Journal of Haiti and the Americas
United States: 30 years ago, the Los Angeles riots began
Audio 7:30 p.m.
On April 29, 1992, demonstrators protest against the verdict in the Rodney King case, outside police headquarters in Los Angeles, USA.
AP - Nick Ut
By: Mikaël Ponge Follow |
Mikael Ponge Follow
2 mins
On April 29, 1992, the Californian city was ablaze.
Six days of riots following the acquittal of four white police officers in the Rodney King case.
Dozens of dead, millions of dollars in damage.
How did these riots transform the city and its different ethnic communities?
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On March 3, 1991, Rodney King was chased by police officers from the Los Angeles Police Department, following a speeding violation.
He was hit with 56 baton blows.
The trial of his attackers follows: four white police officers who will be acquitted.
On April 29, 1992, after this verdict, unprecedented riots began in Los Angeles.
Result: 58 dead, more than 2,000 injured, around 10,000 arrests and damage estimated at 1 billion dollars.
Riots that broke out
"in the heart of the historic African American ghetto",
recalls our guest Yohann Le Moigne, lecturer in American Civilization at the University of Angers.
A neighborhood that has seen the Latin American population grow and where a large part of the small businesses were run by a Korean population.
These are therefore multi-ethnic riots, explains Yohann Le Moigne after which
“there was a recomposition of the associative fabric with a return to community organization”
.
Haiti and gasoline shortages
In Haiti, the scarcity of fuel is recurrent.
But, for more than a week, the country has been affected by a new shortage and as a result, prices continue to rise in a country already in crisis, where without fuel for generators, there is no electricity.
In the only gas station in Gonaives, capital of the Artibonite department, as soon as a tanker truck supplies a station, the inhabitants rush.
Thursday April 28, 2022, for the fourth day in a row, motorcycle taxi drivers and students walked the tarmac to demand fuel from gas pumps and denounce the cost of living.
Report
Ronel Paul.
Colombia: 1st anniversary under tension of anti-government protests
To mark the first anniversary of major protests against the government of Ivan Duque, demonstrations took place on April 28, 2022 in Colombia.
A day marked by clashes between the police and the protesters.
This
"peaceful day has again ended in violence",
headlines the press.
In Bogota, despite the downpours, we demonstrated and banged on pots, talking about
"the need for 'integral' agrarian reform, the weak guarantees for ethnic groups to stay on their land, the high cost of living , and the defense of nature”,
reports the newspaper El Espectador.
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