Haiti: general strike against insecurity and the grip of armed gangs

Haitians have blocked roads and led a nationwide strike to protest the rampant insecurity on the Caribbean island.

Here, on a road during the strike in Port-au-Prince, October 18, 2021 © Ralph Tedy Erol, Reuters

Text by: RFI Follow

2 min

Professional associations and Haitian companies had called for a general strike on Monday, October 18 to protest against insecurity.

A movement widely followed in Port-au-Prince.

The call was made before the kidnapping of 16 Americans and a Canadian on Saturday October 16 by an armed gang.

There is still no news of this group, who had traveled to an orphanage in one of the most dangerous regions of the country.

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With our correspondent in Port-au-Prince,

No public transport, schools, shops and offices keeping doors closed: the call for a general and unlimited strike was followed on Monday in the Haitian capital, which has

living

.

At the initiative of the movement launched during the last week, the president of the association of owners and drivers of Haiti Méhu Changeux demands that the state take its responsibilities:

“We've been calling for help for months because we're not safe. The increase in kidnappings is preventing us from functioning. We pay the state all the taxes we are asked to pay, but in return, it must give us security so that we can live. We will block the country until further notice, until the state decides to put the bandits out of harm's way. These bandits cross the line: they kidnap, they rape women and do whatever they want. There are so many gangs in the country, the state has let it go so much, that they continue to gain ground. They kidnapped the 17 [North] American missionaries, it shows that no one is safe.

Faced with this national strike movement, and faced with the

, police and authorities have not yet spoken publicly.

The armed groups however prevented Sunday, October 17 an official ceremony in memory of the father of the Haitian nation, Jean-Jacques Dessalines.

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• Haiti

• Jovenel Moses