Some of the country's cellphone networks suffered service declines as fuel to run cell tower equipment ran short. Police arrived and dispersed the crowds with warning shots of what appeared to be live rounds. Protests broke out Saturday in the Delmas neighborhood, where gas stations have run out of fuel.
The gangs have also kidnapped hundreds of Haitians, and the government appears unable, or unwilling, to take them on. One of the gangs recently kidnapped 17 members of a U.S.-based missionary group and reportedly demanded a ransom of $1 million each for their release, warning that the hostages will be killed if their demands aren't met. The gangs have become a powerful force in Haiti. The city's main fuel terminals are located in or near gang-dominated neighborhoods like Martissant, La Saline and Cite Soliel, and some gangs have reportedly been demanding extortion payments to allow fuel trucks through. The fuels are widely used to run generators needed to compensate for the country's unreliable electrical system. More than two weeks of fuel deliveries interrupted by gang blockades and abductions of fuel truck drivers have driven residents of Port-au-Prince to a desperate search for gasoline and diesel. Haiti's capital has been brought to the brink of exhaustion by fuel shortages, after staggering along despite an earthquake, the assassination of the president, gang violence and mass kidnappings.
0 kommentar(er)
