Dozens of informal vendors took to the streets again on September 20 in downtown Port-au-Prince to demand protection, financial assistance and justice from the Haitian government, Global Voices reported. The mobilizations began in early August and continued through September 2026, with participation from vendors from areas such as the Salomon market, Portail Léogâne and Champ de Mars.
The march and its demands
Protesters carried banners calling for tax exemptions, security, state support, reparations, financial aid and access to education for their children. Among the slogans was "Hunger is killing us."
The rally ended in front of the complex on Charles Sumner Avenue, which houses the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor, and the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Participants also stopped in front of the official residence of Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé. According to the report, some shouted insults such as "thieves" and "corrupt" at officials.
Questions about the recovery money
Boileau Junior Mondésir, general coordinator of the Informal Vendors Collective, questioned the Ministry of Social Affairs about where the funds from the PRECOP program, intended to reactivate the economy, had gone. He asked where the 21,000 million gourdes (158 million dollars) went and said that the informal sector, which he says accounts for 80% of the economy, did not receive "a single dollar."
Mondésir announced that they would ask the Anti-Corruption Unit to demand that the government, from the Ariel Henry era to that of Fils-Aimé, account for what remains and how it was spent. He also demanded justice and reparations for small vendors. A displaced woman vendor, quoted in the same report, asked the authorities to say something on behalf of those who have lost everything.
How gangs hit commerce
Global Voices explains that, given the lack of investment and infrastructure, the informal sector sustains the Haitian economy and that a large share of its members are women. Port-au-Prince functions as a vast open-air market, with stalls on sidewalks, at bus stations and around public offices.
However, the two main routes connecting the capital with the south and the north, key roads for the food supply, are controlled by groups from the Viv Ansanm coalition. According to the outlet, these groups maintain illegal tolls to extort drivers and vendors, which makes food more expensive and has reduced local agricultural production. Important farming areas of Artibonite and part of the Centre department are in the hands of gangs, which drive out farmers, destroy crops and burn homes.
Gangs have also set fire to public markets and destroyed shops and merchandise. Many small vendors have lost their homes and relatives, and some now live in camps for displaced people.
Insecurity at places of sale
The Salomon market, in the south of the capital, is two or three kilometers from the strongholds of Grand Ravine and Village de Dieu, controlled, according to the report, by Renel Destina ("Kaporal Lapli" or "Ti Lapli") and Johnson André ("Izo 5 Second"), both of Viv Ansanm. Champ de Mars, a square surrounded by official buildings such as the National Palace, was a space with areas reserved for selling food and drink; today it is the scene of shootouts between gangs and the Haitian National Police. In recent months people have begun to return, although the situation remains unsafe.
According to the text, gangs control more than 70% of the capital. On August 23 and 24, violence in Kenscoff, a highland farming municipality, left dozens dead and more than 60 kidnapped.
Schools and elections
The vendors say their children cannot study. Global Voices notes that there are few public schools in Haiti, that many now serve as shelters for displaced people, and that numerous public and private institutions have been looted, destroyed or used as hideouts by criminal groups.
Meanwhile, the government and the Provisional Electoral Council opened voter and candidate registration and set general elections for December 13. The outlet stresses the uncertainty surrounding the vote, with large areas under gang control. The vendors promise to keep protesting until the government listens to them and addresses their demands.
Sources
- Global Voices en Español (CC BY 3.0)
