Anti-Government Protests Rock Haiti’s Capital Amid Ongoing Gang Violence

Gunfire erupted in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince this week, as thousands of protesters demanding an end to rampant gang violence clashed with police outside the offices of Haiti’s prime minister and the transitional presidential council, marking the first major demonstration against Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé’s administration since his appointment in November, the Miami Herald reported.

On Wednesday, demonstrators wielding machetes, tree branches, and flags marched through the capital, with some participants saying the goal was to storm government offices and demand the resignation of authorities who have failed to stem the violence.

The situation escalated when at least a dozen heavily armed participants opened fire. Police responded with tear gas and reportedly used live ammunition, causing panic and scattering the crowd.

No casualties were confirmed, though the streets were littered with abandoned belongings, the Associated Press noted.

More protests are expected in the coming days across the country.

The unrest comes amid frustration over the failure of Haiti’s transitional council to restore security or hold elections.

The council was established under a US and Caribbean Community-brokered political accord in March 2024 with the aim of resolving Haiti’s years-long political and security crisis, marked by the lack of a working legislature and the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.

Criminal gangs control around 90 percent of Port-au-Prince, with William O’Neill, the United Nations human rights commissioner’s expert on Haiti, describing the capital as “an open-air prison.”

Attacks have also spread beyond the capital, including the central city of Mirebalais, where gangs freed more than 500 inmates from a prison Monday and killed two Roman Catholic nuns.

The UN’s International Organization for Migration reported that nearly 6,000 people have been displaced from Mirebalais and the nearby town of Saut d’Eau.

The UN has urged international support for the Kenya-led security mission in Haiti aimed at helping local authorities curb gang violence.

However, the international force only has around 40 percent of the 2,500 personnel it envisioned and has struggled to fight gangs.

UN officials warned that the violence risks overwhelming Haiti’s health and humanitarian systems, with the University Hospital of Mirebalais warning of collapse if the city falls to gangs.