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Haiti Cancels Mardi Gras Festivities in Port-au-Prince

Sandra Lemaire

   WASHINGTON / PORT-AU-PRINCE - Haiti's government canceled Mardi Gras
   celebrations Sunday in the capital, Port-au-Prince, in the aftermath of
   a gunfight between protesting off-duty national police officers and
   members of the army that left two dead. At least two others were
   wounded.

   "In order to avoid a bloodbath, the government would like to inform the
   Haitian people and Carnival revelers that we have decided to cancel
   Carnival festivities in Port-au-Prince," said a statement sent to local
   journalists by presidential press secretary Eddy Jackson Alexis.

   The unsigned statement, stamped with a government seal and sent through
   WhatsApp, also included an appeal for calm.

   Sunday's protest turned violent when off-duty police officers,
   allegedly angry over the firings last week of their colleagues and the
   coordinator of the union effort, faced off with members of the armed
   forces near the National Palace.

   The Haitian Armed Forces condemned the gunfight Monday.

   "We bitterly deplore these acts," a statement sent to reporters said,
   "which can only be the work of individuals who want to destroy their
   own country."

   The protesting officers issued their own press statement condemning the
   violence, which they blamed on "bad actors."

   "The National Police Union (SPNH) condemns not only the violence, but
   also the fact that these actions were conducted by people of ill will,
   pretending to be police officers and aiming to discredit the legitimate
   effort to unionize the force," the statement said.

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