Hundreds of Haitians took to the streets on Monday to protest the unelected government of Prime Minister Ariel Henry, whose government has seen partnerships of violent gangs widen their control across most of the capital and spread to nearby areas.
The country’s police force used tear gas to break up demonstrators who were setting fire to car tires and filling streets with clouds of gray smoke.
Prime Minister Henry had taken over power shortly after the assassination of the country’s last president, Jovenel Moise, in 2021. Since the unexpected calamity, a power vacuum has given room to the rise of powerful gangs who have mostly congregated around two main alliances, G9 and G-Pep.
Confrontations between rival gangs, the police and civilian vigilante groups have had crushing impacts on the locals, who face random killings, rampant sexual violence, marauding, kidnaps-for-ransom and arson.
The leader of the Human Rights Watch had earlier this year gauged that some 300,000 people are internally displaced due to the violence.
The United Nations has also estimates that 170,000 children are internally displaced, and almost half of the population is starving as the conflict bars food, aid and people from travelling across the country.
