Haitian president Jovenel Moise, though still supported by allies such as the United States, has been confronted by huge, violent protests since February.
Armed with sticks and stones, protestors are now taking their main demand — that Moise step down — directly to his home, by marching on his official residence and in one case attempting to storm the compound.
So far, they have been thwarted.
Their list of complaints is long: Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas has in the last decade been hit by the worst earthquake in the hemisphere’s history, stricken by a cholera epidemic, then seen billions of dollars intended for social programs disappear from government coffers.
Haiti’s ongoing economic crisis, and lack of any solution by what is perceived as deeply corrupt leadership, has been put into sharp perspective by the mysterious death of Néhémie Joseph, a prominent Haitian journalist who covered the protests, and who was found shot dead in his car on October 10.
Moise is unrepentant, and blames the protests on “armed gangs and drug traffickers.”
Repression of protest in Haiti has been brutal; as previously covered by The Daylighter, Moise’s government has been accused of sponsoring a 2018 death squad attack a neighborhood that is a stronghold of one of the main opposition parties.
Homes, as well as civic buildings such as a school and a church, were burned, and dozens of people were killed or have disappeared.
Sources: BBC News, Telesur (Venezuela)