G. Dunkel // Haitians shut down streets demanding jobs, rollback of prices – Workers World

19.7.18

Haitians shut down streets demanding jobs, rollback of prices – Workers World - This attack on the living standards of the masses, they thought, would be ignored in the jubilation and joy over Brazil’s victory.

But Brazil lost. Within minutes the masses were in the streets, erecting and burning barricades of tires, car bodies, debris and garbage to block traffic of cars and motorcycles. Whole neighborhoods in Port-au-Prince — Pétionville, Delmas, Lalue, Nazon, Champs-de-mars, Canapé-vert — were made inaccessible. Protesters also took to the streets in such cities as Cap Haïtien, Petit Goâve, Cayes, Jérémie, Jacmel and l’Artibonite. In Petit Goâve the courthouse was burned and the entryway to the tax office was set on fire.

In well-off neighborhoods of Port au Prince and Pétionville, luxury cars and apartment buildings were singled out, as well as offices and supermarkets constructed after the devastating 2010 earthquake with money that had been designated to rebuild the country. A particular target was the splendid and super-luxurious Royal Oasis Hotel in Pétionville, which got $2 million from Bill Clinton out of funds supposedly for reconstruction.