POLICE USE TEAR GAS AS HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE PROTEST THE HAITIAN GOVERNMENT

On Monday, hundreds of Haitians demonstrated against Prime Minister Ariel Henry's unelected administration, which has allowed violent gang coalitions to seize control of the majority of the capital and neighboring communities.

When demonstrators set automobile tires on fire, national police deployed tear gas to scatter them, covering the streets in gray smoke clouds.

Henry came to office soon after Jovenel Moise, the nation's previous president, was assassinated in 2021. Since then, there has been a power vacuum that has facilitated the emergence of strong gangs, most of which have centered around the G9 and G-Pep alliances.

Victims of clashes between rival gangs, law enforcement, and citizen vigilante groups have suffered greatly.

Protester Dominique Thelemaque told Reuters, "Henry has done absolutely nothing for the population; insecurity is everywhere, the roads are destroyed, and no one can get on with their daily lives."

"We are not here to fight Ariel Henry to remove him from office. Our purpose for being here today is to fight the system."

Earlier this year, the director of Human Rights Watch calculated that the violence is domestically displacing about 300,000 people.

According to UN estimates, 170,000 children are internally displaced, and because of the violence, food, relief, and people are unable to travel throughout the nation, about half of the population suffers from starvation.