Thousands of Haitians take to streets to protest surging gang violence

By Yves Pierre Surin

PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - Thousands of Haitians took to the streets successful Port-au-Prince connected Wednesday to explicit their choler against equipped gangs that power astir each of the superior and surrounding areas and the government's nonaccomplishment to clasp them off.

Violent equipped groups person agreed down a conjugation known arsenic Viv Ansanm and forced implicit 1 cardinal radical from their homes, which has contributed to a freezing of the system and fueled wide hunger. They are besides accused of extortion, wide rapes and killings.

The transitional government, a rotating assemblage of statesmanlike assembly members appointed astir a twelvemonth ago, alongside a agelong undermanned and underfunded U.N.-backed information mission, person done small to clasp disconnected the gangs' advances.

"Do you spot what is happening?" protestor Joseph Mackendy told Reuters astatine the demonstration. "Today, Haitian radical volition combat to beryllium escaped already. We are free. Those men contiguous cannot frighten me."

Residents filled the streets of Port-au-Prince carrying banners and thenar fronds, portion immoderate carried machetes and firearms. The protestation began peacefully but gunfire erupted aboriginal successful the day, causing a panic that caused crowds to flee.

"We, the residents of the Solino neighborhood, we privation to instrumentality home, and we volition spell home," added Julien David, different protester.

Many critics alleged the government's mediocre show against the gangs' advances is tied to authorities corruption and adjacent collusion with the equipped men and their fiscal backers.

The authorities rejects these accusations, but Haitian authorities person a agelong past of ingrained corruption, and its judicial strategy has been paralyzed amid the violence.

The protestation comes days aft a wide jailbreak successful the cardinal municipality of Mirebalais.

Separately connected Wednesday, Haiti was among the countries slapped with 10% tariffs by the United States, a hard stroke for the mediocre Caribbean federation that counts the U.S. arsenic its apical commercialized partner, exporting hundreds of millions of dollars successful goods specified arsenic textiles, spirits and cosmetics.

"One much occupation for a suffering country," said economist Enomy Germain, who heads consultancy ProEco Haiti, connected societal media. The U.S. recorded a $598 cardinal surplus connected commercialized with Haiti past year.

(Reporting by Yves Pierre Surin and Harold Isaac successful Port-au-Prince; Writing by Sarah Morland; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)