MASS PROTESTS IN HAITI

On 2 April, thousands of Haitians took to the streets of Port-au-Prince, meeting police violence as they demanded an end to unchecked gang violence. They marched toward the offices of the acting prime minister and presidential council, chanting, ‘Let’s go, let’s go, and get them out!’

With 85 per cent of the capital under gang control, Haiti is spiralling into deeper chaos. The UN estimates the instability has displaced more than 1 million people, with 60,000 forced to flee their homes in just one month. The UN describes the capital as an ‘open-air prison’ with no safe way in or out.

However, the violence has been spreading beyond the capital. This week, gangs reportedly stormed a prison in Mirebalais, releasing over 500 inmates. Meanwhile, a UN-backed, US-funded Kenyan-led mission is severely under-resourced, with only 40 per cent of the international forces deployed.

With the death toll having surpassed 4,200 during the first eight months of the Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti, it seems the effort as well as the transitional council, are failing in their objective to bring security and stability to the country. Perhaps they can take a look at the role that foreign powers have played in destabilising Haiti since the 1804 revolution that marked Haiti as the world’s first Black republic.

Sources

https://marxist.com/the-gangs-of-haiti-and-the-failure-of-bourgeois-rule.htm 

https://thegrayzone.com/2021/07/16/us-ties-to-suspected-haiti-assassins-follow-long-history-of-neocolonial-intervention/ 

https://apnews.com/article/haiti-protest-gangs-prime-minister-police-4438588e62468fa0b57d4b515b24a334 

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/thousands-haitians-take-streets-protest-surging-gang-violence-2025-04-03/

https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/thousands-protest-haiti-denounce-surge-gang-violence-demand-120420967

https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/2025-03/a-hrc-58-76-auv.pdf