By Kim Ives
The usually clogged and bustling streets were empty in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, as well as other cities like Cap Haïtien in the North and Les Cayes in the South, as a general strike called by Haiti’s unions and supported by the opposition brought industry, transportation, and commerce to a nationwide standstill on Feb. 1 and 2.
It was a replay of the extended “peyi lòk” (locked up country) demonstrations which almost drove President Jovenel Moïse from power in late 2019. The difference this time is that, according to Haiti’s 1987 Constitution, Moïse must step down on Feb. 7.