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Protesting Gang Violence, Demonstrators Block Main Street in Haiti’s Capital City. PHOTO/Reuters
PORT AU PRINCE – Demonstrators blocked streets and burned tires in the capital Haiti , Port-au-Prince, Thursday (26/1/2023). This action occurred after 11 officers the police have died over the past week as a result of the gang violence that continues to grip the Caribbean nation.
Protesters blocked roads around the capital and in several towns in the north. Local media reported that police officers were angry at the lack of government support to fight the gangs leading the demonstrations.
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“A group of demonstrators arrived at Prime Minister Ariel Henry’s official residence and then left for Port-au-Prince airport,” a witness told Reuters.
Henry returned from a trip to Argentina for a conference on Thursday afternoon, according to two sources who were present at the airport. Haiti’s National Police and the Prime Minister’s Office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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The Vitelhomme gang last week killed four police officers near the capital. Meanwhile, a shootout with Savien’s gang in the town of Liancourt left seven other officers dead on Wednesday, according to reports by the Haitian National Police and local media.
The upheaval comes as the United Nations discusses sending a foreign strike force to confront Haitian criminal gangs, a proposal originally made three months ago.
(esn)
