the despair of Haitians in the face of gang violence not far from the Presidential Palace

Haiti has had a Presidential Transitional Council since May 28 and the UN Security Council adopted a resolution authorizing the deployment of a multinational security mission.

The situation is still very tense in Haiti where violence between gangs continues to rage. The gangs are now attacking the presidential palace.

To reach the National Palace on the Champ de Mars, you have to move quickly. “We have to move quickly because there are shots coming from the Bel-Air district over there”, explains Joseph Peterson, Haitian journalist. Several police officers are stationed in front of this National Palace, surrounded by armored vehicles.

Haiti has had a Presidential Transitional Council since May 28. Garry Conille, a doctor specializing in gynecology and obstetrics, was appointed following the resignation in March of Prime Minister Ariel Henry in the face of an outbreak of violence.

“There are bandits in every corner, we are almost surrounded”, he explains. The area resembles a battlefield. The ground is littered with shell casings, waste, and sometimes lifeless bodies.“There was a corpse here, it was eaten by the dogs, said Angelo, a local resident. It’s like that”.

The few civilians stand at a distance, barely a few dozen meters from the National Palace. Roger, a regular at this Champ de Mars testifies: “Currently, to cross a street, you have to run if you don’t want to get hit by a stray bullet.”

Economic activity is therefore at a standstill, to the great despair of street sellers like Micheline, a mother of five children. “The country is destroyed”, she says. On the subject of the deployment of the multinational force, Micheline confides “This is our last hope.”