Protesters in Haiti demand new government and more security as anger over gangs spreads

PORT-AU-PRINCE Haiti AP Dozens of protesters marched up the hills of Haiti s capital on Sunday demanding an end to persistent gang violence as they called on the country s prime minister and transitional presidential council to resign It s the latest protest to reflect growing anger and frustration over a surge in violence as gangs try to seize full control of Port-au-Prince The only thing the Haitian people are asking for is safety revealed Eric Jean a -year-old bus driver with a large Haitian flag tied around his neck We re losing more neighborhoods more people are dying more people are fleeing their homes Also joining the protest was Marc tienne who blamed gangs for raiding his small business and leaving him homeless The -year-old now lives in a squalid makeshift camp like tens of thousands of others forced to flee their homes after gangs razed their communities tienne called for a new administration as he blamed the current leaders for the ongoing violence and an increase in the number of children joining gangs Haiti cannot be run among friends he mentioned The city is dying because the council is not doing anything to make it better A vow to fight gangs Sunday s demonstration comes a day after hundreds of people gathered in Port-au-Prince to honor several region leaders killed in fresh clashes with gangs Freedom or death the mourners shouted on Saturday as the leaders of the Canap -Vert neighborhood entered a small stadium where the memorial was held Videos posted on social media demonstrated the leaders carrying automatic weapons and wearing black T-shirts emblazoned with pictures of those killed Numerous wore balaclavas to cover their faces and protect themselves from manageable retaliation by gangs Clad in white the mourners raised their fists and clutched hands in the air as a man on stage roared in Haitian Creole The blood is not going to be shed in vain The fight is what Just beginning the crowd answered in unison The unidentified man on stage reported the public would never forget the slain leaders as he condemned gang violence People are dying and they don t even know why they re dying he revealed Canap -Vert is one of the limited neighborhoods that has yet to fall to gangs that control at least of the capital It also is known for having one of Port-au-Prince s majority of powerful neighborhood organizations led in part by frustrated police officers In early April Canap -Vert leaders organized a large protest that became violent as they too demanded that Haiti s prime minister and its transitional presidential council resign Attacks of indiscriminate and brutal nature Sunday s demonstration and other contemporary protests have decried the country s spiraling predicament with more than people killed and another injured from January to March In mid-March hundreds of people armed with sticks and machetes accompanied by members of an armed environmental brigade successfully ousted more than suspected gang members that had seized control of a Catholic school according to a new statement issued by the U N political mission in Haiti But the ouster is only one of a handful of triumphant fights against powerful gangs backed by certain politicians and certain of Haiti s elite Last year more than people across Haiti were killed according to the U N Gang violence also has left more than one million people homeless in new years Gunmen in current months have targeted once peaceful neighborhoods in Port-au-Prince that would give them easy access to P tion-Ville a residential area where banks embassies and other institutions are located In a February attack on Delmas gunmen indiscriminately fired on the population in the neighborhood killing men and injuring eight others according to the U N statement In a separate attack on a nearby neighborhood where the French embassy is located at least people were killed multiple of whom were traveling in small colorful buses known as tap taps according to the document Other casualties include at least people who were family members of police officers Gangs also have attacked multiple communities in Haiti s central Artibonite region killing adults and small children as they fled The indiscriminate and brutal nature of certain of these attacks shows the gang s strategy to spread panic and reduce the resistance of the local population according to the BINUH record Meanwhile Haiti s National Police bolstered by a U N -backed mission led by Kenyan police has struggled in its fight against gangs as the mission remains underfunded and understaffed with only personnel of the envisioned In a push to crack down on gangs the U S cabinet on Friday officially designated Viv Ansanm a powerful gang coalition and Gran Grif the largest gang to operate in Haiti s central region as foreign terror organizations Critics warn the move could affect aid organizations working in Haiti at a critical time since a multitude of are forced to negotiate with gangs to supply people with basic goods including food and water Coto disclosed from San Juan Puerto Rico Source