Image copyright Reuters Image caption Thousands have taken part in protests across Haiti this week

Opposition demonstrators in Haiti have burnt tyres and thrown stones, urging President Jovenel Moise to step down.

At least four people have been killed and dozens injured in four days of protests in the capital Port-au-Prince and other cities.

Many Haitians accuse Mr Moise and other officials of corruption. Thousands have taken to the streets this week.

The unrest has forced mayors in several cities to cancel carnival festivities due in early March.

Mr Moise - who has been in power since 2017 - has called for talks with the opposition, to no avail so far.

Opposition groups called for protests after a court report alleged that officials and former ministers had misappropriated development loans made by Venezuela to Haiti after 2008.

The report also suggested that President Moise had been involved in irregularities.

Haiti is the poorest country in the Caribbean and 60% of the population live on less than $2 (£1.53) a day.</s>Haiti’s embattled leader has made his first public statements since protests rocked the Caribbean nation’s capital more than a week ago, vowing in a televised address that he will not step down.

Voice of America reports that President Jovenal Moise appeared on national television Thursday to address calls for his for resignation. Critics claim his government lacks transparency and is ineffective.

“I hear you,” Moise said in a speech aired by national broadcaster TNH and live-streamed on Facebook. “You are the reason I ran for president. I’m working for you.”

Over the past eight days, protesters have taken to the streets of the capital Port-au-Prince and other cities to denounce what they say is rampant corruption in the country.

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At least nine people have been killed amid the violent unrest, according to Al Jazeera. In the southern port city of Aquin, 78 inmates broke out of a prison while police were dealing with protesters, the Guardian reports.

Current and former government officials have been accused of misappropriating Venezuelan loans meant for development after 2008, according to the BBC.

Soaring inflation has also led to worsening living conditions for the population, 60% of whom live on less than $2 a day.

Moise said in his address that he had taken measures to improve the lives of Haitians, urging patience for reforms to take effect. He has reportedly called for dialogue with the opposition, to no avail.

Protesters appeared unmoved by the president’s speech and some were back on the streets shortly after.

The U.S. Department of State has raised its travel alert for Haiti to level 4. “Do not travel due to crime and civil unrest,” the Bureau of Consular Affairs advised on its website.

Moise has been in power since his electoral victory in November 2016. Previously a little-known entrepreneur, he campaigned on a promise of addressing climate change and corruption, as well as modernizing the agricultural industry to provide more jobs for citizens.

Write to Hillary Leung at hillary.leung@time.com.</s>Anti-government protests in Haiti have brought thousands to streets and left nine dead and dozens injured this week.

Demonstrators, angry over rising prices and corruption, have demanded that President Jovenel Moise set down.

Protesters have attacked the presidential palace and attempted to block road access to the airport, and, despite calls from the international community for a dialogue, the violence and crisis seem to be escalating.

Al Jazeera’s Manuel Rapalo is in the capital, Port-au-Prince.</s>Haitian President Jovenel Moïse broke his silence on Thursday evening, after a week of violent demonstrations.

Moïse spoke in the aftermath of violent clashes between police and protesters in the capital, Port-au-Prince.

“I will not leave the country in the hands of armed gangs and drug traffickers,’‘ he said.

The Haitian president says his government is listening to the cries of the people.

‘‘We are listening to the people and a package of measures has been taken by the government. I asked the Prime Minister to come and explain them and apply them quickly to relieve our misery”, Moïse added.

The United States has recalled its non-essential diplomats and their families out of the country while urging its citizens not to go to the country.

Since February 7, anti-government protesters have been calling for the resignation of President Jovenel Moïse.

At least 7 people have been killed during protests over social inequalities, aggravated by alleged systemic corruption.</s>Haiti: President Moise says he will not step down in favour of armed gangs and drug traffickers

PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti, Feb 15, CMC –President Jovenel Moise says he will not step down from office and has promised Haitians he has no intention of putting the country in the hands of armed gangs and drug traffickers.

In a seven broadcast on the National Television of Haiti (TNH) on Thursday night, Moise, who is under pressure from opposition parties to step down, acknowledged that “the crisis we are going through is very serious.

“It threatens the foundation of the country, it has a lot of consequences for the country. There are people who do not make democracy… who want to impose on the nation something that is not good for them. It is clear to all that it is only the dialogue with all the forces of the nation that will help us get out of this situation,” he added.

Opposition political parties have been staging street demonstrations in support of their calls for President Moise to step down, after accusing him of not investigating allegations of corruption in the previous government over PetroCaribe, an oil alliance of many Caribbean states with Venezuela to purchase oil on conditions of preferential payment. At least seven people have been killed in the protests so far. Several others have been injured in clashes with police.

Earlier this month, the President of the Superior Court of Accounts and Administrative Disputes (CSC/CA), Pierre Volmar Demesyeux, presented a copy of the report on the management of projects financed by the PetroCaribe funds to the Speaker of the Senate Carl Murat Cantave.

Cantave has since presented the report to Senator Youri Latortue, the President of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission.

The Catholic Bishops of the Episcopal Conference Haiti (CEH) earlier this week urged Haitians to come together and deal with the political situation confronting the French-speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country and several Western countries have condemned the “unacceptable acts of violence” in the country.

CARICOM has also expressed concern at the violence and called for dialogue among all stakeholders. Several foreign embassies have closed and non-essential staff members have been sent out of the country. The United States has told its citizens “do not travel to Haiti”

In his broadcast, Moise, who was sworn in as head of state on February 7, 2017, said he has “heard the voice of the people, I know the problems like you” adding “that’s why there will be a set of measures that the government will take”.

Moise said that while demonstrations are a right “it is unacceptable for people who have official functions to demonstrate alongside armed gang leaders wanted by the authorities” an apparent reference to photos circulating here showing the gang leader Arnel Joseph, accompanied by his heavily armed supporters participating in the opposition demonstrations.

He dismissed suggestions by the opposition that the photo was being circulated by the authorities in a bid to discredit the opposition.

Moise said that he would continue to ask the Superior Council of the National Police (CSPN) to make arrangements so as to ensure the safety of members of the population who are engaged in peaceful demonstrations.

In his broadcast, Moise said that he has no intention of stepping down before the end of his mandate and that “I will not let go of the country in the hands of armed gangs and drug traffickers.

“I ask the CSPN to continue to make arrangements to stop all the drug dealers, the people who burn the police, who mourn and terrorize the population.”

Moise said he was open to dialogue with the opposition to finding a solution to the crisis, despite the position of the opposition in rejecting such a move..

“The country is suffering too much. I open my arms to all those who agree with me, come to sit and talk, seek a broad consensus to find a political agreement that resolves the problems that upset the country.

“I ask all the forces of the nation to join me … to make changes for the benefit of the Haitian people, in a real dialogue,” he said.

But as Moise address ended, sporadic automatic gunfire resounded in the capital and new burning barricades were erected.</s>PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Canada warned its citizens on Friday to avoid all travel to Haiti, citing over a week of violent protests that have called for President Jovenel Moïse of Haiti to resign, despite his promise of economic measures to quell the demonstrations.

Citing civil unrest throughout the country, Canada’s government warned that the security situation there “could deteriorate quickly” and urged its citizens to consider leaving. A day earlier, the United States issued its own travel advisory.

Late Thursday, President Moïse said during a televised address that he would not surrender the country to armed gangs and drug dealers, and he accused people of freeing prisoners to kill him. It was the first time he had spoken since the demonstrations began, and he made another call for dialogue with the opposition.

“I heard the voice of the people. I know the problems that torment them. That’s why the government has taken a lot of measures,” he said. “I asked the prime minister to come and explain them and implement them without delay in order to relieve misery.”</s>Hector Retamal / AFP | Demonstrators flee as Haitian Police open fire, during the clashes, in the centre of Haitian Capital Port-au-Prince, February 13, 2019, on the seventh day of protests against Haitian President Jovenel Moise.

The wave of demonstrations against Haiti's President Jovenel Moïse and his government’s mishandling of development funds has left a seventh protestor dead after a week of violent clashes in the Caribbean nation.

Haitians took to the streets of the capital Port-au-Prince’s once again on Wednesday to demand the resignation of the country’s President Jovenel Moïse as tensions continue to mount after a week of demonstrations marked by violent clashes with the police.

According to AFP, a young man died at a crossroads near the presidential palace in Port-au-Prince and a Haitian journalist was wounded by gunshots during crossfire between police and protestors.

The former French colony has been mired in a political crisis since February 7 that has left at least seven people dead and everyday life in the largest towns paralyzed by protests and barricades.

Demonstrators, who come mostly from poor neighbourhoods, are demanding Moïse’s resignation over graft scandals and for failing to tackle widespread poverty.

“This government is seen as incapable of tackling the economic crisis or the corruption,” said Jake Johnston, researcher at the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) and author of its Haiti: Relief and Reconstruction Watch blog.

"It's a popular uprising. Haitians are occupying the streets to make it clear that Jovenel (Moïse) has no choice but to resign," said demonstrator Prophete Hilaire, who was marching across the capital. "A government that cannot give its people nourishment and water must step down," he added.

Haiti is the poorest country in the Americas and one of the poorest in the world, with three-fifths of the nearly 11 million population living below the national poverty line of $2 a day. According to a United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs report in July 2018, some 1.3 million Haitians depend on food assistance.

Each year, thousands of young people flee as illegal migrants, including to nearby Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos islands.

On January 2018, the country earned the unwanted distinction of being included in US President Donald Trump's list of “shithole countries”.

But poverty levels have been exacerbated by plummeting economic conditions in recent years.

“Since 2016, the country has faced a two-digit inflation, the national currency lost half of its value over the course of the last four years. And half of this decline actually happened last year,” Johnston said.

The current demonstrations kicked off when Moïse found himself at the heart of a corruption scandal over the Petrocaribe fund, under which Venezuela supplied Haiti and other Caribbean and Central American countries with oil for years at cut-rate prices and easy credit terms.

Investigations have shown that nearly $2 billion intended for development projects were misused from the program. In January, a report on the case revealed that a company, then headed by Moïse, was a beneficiary of funds from a road construction project. The company never a signed contract, according to the report.

Moïse is not the only Haitian leader to have seen his legitimacy disputed.

According to Johnston, “there is a crisis of legitimacy concerning Haitians politicians who weren’t able to respond to the population’s needs”. Moïse’s case is even worse.

Haiti’s current president only came into power in 2017 after a second poll, the first one having been cancelled over reports of massive fraud. “When the second election took place, less than 20 percent of the voters showed up. Even though no irregularities were found during the second ballot, such turnout rate could never lead to a stable term,” Johnston added.

Although many protestors have been killed in the current turmoil, Moïse and his prime minister have remained dead silent. Neither has reacted to the latest events, despite the violence sometimes breaking out only a few metres from the presidential palace.

FRANCE 24’s Amélie Baron reported from Port-au-Prince that “no solution has been put forward for now. But the authorities will have to take decisions, because the anger of the people is only growing”.

“Ignoring once again the people’s legitimate demands is a guarantee that the crisis will last a long time,” Johnston agreed.

“Authorities seem to blame the turmoil on a political opposition willing to seize power. They presume that it will run short of money and the movement will then cool down and the country will be calm again.”

Authorities are also counting on October 2019’s legislative elections to ease the tension. But “it would be very naive to think that these elections alone can solve this crisis,” said Johnston.

Even a political dialogue with the opposition might not help, for “there is not even one credible leader who is in position to control the demonstrators by himself”, Johnston noted, adding that there will only be progressive talks when “civil society” takes its place at the negotiating table.

This article was adapted from the original in French by Henrique Valadares.</s>As “Operation lock down Haiti” marked its fifth day Monday, the country’s leading business chambers called on Haitian President Jovenel Moïse to come to the negotiating table in order to end violent demonstrations that have left at least eight people dead, a dozen injured and businesses pillaged and burned.

The head of the Haitian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the departmental chambers that constitute it, said they are not asking for Moïse to resign. But Moïse’s departure from office and that of his prime minister, Jean Henry Céant , or the presidents of both the Senate and Lower Chamber of Deputies, should not be off limits in discussions with the opposition “in order to have peace so the people can return to their homes,” said Frantz Bernard Craan.

“We need the president, the prime minister and the presidents of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies to ask the different parties of the opposition to come to the table of negotiations, but agree that their mandate is on the table and all of the conclusions will be accepted,” Craan added.

“We feel that people do not trust Jovenel Moïse to respect his word. So if he takes a public commitment to do what we’re asking, it may create the atmosphere necessary to have the negotiations,” he said. “We’re also asking for a board of wise persons to be named by different segments of society to conduct the negotiations because we don’t feel any of the actual authorities have enough legitimacy to conduct those negotiations.”

Since Thursday, violent demonstrations have shut down schools, businesses, public transport and other activities in cities across Haiti, leading the U.S. embassy in Port-au-Prince to consider ordering departure for children of American diplomats, and some staffers.

“The safety and security of our personnel and their families is our top priority. We are monitoring the security situation in real time, 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” said a State Department spokesperson for Western Hemisphere Affairs, who declined to confirm if the embassy had requested the departures. “We are prepared to do the things we need to do to make sure we keep our people safe.”

The latest protests have been triggered by frustrations over the country’s double-digit inflation, skyrocketing prices, and a domestic currency in a free fall against the U.S. dollar. Haitians are also upset by years of government ineptness and mismanagement that has triggered an audit of nearly $2 billion in funds from Venezuela’s PetroCaribe discount oil program that was supposed to be invested in social programs.

In the face of the social demands, the government has remained silent, though presidential advisers made the radio rounds on Monday defending Moïse and resisting demands for his resignation. On Sunday, the international community broke its silence and called on Haiti’s political actors “to engage in a constructive and inclusive dialogue in order to identify and implement realistic and lasting solutions to the political and economic crisis.” It also reminded Haitian citizens that “in a democracy change must come through the ballot box, and not through violence.”

The communique was met with almost immediate backlash from the opposition. While some pointed out that the U.S. and others recently chose to recognize Juan Guaidó, the president of the Venezuelan National Assembly, as the country’s acting president over Nicolás Maduro, a position that Haiti also supported, others noted that elections have seldom brought stability to Haiti.

“We would like to remind the friends of Haiti that what’s happening here is in part the result of their work,” a group of political parties demanding Moïse’s resignation and the protests said in a statement. “It’s the failure of a strategy that lies in making decisions on behalf of Haiti behind the Haitian people’s back every time that there is a feud inside the country; the strategy of giving orders to leaders that were installed through shady elections. It’s that formula that has brought this system to life that excludes the masses.“

Georges Sassine, president of the Association of Haitian Industries, a grouping of Haiti’s manufacturing companies, said something needs to be done.

“If we let the streets decide, we are going to all be carried away like a tsunami wave,” he said.

On Monday, as scores of protesters marched through Cité Soleil and Kenscoff, along Delmas road it was chaos as a police officer was shot and protesters looted businesses and four bandits tried to pillage a bank before being arrested. Further north in the city of St. Marc, no cars could enter or leave the city, which protesters had on lock down. Some even tried to burn down the mayor’s office, said assistant mayor Frantz Ulysse. Ulysse said he supports the protesters and their demands.

The escalating violence is worrisome, said Craan.

“The situation is heading toward a catastrophe,” he said. “People are in the streets. Thugs are attacking businesses, gas stations are burning, tires are burning in the streets, people are setting up road blocks and asking people to pay to go through. This is not acceptable. The police, even though they are trying, do not have the means to control what we see coming.

“All of the authorities need to make the sacrifice to pacify the population which is struggling, and justifiably angry, because they are facing a difficult economic situation and they need the authorities to take the right steps. Until now the steps have not been taken.”</s>Haiti is experiencing a new day of tension as anti-government protest escalates on Tuesday.

Protesters continue to press home their demand on president Jovenel Moïse to step down. Tuesday’s protest turned chaotic while six people have reportedly died since the protest begun last Thursday.

The news agency said 78 people of a prison in a small town of the South Coast escaped and the exact circumstance of the escape are not yet known according to spokesman for the National police of Haiti.

The city center of the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince was the scene of clashes between the police and hundreds of protesters in working-class neighbourhoods.

AFP said a young man was shot dead at a junction near the presidential palace.

Locals have been raging with frustration over growing social inequalities, aggravated by systemic corruption.</s>The United States has expressed concern about the violent protests that have swept Haiti.

"We support the right of all people to demand a democratic and transparent government and to hold their government leaders accountable," a State Department spokesperson for Western Hemisphere Affairs told VOA, "but there is no excuse for violence. Violence leads to instability, less investment, and fewer jobs."

The comment comes after a 6th day of protests crippled the capital, Port-au-Prince and cities nationwide. At least one death was reported and there was looting and damage to businesses and cars.

Late Tuesday, a building that houses the Consulate of the Embassy of Peru and offices of the Embassy of Italy were broken into. A VOA Creole reporter who toured the facility after the incident saw a bullet casing on a stairway as well as overturned furniture and damaged office equipment.

Protesters have taken to the streets daily since February 7 to demand the resignation of President Jovenel Moise, whom they hold responsible for what they consider to be deplorable living conditions.

"There's nothing more for Jovenel to do in the country except for resigning to avoid a blood bath," lawyer Nathanael Lerine told VOA Creole in the southern city of Jacmel. "There is no place for Jovenel in the country anymore. All he does is lie. We need electricity 24/7. We need food on our tables instead of a leader who is lining his own pockets with cash. Inflation is rising— we've reached 100 Haitian Gourdes to the American dollar. Jovel has to go!"

Protesters are also demanding transparency from the government regarding the alleged misuse of $3.8 billion. The money, due to Haiti under the PetroCaribe oil alliances signed between Venezuela and Caribbean nations starting in June 2005, had been earmarked for infrastructure and social and economic projects.

Tuesday evening, the newly-elected President of the Haitian Senate, Carl Murat Cantave issued a statement saying he had met with President Moise and Prime Minister Jean Henry Ceant. Senator Cantave said he plans to meet with the economic forum on Wednesday and will continue to consult the members of the democratic sector and the Core group (comprised of the United Nations Secretary-General's Special Representative for Haiti and ambassadors of the United States, Germany, France, Spain, the European Union and Brazil) to try to find a solution to the political crisis.

The Core group issued a communique Monday stating that it has taken note of the demands made by the protesters but deplores the loss of life and material damages incurred.

Meanwhile, protesters vow to continue marching until the president steps down.

The U.S. renewed its travel warning for Haiti Tuesday, which currently stands at Level 3 and advises travelers to reconsider planned trips to Haiti due "due to crime and civil unrest".

VOA Creole reporters Matiado Vilme and Renan Toussaint contributed to this report from Port-au-Prince, Haiti; Nike Ching contributed from the State Department
The death toll rises to 9 as protesters ask for Jovenel Moïse to step down as president of Haiti. The protest started February 7.