Can Haiti rid itself of Jovenel Moïse?

NIXON BOUMBA used to take morning jogs through the prosperous Pacot neighbourhood in Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital. The area has steep, tree-lined streets and “gingerbread” houses. (These wooden-lattice structures, built in the early 1900s, survived a devastating earthquake in 2010.) But Mr Boumba does not jog any more. A surge of kidnappings and murders has kept him indoors (see chart). The gangs responsible for those crimes often have links to the police and politicians. The true number of attacks is probably far higher than the reported one. “We are living in a time of terror,” says Mr Boumba, a human-rights activist.

Terror has not stopped him from joining protests against President Jovenel Moïse. These have been going on for more than two years, provoked initially by economic hardship and allegations of corruption. Since January this year crime, and the fear that Mr Moïse is setting himself up as a dictator, have sparked a new wave. The protesters contend that his term ended on February 7th this year. They want his immediate departure.