In a statement the government condemned the violence, calling it an attack against freedom and democracy.
“Terror reigned in certain areas,” the statement said. “Streets were obstructed and there was a warlike situation at the Champ de Mars (square), where heavy weapons fire was heard almost all day.”
Police protests began this month after a half-dozen officers were fired over their attempt to unionise. Shortly after noon Sunday, dozens of men who said they were off-duty officers marched with hundreds of supporters toward the palace in the latest in days of demonstrations demanding better pay for Haitian law-enforcement officers.
The protest stopped outside the army headquarters, which faces the palace. Soldiers at the headquarters building fired into the air. Shortly afterward, an exchange of fire erupted between the soldiers and police. It was not clear which side began firing at the other first.
As the afternoon wore on, uniformed officers joined their colleagues in the street outside the palace, firing at the military base with semi-automatic pistols and rifles. Many wore masks along with their uniforms to hide their identities.
Other armed men spotted a drone that appeared to be taking images of the violence and followed it to the offices of Radio Caraibes, then began shooting at the broadcaster’s building.
The Haitian army had been disbanded in 1995 after the fall of a dictatorship that used soldiers to repress domestic opponents. Moise reformed the army in 2017, promising that the military would patrol Haiti’s borders, assist in natural disasters and avoid domestic affairs.
13wham.com
