Port-au-Prince, Haiti.- Shouts of emotion resounded throughout Prince Port on Saturday morning, when gas stations reopened in Haiti for the first time in two months, after a powerful gang lifted a fuel blockade.
“There is already gasoline! There’s gasoline!” people shouted, honking their car and motorcycle horns, as the Haitian capital slowly returned to its usual cacophony.
Sweat drenched the faces of people pushing their vehicles to the nearest gas stations and lining up next to colorful minibuses called “tap-tap” and emblazoned with messages like “Thank you Jesus.”
“I would say this is the day life begins again,” said Davidson Jean-Pierre, 35, who owns a small house-painting business.
He and his employees can finally get around Haiti with ladders and other equipment that could not be easily transported on the few motorcycles that continued to circulate during the blockade.
Since a federation of gangs known as G9 took control of the area surrounding a major fuel terminal in mid-September, life in Haiti came to a standstill, putting millions of people like Jean-Pierre out of work.
The move, aimed at overthrowing the government of the prime minister, ariel henry, after he announced the rise in gasoline prices, forced the closure of gas stations, the reduction of critical services in hospitals and the reduction of hours in supply stores. It also worsened a cholera outbreak that has killed dozens of people and sickened thousands, with companies unable to distribute clean water.
For their part, bus drivers like Marc André, 40, said that while the reopening of gas stations was a relief, they were concerned about high prices and the repercussions on their livelihoods due to the inability of passengers to pay. a higher fee.
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In mid-September, the prime minister announced that his government would no longer be able to subsidize fuels at the level it used to. As a result, the gallon of gasoline increased from 250 gourdes ($2) to 570 gourdes ($4.78); diesel from 353 gourdes ($3) to 670 gourdes ($5.60), in a country where about 60% of the population earns less than $2 a day.
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