Displaying items by tag: Port au Prince

In Port-au-Prince your life depends on knowing where the boundaries are. Competing gangs are claiming areas, kidnapping, raping, killing at will and demarcating territories in blood. Cross from one gang's turf to another, and you may not return. Armed groups terrorise 60% of the capital by controlling roads. 1,000 people were killed between January and June. The last head of state was killed in office, creating a vacuum; there is no functioning parliament , and the US-backed unelected prime minister is unpopular. Half the population face acute hunger, 20,000 face famine-like conditions and cholera, but gangs are the greatest plague. Morning and evening rush hours are kidnapping times as commuters are snatched from the streets in a growing industry. Ransoms range from £164 to £820,000. Most victims return if ransoms are paid, but they suffer: rape, burns by melted plastic, and more. Catholicism is the official religion, but voodoo is the national religion. The majority of Haitians practise some aspects of voodoo.