Police used tear gas on protesters in the capital of Haiti, who burned tires and threw rocks on Thursday, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry, reports Associated Press.
"The country is facing an unprecedented level of humanitarian needs, with nearly half of the population – 4.9 million people – unable to find enough to eat," the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said in a statement on Monday. It also said it had been "forced to cut the number of people receiving emergency food assistance in Haiti by 25 percent in July, compared to the previous month, due to dwindling funding levels."
After Haiti's former Prime Minister, Jovenel Moïse, was assassinated in July 2021. A New York Times investigation published in December 2021 revealed that Moïse had implemented several measures to combat drug and arms traffickers and was in the process of compiling a list of influential politicians and businessmen in Haiti linked to drug trafficking before his assassination. Shortly after he was assassinated, Haiti plunged into gang violence.
In the video below, a reporter interviewed political activist Jean Rosemond, who was at the protest, "We've had more kidnappings, more corruption, more insecurity, an increase of rape and unemployment as well as poverty and power outages," he said.
