Thursday, January 21, 2010
(One day from "A Chronology of Haitian Protest and Resistance since the Earthquake")
A resource produced by Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade

 

Government Turns to Long-Term Needs

Haiti Officials Plan to Move First 20,000 Refugees to New Camp Outside Capital;
Violence Breaks Out Over Who Has Tents

 

By MICHAEL M. PHILLIPS AND CHRISTOPHER RHOADS
Wall Street Journal, January 22, 2010
Source

 

In Jacmel, tensions boiled over into violence Thursday when a protest over the lack of aid turned into an armed battle over donated tents.

 

The march, which began peacefully in front of the World Food Program office here, turned violent when it continued through another neighborhood, which had numerous recently donated tents lining the rubble-strewn streets. Some of the new owners of the tents had placed rental signs on them.

A number attacked and ripped the tents with knives as they ran down the streets, according to several eyewitnesses. Multiple protesters carried weapons, including clubs, rocks and machetes.

"They came here to destroy what we had," said 30-year-old Benito Sylvain, who works in an auto parts shop. "So we had to defend our neighborhood."

 

Mr. Sylvain said he and several dozen other young men responded by throwing rocks at the attackers and using sticks, eventually driving them away after about half an hour, he said.

 

Andre Paul Jerome, a 36-year-old teacher who took part in the initial demonstration, said he and others made the march because they are frustrated. He said the demonstration was peaceful until trouble-makers joined it.

 

The donated tents were the first sign of any response in Jacmel to the plight of the survivors, where many still sit numbly in front of piles of rocks that were once their homes. The tents created an instant appearance of haves and have-nots, a shift from the sense of commonly shared suffering of the recent week.

 

Mr. Jerome said they were distributed by locals to their friends and connections, not necessarily by need. "It's about favoritism," he said. "So we are angry."
 


Betsy McKay, Kevin Noblet and Jose de Cordoba contributed to this article.

 

 

Protests Over
Food Shortages

Ciné Institute, January 21, 2010

Source

[Note: This raw footage is identical to the video used as the backdrop for the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report below. The WSJ removed the Ciné Institute (CI) logo, added their reporter's voiceover and did not mention the CI.]

 

 

 

Haiti Protests Turn Violent Over Scarce Supplies
 

Wall Street Journal,
Jan.21, 2010

Watch Video (1:53)

 

Peaceful protests over scarce supplies escalated into violence in Jacmel, Haiti, on Thursday over the recent distribution of new tents to some earthquake survivors.

WSJ's Christopher Rhoads reports.

 

Thursday, January 21, 2010
(One day from "A Chronology of Haitian Protest and Resistance since the Earthquake")
A resource produced by Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade