, said he was standing
next to his friend when the
bullet hit. He was still shaken
as he recounted being part of
a crowd marching toward Petionville
when he said police
fired.
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Local radio journalist
Joseph Edmond was shot in
his right hand while covering
the protest. He was taken to
a hospital for treatment, said
his colleague, Eddy Baptiste,
who was next to him when it
happened.
He said 22-year-old Edmond
was injured when police in an
unmarked car began firing at a
distance so they could get away
from the crowd.
Police threw tear gas and
scattered thousands of protesters
at mid-afternoon, with one
canister landing on a family’s
roof as several people fled the
house in panic.
Other protesters fled with
handkerchiefs over their faces
as they flushed themselves
with water. One man held a
crushed lemon to his nose.
Among those running
was 38-year-old mason Petit
Homme Edner, who held a
brown cloth to his face.
“Is this democracy?!” he
cried out. “We have the right
to protest.”
A police stands near a burning barricade set up by protesters
in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, Sept. 30, 2019.
Associated Press / Rebecca Blackwell
Moise, who began his fiveyear
term in 2017, has said he
will not step down despite the
unrest and instead called for
calm, unity and dialogue during
an address televised at 2
am. Wednesday. It was a rare
appearance for the president
since the new wave of protests
began about three weeks ago.
New protest hits Haiti amid
demands that prez resign
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