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A12 WORLD NEWS
Friday 13 december 2019
Protests subside, but economic aftershocks rattle Haitians

By EVENS SANON vegetables. “I feed the
DANICA COTO kids, but they’re not eating
Associated Press the way they’re supposed
Port-au-Prince (AP) — The to,” he said, adding that
flaming barricades are he has drained the funds
mostly gone, protesters set aside for his children’s
have largely dissipated schooling to buy food.
and traffic is once again A growing number of fami-
clogging the streets of Hai- lies across Haiti can’t even
ti’s capital, but hundreds afford to do that since the
of thousands of people are protests began, with barri-
now suffering deep eco- cades preventing the flow
nomic aftershocks after of goods between the
more than two months of capital and the rest of the
demonstrations. country.
The protests that drew tens Many of those live in Haiti’s
of thousands of people at rural areas, which also have
a time to demand the res- been hardest hit by dem-
ignation of President Jove- onstrations that continue
nel Moïse also squeezed in some cities and towns.
incomes, shuttered busi- Wadlande Pierre, 23, said
nesses and disrupted the she temporarily moved in
transportation of basic with her aunt in the south-
goods. west town of Les Cayes to
“We are nearing a total In this Dec. 4, 2019 photo, street vendors sell their produce in Petion-Ville, Haiti. Associated Press escape the violent protests
crash,” Haitian economist in Port-au-Prince.
Camille Chalmers said. with police. Moïse insisted blames rising prices, the people. Some 60% make However, she had to move
“The situation is unsustain- he would not resign and weakening local currency, less than $2 a day and 25% back to the capital be-
able.” Haiti’s economy called for dialogue. and a drop in agricultural earn less than $1 a day. cause there was not gas,
was already fragile when The United Nations World production due partly to A 50-kilogram (110-pound) power or water in Les
the new round of protests Food Program says a re- the disruption of recent bag of rice has more than Cayes, and food was be-
began in mid-September, cent survey found that protests. doubled in price in the lo- coming scarce.
organized by opposition one in three Haitians, or In the last two years, Haiti’s cal currency, said Marce- “There is no access to ba-
leaders and supporters 3.7 million people, need ur- currency, the gourde, de- lin Saingiles, a store owner sic items that you need,”
angry over corruption, spi- gent food assistance and clined 60% against the dol- who sells everything from she said. Pierre is now help-
raling inflation and dwin- 1 million are experiencing lar and inflation recently cold drinks to cookies to ing her mother, Vanlancia
dling supplies, including severe hunger. The WFP, reached 20%, Chalmers used tools in Port-au-Prince. Julien, sell fruits and vege-
fuel. More than 40 people which says it is trying to said. The rising cost of food The 39-year-old father of tables on a sidewalk in the
were killed and dozens in- get emergency food as- is especially crucial in the three children said he now neighborhood of Delmas in
jured as protesters clashed sistance to 700,000 people, country of nearly 11 million struggles to buy milk and the capital. q

Chile: Plane that vanished en route to Antarctica found

Associated Press an Antarctic base. Radio
SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) contact was lost 70 min-
— Chilean officials said utes later.After midnight,
Thursday that searchers the Air Force declared
have located the military the plane a loss, but it
transport plane that dis- wasn’t until Wednesday
appeared en route to Ant- that a plane scanning
arctica.Defense Minister the seas first spotted float-
Alberto Espina also said at ing debris believed to be
a news conference that from the plane.
they have found human “Remains of human be-
remains from some of the ings that are most likely
38 passengers who were the passengers have
aboard when the plane been found among sev-
took off from southern- eral pieces of the plane,”
most Chile. said Air Force Gen. Arturo
Officials said they believe Merino. “I feel immense
that all those aboard the pain for this loss of lives.”
plane are dead, adding Just three of the passen-
that it was nearly impos- gers were civilians, includ-
sible to expect any survi- ing Ignacio Parada, 24,
vors to be found. who was in his last year
The C-130 Hercules de- of studies at the University
parted Monday after- of Magallanes and was
noon from a base in far- headed to study drinking
southern Chile on a regu- Chile’s Defense Minister Alberto Espina speaks during a news conference at the Chilean Air water systems at the mili-
lar maintenance flight for Force base in Punta Arenas, Chile, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2019. tary base. q
Associated Press