PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — At least four people were shot and wounded during a small protest in Haiti’s capital Monday after a speech by embattled President Jovenel Moise.
Several hundred people were marching from the Delmas to Petionville neighborhoods when shots were fired from nearby.
Associated Press journalists didn’t see the source of the shooting, but saw a local journalist, a police officer and two protesters rushed away with apparent bullet wounds.
No information was immediately available about the condition of the wounded people or their identities.
Monday was the anniversary of a key battle of the Haitian Revolution, and earlier in the day Moise rejected calls to resign. The president said he would continue to try to negotiate with his opposition.
Opponents say Moise should leave office over economic mismanagement and failure to investigate corruption.
Leaders of the opposition including members of Haiti’s Senate organized months of protests that have paralyzed the country but demonstrations have been slackening in recent days, with some sections of the capital returning to near-normal activity.
Opposition members had called for mass marches Monday but they did not materialize.
“The country is more than divided, the country is torn apart,” Moise said after reviewing members of Haiti’s newly reconstituted army. “We ask for unity, between the rich and the poor, between those of the top and the bottom, between the people with black skin and light skin, between rural and urban.
“If we were united as one we would not see exploitation of a small group while the majority stand in misery, poverty and insecurity. This is not what our ancestors wanted.”
