After months of protests fears of more violence in haiti demonstrators stepped up their demands for the president to resign so whats fueling beyond race and how will the government respond to people speak of incidents this is inside story. And welcome to the program. For months now people in haiti have protested in sometimes violent demonstrations that appeared to be getting worse a deepening economic crisis and growing fuel and Food Shortages have sent people to the streets there demanding the resignation of president who has so far rejected that call and frequent natural disasters have made things worse for millions of haitians hurricanes that destroy homes and Food Production and severe droughts that dry up the countrys Water Resources but lets take a look at the political crisis which began in july last year when haitis government announced plans to end fuel subsidies as part of an agreement with the International Monetary fund thousands protested demanding president step down demonstrations continue despite the government suspending the reforms that would have nearly doubled petrol prices Prime Minister jackie tar resigned and his replacement was fired just 6 months after his appointment and protesters got even more angry after allegations that 4000000000. 00 from a Venezuelan Oil Subsidy Program disappeared we have a lot to get to with our guests in just a moment but 1st this report from manya in Port Au Prince. For weeks protest against haitian president should no noise have paralyzed much of the capital Port Au Prince. Over the weekend in an easy call returned to the city with debris from roadblocks still littering the streets having a motorbike was the most efficient way to get around we visited the shanty town of the poorest slum in the city. There we met 65 year old so lendlease the Living Conditions in her neighborhood are far from sanitary and many of her family members are sick. She tells us she remembers a time when she had steady work and life in the country wasnt nearly as hard but those days are long gone. The way things are going and the country has made things worse for the poor we feel even more mistreated than before theres no one here to help us we have to look at fast selves. There are thousands of haitians who like solenn have been deeply affected by the political crisis theres an ongoing petrol shortage fuel pumps are crowded and with Public Services crippled many people are forced to walk long distances in search of supplies imagine if you do and i have a wife and children and i cant find water ive got 5. 00 to buy water but i dont know where to find it with tensions still high the government continues to call for a National Dialogue. Violence is not the best way to make your voice heard as a major impact on the countrys economy especially if it means haiti is locked down. Unwilling to negotiate opposition leaders have once again called for mass demonstrations haitis political opposition has vowed to continue to protest for as long as it takes for the president to resign meanwhile its the poorest in the country who are worst affected for them this is a crisis with no end in sight unrelated up in the us is it a Port Au Prince. Well as on bring in our guests for todays inside story in Port Au Prince we have. Junior a haitian canadian activists in durham North Carolina in the United States history professor at Duke University with a focus on the caribbean and haiti in particular also in Port Au Prince economist and professor at university thank you all for joining us thank you so much for being on inside story betty if i can start with you and i want to bring up a photo you tweeted just a little over a year ago in august of 2018 and it reads where is the petrol caribbean money just to remind our viewers petro venezuela Solidarity Program was supplied to caribbean nations like haiti a discounted price so they could use the money that was freed up towards development but billions as weve heard billions of dollars set the program just simply disappeared so if this photo is actually what sparked the anticorruption demonstrations that weve seen in haiti over the past year what was your intention 1st of all when you tweeted this photo over a year ago and did you think it would resonate the way they did with haitians. Well i was not expecting better at all when this happened they were. Through i was i was i was sleeping and i couldnt sleep and during the night i just. When i woke up i asked my sister you know i need to take a picture and we took the picture because of all the things that were going on in before. All the protests from july 67 the country and whatnot so way to the picture and it just blew me exploded. And ever since i started i got back to haiti and i went on the ground. Fighting with people on the one on the ground and i was not expecting that at all. The protests began over the governments plans to end the fuel subsidies but the government ended up canceling those plans because of the demonstrations so why are people still on the streets in haiti today what are the peoples demands those who are protesting. The demands of the people a very simple it is they need they need their basic needs its food water somewhere to sleep its really basic haitians are not asking for much is just you you have the elite bigger debts that has all into their hands and all the wealth of the country is divided between among a few people so its been liers that is happening and you have that predatory state thats taking the sticking in captivity so now the people are demanding to live in better condition to live like decent human being this is the very simple thing that they are asking as citizens. In total trains as beth said this has been going on for years are the protesters that were seeing on the streets of Port Au Prince today. For the current fuel shortages and Food Shortages but he took Office Nearly 3 years ago but these corruption allegations have dante de for a very long time now for many years why is he to blame for the Current Crisis. And i think its its a combination of different factors corruption actually is going too far and every time you have a new scandal and it looked like all yll under fire and of people and make people angry. But also we have the highest inflation for that to flow for the last 11 years we have the highest currency rated growth for the last 20 years we do worse it could not meet. A group of seized earthquake so this here is a particular catastrophic economy here enemy more people game and have the same time how can see you know ready to give gas subsidies when you. When you buy port you giving money to congressmen to vote for Prime Minister to do those kind of action and development make it more difficult for people to accept and also to trust the government so its like james war bad but getting worse but how is not marines responsible how did he benefit from the old system of subsidize feel official investigation have implicated not just him but other officials under previous administrations as well last year he she didnt give the answer regarding doing little questions because she he did it a porch to bob a very deep deep change of government last year after protests in july but it was not the point so because right now we have a systemic crisis is not government crisis is not just inflation it presses a systemic crisis we do is no way you cant keep so many people in poverty in extreme poverty in a country where it was so sort of theirs in acquiring the enforced ration so you cant theres no way you could keep the system. Wing as it was before what does seem people actually people do is sources of the country and he came to use it will it do they do not think weve balanced that day and thats why people are so angry wanted him to resign you know haunted why in North Carolina International Media has focused on the familiar story of corruption and mismanagement in in haiti an all too familiar story but what lies beneath all this in your view what are the root causes side but i imagine that they extend beyond the current government do they not well certainly and i think you know that as my colleagues have said this is in a way kind of a long term process systemic questions coming to a head and i think just a situation that has been building for quite a long time obviously the basic questions about Food Security food supply water supply both in the department but also in the cities throughout the country that have seen protests recently and in the countryside i think thats fundamental and also the sense that there is there hasnt been a kind of real political response to the demands on the part of people to have transparency to have kind of responses to questions about where where the money has gone and so that that combination thats really greasing frustrations i think many noise came into power he certainly made promises as many governments have about addressing agriculture which really is i think maybe the key or one of the keys to the question how to increase Food Production within the country how to decrease and dependence on foreign food and there are questions like that that are fundamental that have huge impact throughout the country that simply have not been addressed and sustained way and i think again as my colleagues have said i think people are looking for someone who will provide the solutions for the beginnings of solutions its obviously a very complicated situation but at least a kind of honest engagement with the solutions and an honest with with long and troubling as trees of the lack of transparency on the part of the government basically absentee. So that someone is that could solve this crisis in the heart i just want to get your thoughts on whether this crisis the Current Crisis that haiti is experiencing now is different from other crises the country has experience i mean as weve said its not the 1st sign that haiti has gone to such turmoil but do you sense that its different this time around and that there could be a game changer it does feel like a very different moment i mean i feel like were not really unsure and most of the by talk to very unsure about where this is heading obviously there are earlier periods in the early 1990 s. Or the 2000 when there has been significant political crises and demonstrations we are coming in a period where theres been now several change of president s that have been that have gone through with elections complicated in trouble election but nevertheless elections and transfers of our that went through without a major violence as there had been in earlier earlier coups and so forth but i think the real question is how the Youth Movement in particular in the country and how that transfers into perhaps a political project that can be articulated at the level of the parliament and leadership and what the what the next steps need to be to make that a reality will will i think be the big question and determine whether theres a more positive direction or whether a more negative direction or lets put that question to you bam jambo in Port Au Prince is about how do you feel these protests are making a difference have they made a difference since they began over a year ago and what is the plan of the Youth Movement where are they going to take this well the the haitian people are not grueling to another. What i say i like currently this is the economy is bankrupt the country is chaotic you have gangsters everywhere. We want change you want something new we want. Like my colleagues leadership we and the problems really its you have the oligarchs keep that we are so attached to their. Interests economic interests and you have the International Community was like looking at the opposition here theres a really choice the opposition because theyre really steamed their state their hands are staying in the corruption and the future guarding money and whatnot so its even as the u. S. We dont we dont see the change but only thing that we and the reverse that you we have to engage are because. Everybody nationwide even in the just for a day no longer trust this government or the International Community so haitians have come they have to come with their change they have to change their country for themselves and with their all know how how do you go about achieving that change that youre calling for bear i mean opposition politicians have been calling on young haitians to take to the streets is that really the solution because theres a risk that these young haitians will get killed how do you achieve change without violence. Thats the thing that theyre all eager the only way to go through them is to die violence im not saying that they have to go through violence im not im a pacifist except this is the only way unfortunately so me personally what i would say. So you get rid of the no you get rid of this parliament you get rid of everyone that if thats implicated in this. Scandal and you do a transition that changes and we made one you win year 2 years 3 years you create a commission thats going to focus on the pitch will carry the trial thats very important to send an example once and for all you it more than lies the seed the state you invests in people that not mediocre or incompetent in india the probably got a ration you reinforce the Justice System these are the these are the key elements because we cannot go through this before nor have a strong Justice System and one of the other thing thats very important is the constitution the constitution is in favor of the parliament there is so we have to change that. The members of parliament so we have to change it sees that fortune in the concept yes lets ask about his thoughts on this. Says you have to get rid of everyone in the current government starting with the anomalies of course but he has indicated that hes not interested in leaving power right now how do you achieve that change at the youth in haiti economy for. I think the 1st thing is to say that thats where we are now to engage do you feel because the youve been so outside of politics or the challenges and thats weight here is very important are social media in Technology Help us to connect to people in make information more accessible for all and then it because now we have a generation of people who are leading this country not. Corrupt and they not didnt have any interest in the country so we have to make sure that we educate and we prepare eluded to reason of the leaders with conscious government as well national or i log the government has called for a National Dialogue s. M. L. Why is not why is that not a good start because nobody trust the government when you say you have a dialogue but people people know its not choose not to sin said i look so we have we facing the confidence crisis nobody trusts the president nobody to the government every time he calls for dialogue nobody responds because they know hes not sincere has been 2 years is giving so many broken promises and lies so they dont trust him they dont trust him. On the u. S. A still supports todays of anomalies despite these growing protests against his government and against him how far do you see washington supporting him if these demonstrations continue. I mean i think thats one of the interesting things about this moment is that the disc the general disengagement or the are far less engagement from the United States for clear reasons i think we can understand just in terms of that the Current Administration and their focus and so forth has meant meant that theres a kind of very different context i think that there is a support for movies but the extent to which the u. S. Is kind of playing a role as an arbiter in the way that they have for decades in many cases much more directly in the political context actually provides a certain kind of opening i mean i think the key is that you have a lot of people who are really engaged who really want to be engaged who just really would like to see positive change in the country and the key is how to get a feedback loop in place where. They find ways to engage politically that begins to bear fruit i think people understand that will take time but there really does need to be a different relationship between the Political Class who and and the kind of broader population and an articulation of sovereignty on the part of the people that that bears fruit obviously most of these key problems in the country can only be dealt with on a infrastructural level with state and vestments and that is the key and for a very long time for many reasons including the actions of the International Community the focus on kind of humanitarian aid and n. G. O. S instead of on state sort of strengthening all these things are kind of accumulated and i think theres been lots of mistakes to share all around by both inside and outside the country. The hope would be to figure out a way so that the ideas that you use have which i you know are kind of key i mean this is a major populations is a very Young Country right this is the core of the population or younger people thats going to be really the key to find a the key to open up their political participation and move forward theres a bad end in Port Au Prince of anomalies was elected without much Popular Support in 2016 defying another election could solve the crisis and bring about a more Representative Government for haitians cant go through a another election. Thats why we were pushing this transition we have to lean on a little more. International here and in our in our lives. Who are here. Ok let me ask you about the opposition in haiti opposition leaders. Have pledged that they would be no peace until your anomaly steps down and they have been telling the population dries up but i wonder though what alternatives are they offering. To prison out there but that doesnt mean people chose them out either so when i talk about confidence crisis not not only nominally for the government but a lot of people dont chose the opposition leaders neither because most of them have been in power years ago d or a couple of decay that did decay they go and its not necessarily convincing tentative and thats why some people are not as a serious the. Likely to really go for the present president a resignation but those same time i think it should be building should be building with with material from everywhere into little tentative to get it because the constitution is not really clear about do we force egypt to do and then to achieve a great advantage but for me now it should be really really folks should be focused for and the National Conference and the constitution movies and so does should be to do 2 men takes to do and after that to go to election like maybe after 2 years ok. I mean youve had the repressive regime of the devalues for 30 years in haiti there was john back hire a seat of course he seems to be in a perpetual state of fragility what is a way out of these crises of Current Crisis and you mention the us being in the past and all the trades are. If not the u. S. Then who today. Well i think the key is actually within haiti right and i think that at sea the best solutions will come from within the country and that in the past the interventions from outside have not helped in general what i think i think its and in terms of Historical Context very important that weve returned also the constitution this is a constitution that was written directly after the overthrow of that you by your regime it had it as a central concern essentially containing the executive because of a 30 year process of an eye of an authoritarian executive and so it kind of recalibrated the relationship between the parliament and the executive and did a lot of other things its a constitution that had a lot of positive elements but as as people have mentioned theres also some confusion around it and its not clear that the recalibration has totally worked so i actually think it will be very useful as everyone is suggesting to think about that constitution to think about the political structure in haiti and how it could be improved and i actually think that if that conversation unfolds people will have a sense that thats a very relatively concrete project that can be put into place so that the new political culture if there are new elections eventually those new Political Class will kind of work in a different way because the impasse is right now are certainly clear and they do have a connection to that constitutional question ok i really think the question right now is to think about the future collectively from within the country and to construct that future obviously thats a huge challenge let as much as the isis an opening as it is a crisis its also an opening and let me ask. Whether he thinks that the solution has to come from within or whether intervention from outside at this stage is necessary to resolve this crisis in haiti once and for all. Rice is the been profound but if were talking specifically about Richard Pryor the trial i think its a little bit of both you would have knew you would need to have a special court from the you know ill be chair is from the north like in europe like switzerland. Norway finland and they were training. And are on the ground. For the pitch recovery but ultimately for the constitution the referendum emerging the Political Class we are the youth we are the future we need to engage also like earlier my colleague was talking about that you know you can jeanne that was very bloody and and on our on our on earth and this. Made us look the other way every time there was injustice and was going to so we are and we need to stand well stand in unity stand in as were our family ok no because this this inJustice System its not helping us. Lets leave it there unfortunately we have run out of time thank you so much gentlemen for a very interesting discussion thank you for being on the show today. And at a meal and thank you for watching you can always watch this program again any time by this having our website at aljazeera dot com for further discussion go to our Facebook Page at facebook dot com for slash a. J. Inside story you can of course also join the conversation on twitter handle is at 88 inside stories for me turning back to one whole team thank you for watching and. But Al Jazeera World tells the dramatic story of the birth of a nation and how a political agreement reached my fronts in tunisia would spark the bitterest of few. This god the land dont see it as the 2 men we will still be ok rivalry conflict murda division to have tunisia the battle for independence on aljazeera. One of the really special things that work in progress here is that even as a camera woman i get to have so much empathy and contribution to a story as well we cover this region better than anyone else working for us as you know is that it tends to live out in the but the good because you have a lot of people that are divided on political issues we are we the people we live to tell the real story so ill just mandate is to deliver indepth generalism we dont feel in favor to the audience across the globe. And how more he had seen in doha with the top stories on aljazeera a day of celebrations turned into escalating violence on the streets of hong kong tens of thousands of people have defied warnings from police that it would be very very dangerous to protest on whats the 70th anniversary of the founding of the peoples republic of china around 6000. 00 Police Officers have been stationed across the territory theyve confirmed the use of live rounds of ammunition as well as tear gas and water cannon to break up the crowds of demonstrators well the video being widely circulated on social media appears to show a Police Officer shooting a protester in the chest with a Pistol Police say the man has been taken to hospital reuters reports one person is in a Critical Condition sarah clarke has more now from hong kong. The big dramatic scenes across hong kong want to target 1st which is Chinas National Day a tear gas has been used in every single rally location at the 6 different organized assemblies across hong kong and one massive march which is a peaceful march which attracted tens of thousands of people to move from called by by through to Central Hong Kong the place have now confirmed that live bullets were used at 2 of those locations at the one location in turn 11 particular person was hit at close range that particular person the local media is reporting that hes a High School Student is currently in a Critical Condition undergoing surgery at Point Elizabeth hospital but there are been other people hospitalized after lockhart he says more than 50 people have
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