Haitian police, accompanied by activists and members of the population, protested in Port-au-Prince on Wednesday to demand the resignation of the institution’s director general, as well as better working conditions and the release of officers who were allegedly detained in an irregular manner.
Agents, some in uniform and others in civilian clothes, demanded the resignation of their general manager, León Charles, four days after a failed police operation killed four police officers in a clash with the “5 Seconde” armed group in Village. de Dieu, at the southern entrance of Port-au-Prince.
During Wednesday’s protest, a group of officers entered the Delmas 33 police station and forcibly released four police officers who were detained in a new day of tension in the capital, in which shots were heard.
The protesters who accompanied the police violently entered the police station and broke down the doors and windows, according to a preliminary report on what happened.
Meanwhile, on the way to the airport, a vehicle sales company was vandalized.
Official reports indicate that protesters set fire to the scene, took four vehicles and burned another.
Burned tires and barricades were seen on several arteries in the Haitian capital, causing people to disperse and return to their homes.
The situation was tense in different areas of the capital, where parents were running in different directions to pick up their children from schools.
Since July 2018, Haiti has faced an acute political, economic and social crisis marked by demonstrations demanding the departure of the country’s president, Jovenel Moise.