PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Fiery protests continued early Friday morning after Haitian President Jovenel Moïse, who is known as "Neg Bannan nan" or "The Banana Man" in Creole, broke his silence.
Amid a political crisis over the fate of missing funds, a week-long protest to demand the ouster of Moïse continued in Haiti after he refused to step down from power in the poorest country in the hemisphere.
"I will not leave the country in the hands of armed gangs and drug traffickers," Moise said in Creole.
His adminitration released a pre-recorded address on state television on Thursday night, but it did not appease protesters around the country who are upset about reports of alleged corruption through the abuse of Petrocaribe, an oil assistance program sponsored by Venezuela.
The protests have paralyzed Port-au-Prince and other parts of the country.
"The country is closed. The reason the country is closed is because of Jovenel. We don't need Jovenel," a protester said in Creole. "If Jovenel was a person, he would have said something two or three days into the crisis."
The chants of "Kot kòb Petrocaribe a?" or "Where are the Petrocaribe funds?" went on for a week without any response from Moïse. There have been fatal shootings. Protesters blocked roads, looted stores and set buildings, tires and vehicles on fire. Some tourists and foreign humanitarian workers are unable to leave the country.
Canada closed its embassy and the U.S. Department of State ordered the departure of all non-emergency U.S. personnel and their family members.
Moïse, a former businessman with Agritrans and Cophener S.A. who was elected in 2017, didn't address the accusations.
"The country is getting ready to explode," Senate Leader Carl Murat Cantave told reporters during a news conference, according to Voice of America.
Meanwhile, Haiti National Police heavily guarded The National Palace, which was rebuilt after the 2010 earthquake. Officers wearing riot gear on Rue Champs-de-Mars were using tear gas, rubber bullets and firing live ammunition.
Moïse, 50, also didn't name the seven people who have died in the crossfire. The Agence France-Presse reported a young man was shot dead Wednesday afternoon near the office of the presidency and 78 prisoners escaped from a prison in Aquin, a southern coastal city.
Jean-Henry Céant, the new prime minister, told the Miami Herald on Thursday that Moïse's administration was pressuring him to resign. The protest come months after Céant's predecessor Jack Guy Lafontant resigned in July after protests over his attempt to increase fuel prices.
While banks, pharmacies and supermarkets remain closed, the Catholic Bishops of the Episcopal Conference of Haiti released a statement asking Haitians to come together to "save our common boat, Haiti, which is our pride."
Dambreville is reporting from Port-au-Prince. Torres is writing from Broward County.