As evening fell, tension returned to the streets of Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Port-au-Prince – The powerful ex-cop, Jimmy Cherisier ‘Barbecue,’ once again announced the beginning of a “revolution” and promised to overthrow Henry Henry’s government.
There was an exchange of gunfire between armed gangs and police, sporadic gunshots heard in numerous neighborhoods, dozens of families leaving their homes and refugee camps, and protests.
This is the balance of what happened this Friday in Port-au-Prince, on the second day of escalating violence in Haiti.
Six officers were killed by armed gangs in Canaan (settled in the north of the Haitian capital) during their attack on Thursday on the Bon Repos sub-station, according to the latest data from the police union, which has not yet been able to recover the bodies of their colleagues.
“Too many policemen are being killed. Too many women and children are being raped. Too many people are being forced from their homes. We say it often and you all know it – there are ways to solve the problem, but the political authorities have no will,” denounced Garry Jean Baptiste, delegate of the police union SPNH.
Members of this collective, accompanied by officers, went to the National Police headquarters in Port-au-Prince. Tired, they denounced the act of acting without means. “We know what is happening (…) It is a plot to destroy the National Police and show that it is impotent so that an international force can be asked for help.
We are ready to fight. The Haitian Police is prepared to fight; it is ready to solve the problem of insecurity,” underlined Jean Baptiste.
In addition to the police protests, dozens of activists demonstrated on the Delmas highway to demand the departure of Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry from power.