Why don't you punk-ass chickenshits who call yourselves Americans ever stand up for yourselves like the brave Haitian people? (If you're telling yourself you just have too much to lose, you're wrong. You have nothing that can't be taken away from you in mere seconds.)
Haiti suspends fuel price hike after arson, looting, gunfire
Port-au-Prince (AFP) - Haiti's Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant on Saturday announced the suspension "until further notice" of a fuel price hike that triggered violent protests and left one dead in the Caribbean nation.
The about-face came hours after Lafontant made an impassioned televised appeal for patience, and tried to convince people of the need to raise prices.
The capital Port-au-Prince and its environs have stood paralyzed since Friday afternoon, with major routes blocked by barricades, some made of burning tires, and some protesters even calling for a revolution in the impoverished country.
Just before the suspension was announced, the leader of Haiti's lower house of parliament had threatened a government takeover if the fuel price increases were not reversed.
They had only been announced on Friday, while many Haitians were engrossed in a World Cup football match.
"If there is no response within two hours, the government will be considered as having resigned" and the legislature will take charge, Gary Bodeau, the president of the Chamber of Deputies, told AFP.
Lafontant then announced on Twitter suspension of the price increases, writing that "violence and democracy are fundamentally incompatible."
Even before the fuel price controversy, deputies had already begun a debate on his future, and Saturday's about-face could lead to the government's fall.
At least one person died in violence overnight Friday, and an AFP reporter heard sporadic gunfire in the capital
A supermarket and other businesses were looted and vehicles burned, mainly in the wealthy areas of Petionville.
The AP tells us a Best Western Premiere in Petionville was attacked. How. Dare. They?
A journalist from The Associated Press reported seeing several hundred people on Saturday attack a Best Western Premiere hotel in Petion-Ville, one of the capital's wealthiest neighborhoods. Guests were forced to remain inside as rocks were hurled through windows around 10 a.m. local time.
Security manned the building, but rioters shattered the main entrance before moving to another hotel.
No injuries or deaths were reported during the day's incidents, but at least three people were killed Friday as protesters used burning tires and barricades to block major streets. At one point they attempted to set a gas station on fire but were held off by police.
The demonstrations began after the Commerce Ministry and Economic Ministry issued a joint statement announcing an increase of 38 percent to 51 percent for gasoline, diesel and kerosene.
Government officials agreed to reduce subsidies for fuel in February as part of an assistance package with the International Monetary Fund. The agreement also included increased spending on social services and infrastructure and improved tax collection in an effort to modernize the economy of one of the poorest nations in the Western Hemisphere.
Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reversed. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
The next time the price of anything goes up, I urge you losers to take to the streets.
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