Protests intensify in Haiti against prime minister

By Laura Gamba

BOGOTA, Colombia (AA) - At least one person was killed Wednesday during an attack on a police station in Haiti, where many cities are seeing violent protests demanding that Prime Minister Ariel Henry step down.

The attack in Ouanaminthe, a town in northeastern Haiti on the border with the Dominican Republic, also left several people injured.

People took to the streets in cities like Jeremie and in Grand’Anse, Cayes, Gonaives, Artibonite, Miragoane, Nippes, Cap-Haitien and Hinche to demand that Henry comply with article 20 of a Dec. 21, 2022 agreement that marks the end of his interim government on Feb. 7, when a new head of state should be sworn in.

In Petion-ville, stores were looted by protesters and several motorcycles were set on fire as barricades. Police used tear gas to disperse demonstrators.

Former senator and rebel leader Guy Philippe, who has called for a revolution to remove the prime minister from power, was seen in the streets of the capital Port-au-Prince on Tuesday.

Neighboring Dominican Republic deployed more military units Wednesday to the border, given the escalating tensions in Haiti. Dominican Minister of the Presidency Joel Santos Echavarria said that "surveillance is being increased.”

“We are prepared to face any situation," he told reporters.

Dominican President Luis Abinader said Monday that his government is "monitoring the situation in Haiti."

"We are prepared for any situation of instability, which is not new in Haiti," he said in a press conference.

Haiti has been immersed for years in a political, economic and social crisis amid a spiral of violence at the hands of armed gangs that terrorize the population with killings, kidnappings, rapes and attacks.

​​The situation in Haiti prompted the UN Security Council last October to approve the sending of a multinational security support mission led by Kenya.