Francesc Badia: Are the demonstrations in Ecuador a reminder of what has happened in Haiti? Did the increase in fuel prices in July 2018 trigger a cycle of protests that are still ongoing today? Are the protests focused on demanding the president’s resignation given his involvement in a number of corruption scandals? What are the key elements of these protests?

Nixon Boumba: The events in Ecuador and what has been going on in Haiti for years reflect the need and will for a paradigm shift, that is pushing the people to protest.

In July 2018, protests began in Haiti because of an increase in the price of fuel (to the same level as in Ecuador) and also from the same pressure of the IMF, which requires countries to cut their fuel subsidies. Resulting in very strong protests.

Haiti has recently been completely blocked for 4 days and the president even disappeared for 3 weeks as he can no longer travel around the city. There are demands that the President steps down on the basis of corruption, his behaviour towards Venezuela (he signed an agreement with PDVSA, the Venezuelan state oil company) and social inequalities, all of which are important factors in the protests.

The fundamental issue is not only to overthrow the president – who has been involved in numerous cases of corruption, has contacts with drug traffickers and has contributed to the growth of gangsters in society – but to try and change the system.

It’s an important but complicated issue because the system in Haiti is run by a repressive state. We have an entire nation fighting against the state, particularly because of the manner in which the government manages its connections with countries in the region, Europe and the United States but does not deal with Haitians.

All of this is happening ten years after the earthquake that devastated the country and still very few people can say where the enormous amount of money that came from foreign donors for the reconstruction of the country has gone. But since September 2018, the question has been: where is the money of Petrocaribe - the Haitian state oil company - going?

The people now challenge the state, the bourgeoisie and the international community, who act like a colonial community. We are going through a long crisis because people have the capacity and willingness to react and respond to the problems that have arisen. The issues that arise are those of justice and social equality, the need to put an end to this predatory State, the need to end international interference and the need for the people to take charge of having a future outside of this interference and this colonial relationship.

Since 2010 and since the gasoline disaster, there have been many changes in this country – the earthquake and its devastating consequences completely changed the political and democratic system. On a political, economic and cultural level, the disaster was much greater than the earthquake itself. It was Hilary Clinton in 2010 who decided who would be president. In 2014 there were many protests because people were already becoming aware and no longer wanted to be under colonial rule or the Clinton/United States influence. On January 22 there was a large demonstration in which part of the centre of Port-au-Prince was destroyed, including the district of Pétion-Ville, where the elites, the rich and many diplomats live.

The president was elected with less than five hundred thousand votes despite the electorate being six million. $ 13 billion was donated for the reconstruction of Haiti that has seemingly contributed nothing (the living conditions of Haitians has not improved).

So, yes, it was the rise in fuel prices, IMF interference, the president's far-right approach and the budget issue that caused all these protests.