Haiti suspends fuel price increase after violent protests erupt
The now-suspended decision to raise prices was part of an agreement with the International Monetary Fund, which requires the country to enact a range of austerity measures
The about-face came hours Saturday 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 had stood paralysed since Friday afternoon, with major routes blocked by barricades, some made of burning tyres, 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 soccer 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, said.