Friday, June 27, 2008
Petrol prices + Pending politics = Protest or Peace?
I've been spending the week in New York but keeping up on Haitian news thanks to Google. Haiti has been without a prime minister since the previous PM was ceremoniously sacked after the April food price protests. Since then, two presidential nominees have been rejected by the senate. The third nominee is a woman with a background in education reform. I haven't had enough political discussions in recent days to know what the general impression is of her. It's hard to imagine who would be willing to take up the position in this particularly challenging season - likely a patriot or a power seeker (or a bit of both). Yesterday, the Haitian government haulted price subsidies put into effect after the April food protests and gas prices went up to $6.14 per gallon. Will be interesting to see what the mood is on Monday when I return to Port-au-Prince.
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Yesterday I saw a tap-tap driver armed with two large chunks of cement, one in each hand, ready to launch them at a customer who didn't pay.
Public transportation prices have gone up. The last time they went up, customers simply refused to pay the additional 2 gourdes. This time around, everyone (well, most everyone) is coughing-up the additional cost.
Like you said, though, it should be interesting to see how this all develops.
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